I love Peter in the Bible.  I love how he can open his mouth and say something without being afraid of others or Jesus will think or say.  He can be himself.

He is open and bold and at times we mentally give him a "high five"
Yes!  Way to go Peter!
Like in Matthew 16:16
Jesus asks his disciples who the people say that he is.  They respond with Elijah, Jeremiah or some other prophet.

Then Jesus asks his disciples who THEY think he is.  And Peter says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Jesus says in verse 17
"Good for you, Simon son of John!"

Yay Peter, woohoo!  He got it!  (well that's what I was thinking)
(By the way, Jesus orders his disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah- not time for that yet)

And then 7 verses later....
D'oh!

Jesus tells his disciples the plan
1.  must go to Jerusalem
2.  must suffer much from religious leaders
3.  must be put to death
4.  WILL be raised to life in three days (how do they MISS #4!!!)

Then Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him saying, "God forbid it, Lord!  That must never happen!"

I am thinking here that Peter maybe put his arm around Jesus or something to privately say this- and not looking face to face at Jesus b/c in verse 23 it says

"Jesus turned around and said to Peter, 'Get away from me, Satan!  You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from man.'"

WOW!  Hard words to hear for Peter!

And then, again...in chapter 17...another fine "Peter Moment"
not really
Jesus takes Peter and James and John with him up a high mountain and in Luke it says they prayed.  Then Jesus was transfigured into some major gloriousness, if you will.
His face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white (verse 2)

Peter then opens his mouth, again
"Lord, how good it is that we are here!  If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

And while Peter was talking a shining cloud came over them and God speaks
"This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased- listen to him!"

POW!

Wow!  Peter, Peter, Peter.  Poor Peter.  He probably wished at that moment that he would have kept his mouth shut.

I am like Peter.  Sometimes I feel so excited b/c God reveals more of himself to me and I feel great that I start to "get it!"
And then I go and do/say something silly or stupid and I feel more human with my mistakes.

But the great thing is that I can be myself.  I love that Peter is so exposed in the scriptures so we can see ourselves.  It's like looking in a mirror.
And oh how the Lord loves Peter!  Jesus chooses Peter to go on special missions- like praying on the hillside...like going in to the room and watch the daughter of Jairus be raised from the dead...(Luke 8:40-56) with ONLY two others- James and John.

So yes, Peter looks silly sometimes.  So do we!
But I think that's one of the things the Lord loves about his character. 
Can we trust Jesus enough to be so open with Him---when we get it and when we don't... so He can teach us His ways?
Will Jesus choose us for special missions?

I pray Lord that I am bold enough to bring everything to you- even when I know it's embarrassing and not pretty, and oh so silly.
Thank you for Peter, thank you for loving him even when he was a goofball.
Thank you for loving me in such a way!