Hearing well has never been my strong suit. Over the years, that has led to a few misunderstandings for me. A good example of this is learning the Lord’s Prayer as a child.

One of my first memories of church is being in the small children’s Sunday school class. Our teacher was a dear lady named Agnes, who everybody loved. And she was a very talented singer. She taught us a few children’s hymns and we would all sing one every Sunday morning.

I can still remember sitting at the little U shaped table with Agnes sitting in the middle in her big chair. When it was time to sing, she’d encourage us to sing with all our might. And we did.

Since it was a small country church, everybody inside it heard us singing our praises. I dare say anybody walking by outside at that time heard us as well. There were never any complaints. In fact, it was quite the opposite. When we walked out of our room, the nearby adults would thank us for our song.

While I loved singing the hymns, I struggled with learning the Lord’s Prayer. We prayed it at the start of every Sunday school class and each time I was very confused.

Remember me saying I misunderstood things.

Every time we prayed, “…lead us not into temptation,” I heard, “…lead us snot into temptation.” I am not making that up.

My child brain couldn’t understand what snot had to do with temptation. Well, except for the obvious, but I knew the prayer meant more than that.

A few times I was tempted to ask Agnes why, but I was too afraid the other kids in class would laugh at me if they heard me ask her. I knew I would laugh if I heard somebody else ask her that.

Isn’t that usually the main reason why we hang on to our misunderstandings? We’re afraid to ask and try to figure it out because we don’t want to embarrass ourselves. We don’t want to be laughed at or made fun of. We don’t want others to see us as not as smart as we think we are.

Now, to most people being stressed about getting the Lord’s Prayer wrong would be no big deal. But to a small child, when you talk to God, it is a very big deal. It bothered me so much that I finally broke down and asked about it. No, I didn’t ask Agnes, I asked my mom in the privacy of our kitchen.

The first time I told her my dilemma, she didn’t quite understand it herself. The second time I went over it, she finally got it. I will have to commend her for not laughing in my face. You have to admit, that was a funny and cute mistake. Fortunately for me, she had the wisdom to see how upset about it I was. Naturally, she explained to me how I had heard it wrong and what the right words were.

I felt so relieved once I understood what the prayer actually meant. Then I felt silly for waiting so long to ask about it. Don’t let yourself get caught up in that trap. Give yourself permission to find out what you don’t understand. It’s okay. If you can, get a good laugh about it and move on.

And find somebody you trust that you can confide in.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

No matter what, you can always rely on the Lord. And He will keep your paths straight. And I don’t think it will include any mucous.