Perseverance

'Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:4NIV

So perseverance has a purpose, a specific work- maturity and completion. In the chaos of our everyday life, purpose and order sounds appealing. But I do like a bit of chaos, the unexpected. Makes me feel like I live on the edge. Chaos lives in my kitchen, first drawer on the left. Realistically the scariest event is sorting through the "junk" drawer. My mom had a junk drawer full of the essentials, like tape and scissors and the obscure, like string and leftover screws. Naturally, if Mom had one, I feel the need to have a fully stocked junk drawer. Periodically I take the safety of my fingers, (knives, nails and other sharps have been known to inhabit the junk drawer) and sort it out and thin the contents. Actually, my husband has a low tolerance for chaos so he regulates the volume of my junk drawer. There was also treasure in my mom's junk drawer. Gum, candy and coins were inevitably found in the bowels of the non-essentials. (When we heard the bell of the popsicle truck, we started rummaging for ice cream money!) Most of my jobs, those I received compensation and those I don't, involve multi-tasking. Handling more than one deadline or crisis became a regular occurrence. To survive I waged war against the panic creeping chaos to take charge. Here's my standard plan: Repile it or make a list and prioritize. Ask "what in front of me is on fire?" (urgent) Take a breath- one of those yoga cleansing breaths- in through the nose out through the mouth. Take the next right step starting with the fire! Spiritually when I face one or more of those many trials, I do the same thing, but hopefully in different order I take a breath in the form of a prayer to God to take control. I'd to say I do this first but usually this step happens after I've patched, procrastinated or pretended I'm in control of the situation. I'm still working on letting God take control of my everyday life. I put the trials in perspective to the span of eternity. Finally I ask God what is the next right step and do it. I rarely hear a succession of steps. I only need my next act. I still remember the advice of my piano teacher - learn the music note by note, line by line. Eventually the whole piece is mastered once each note is mastered. His other meaningful words were "Playing Chopin is good for you." Translation- Sometimes those hard things make you better. A bit of chaos builds perseverance, so embrace a bit of chaos....the treasure of perseverance awaits. Let's engage: I'm persevering through my faith journey day by day. How about you? (The piano lessons ended decades ago and the talent is lost-it's not like riding a bike.) How you handle the scary everyday trials of life? Do you have a junk drawer? Tell me two essential items in your drawer.