What's the Word? 2011

Another year has flown by. My word last year was BLOOM. That sounded exciting at the time (and it was, just not in the ways I expected). Blooming is the result of pruning. There was lots of that this year. Pruning of people, places and things. I came face-to-face with my own brokeness in a lot of areas. I put a lot of energy into trying to do something real, something difficult and something that would benefit others. I thought that would be easy or even appreciated.

Not so much.

As my sistah Claudia Mair Burney says, when you try to love broken people, you're likely to get cut. I found that to be true in 2010, even when that person was myself. And so with bloody hands and a heavy heart, I sat still (finally) and listened to God. I put aside my lust for the approval of other people and the need to hear the sound of my own voice. And from that blood and quiet, something beautiful sprang. It's still growing, in fact. It's a fragile rose, but strong in all the places I am weak.

Last year, I worked, went to school, ran a half marathon (yeah, I ran the whole thing!), lost 56 pounds (and gained @#$% of it back)... A lot happened in my heart and in my house. There's been a lot going on in my head too. Three different books have been writing themselves on my heart for the past year. One filled with the familiar faces of Testimony. I cried once in an elevator when I smelled Brian coming before I saw his face. I burst out laughing in a public bathroom when Sean began to sing. The other two projects were new and very different, yet just as compelling.

Ten years ago, my life flashed before me. I thought I was dying. I didn't see my family first. I saw a man with dreadlocks and questions in his golden eyes, a girl on top of a mountain (whom I've recently met) and others who have been and are yet to come. Today, I am alive, but those same people are flashing before my eyes.

My WORD for this year is:

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters,

 “ Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43: 16, 18-19, NKJV)

My word for the year is:

FLOW

It is time to begin again, to live, love and create with bravery and heart. Now it springs forth. I will know it. I hear the river flowing, even in this desert. In the midst of everything, I will close my eyes, open my heart and lift my hands.

I will FLOW...

 

Happy New Year!

Comments

[Angie Poole]

How is it that I'm the first one to comment? I wait for this post ALL year!

FLOW, huh?

I have been thinking of you all week. My word is--don't laugh--WORD.(Kind of makes me think of the 80s. Word up?)

Word in a John 1 kind of way.

God either means what he says or we are all deluded.

This year I will take God at His word and only use my words for eternal purposes.

(Zoe was just reading this and says to tell you "hi")

So, yeah, that's where I am. But not where I will be 12/31/2011.

[Josette]

Flow. You don't know how much that word and the Scriptures are ministering to me right now. I have felt stuck for a long time, and I need to let God make me a road in the wildnerness.

I have two words for 2011. LOVE and LAUGH. My Bible Study for 2011 will begin and end on these principles. Ones I want for my family, my job, and my life.

[Tammee]

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Here's what I wrote on my blog entry:

guess I could have been in a club or in somebody’s family room with a drink in my hand and a party horn in my mouth, but here I sit at my computer doing what I hope to be doing the rest of this year. Creating. This ain’t nothing deep but it comes from my head and my heart. I have a book to finish that hasn’t had the attention it deserves and I want to correct that in 2011.

In the beginning of last year I reclaimed happiness and it was a good thing, but by early December I couldn’t wait for the year to be over. Now, as I hear gun shots and fireworks in the distance, I’m going to go into this year with the determination and hope that it has to be better.

Every year I choose a word for the upcoming 12 months that I hope to incorporate into my life (thanks to my blog friend Marilynn Griffith who started this a few years ago). In the past I have chosen words such as discipline and determination, and this year’s word is in the same vein : ORDER. I think my path to success will result from having a more ordered life.

So, while my silly neighbors scream out drunkenly and do donuts in the middle of the street (oh dang they just hit somebody’s car), I create and hope for an ordered and joyous new year.

* See girl, we all be waiting for that word :)

[Nedra Smith]

Beautiful, Marilynn (not that you need my approval.) If there's going to be life, there's got to be blood. I'm not saying anything you don't already know. It's good to "hear" you again, and I hope and pray that your family will have a fulfilling 2011 with more flows than bumps.

I think my own word is going to be: BOUNDARIES. Even after decades of living, I'm still working on establishing them--figuring out what boundaries God wants me to have. I'm not sure how that will work out, but I'm SO not afraid.

God bless you!

[LaShaunda]

I thought about you last week when I tried to come up with my word. I wondered what yours would be. I thank you for this because it makes us think about our life and what we want.

I thought my word would be organized, but I think I'm going to steal Tammee's word - ORDER

LaShaunda needs order in her life, the house, the fiances, the writing. I'm praying 2011 I will find ORDER and get back on track.

Looking forward to reading what flows unto your pages.

Love you my friend.

[Katrina Jo "Poettis"]

My word for this year is MOVE. I've spent the last through years dreaming of awesome ideas. Knowing the next step, but worrying beyond action. So in 2011 I will pray, listen...then move.

Faith without works is dead.