One word....

For the past few years, instead of making a New Year's Resolution, I have instead chosen a "word" to focus on for that year. Each year has been different and I can't really explain why the words were chosen except that they seemed to "fit". 

The first year, my word was "Hope", the next year it was "Anticipation", and last year...well last year I cheated a little and chose two words - "Incredible Mercy." Each year, these words have proven to exemplify what I was going through that year and truly be what my year was all about. (Hmmm, makes me want to go back and look at all the pictures from this year and remind myself of just how merciful God has been to me this past year...but that's a blog for another day.)

This year however, as Christmas drew closer, I realized I had nothing. Seriously nothing. I looked forward into 2013 and felt nothing at all. Usually I am so excited about the new year, but this one seemed just blank. So, I prayed. You know, you have to be careful when you pray...God has a tendency to answer! Within a couple of days, I had my word. "Move."

I wondered if that could seriously be my word for 2013. I mean, it doesn't sound very spiritual; but the more I mulled over it, the more certain I became that it was my word for the year. At first, I thought of all the ways I could live out this word. Getting up and turning off the tv definitely came to mind. Taking the time to exercise each day was another option worth considering...but I knew this word had to have a spiritual side that I wasn't quite getting.

I did a search and these are a few of the verses that came up associated with that one simple word - move.

Isaiah 43:18-19
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” 

I love this verse! It was one I worked on memorizing last year on New Year's Day! While it doesn't say the word "move", it's all about moving!

Check out this one from Philippians:
Philippians 3:12-14
Pressing Toward the Goal
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Finally, there's this one from Isaiah:
Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

While all these verses are about moving forward, there was more. There was the feeling that it is time to move spiritually. Like God is setting the stage and now is the time to move.

Two of the more interesting verses about moving that I found were from Exodus 14:15-16 and they follow one of the most well known verses about NOT moving! 

Exodus 14:13-16
Moses spoke to the people: “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again.

¹⁴ God will fight the battle for you.
    And you? You keep your mouths shut!”

^15-16 God said to Moses: “Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving. Hold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground.

I have a feeling that this will be a year of amazing things in God. I'm not sure what it will include...so far for me it looks like it will include a mission trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, perhaps a career change from classroom teacher to administration, and....and....and I have no idea what else! But I do know it will be an incredible adventure.

So...what will your "one word" for 2013 be? 

For help choosing your word, you can check out this site: http://myoneword.org/

On a much lighter note, to begin my year on "the right foot" and move, I am trying a one hundred day challenge to exercise each day for the next 100 days. I'm posting a picture on facebook to keep me "moving" in the right direction.

What will your word be?

For the past couple of years, I have prayed about a "word" for that year. Some of you have probably heard of this. There's even a site devoted to it called My One Word (My One Word).

The first year I did this, my word was "Hope." Little did I know that by the end of the year, that was about all I'd have to hold on to. During that year, the company that my husband worked for unexpectedly closed it's doors leaving over 300 people without a job in a town that doesn't boast a huge number of jobs to begin with. We were blessed that I still had a job teaching, but the next few months truly stretched our ability to hope and hold on. When he finally found another job, it was one that provided a much smaller paycheck and much harder work week. The challenge of holding on to hope became a DAILY choice to believe.

Last year, my word for the year was "Anticipation." This really goes back to something I felt like the Lord spoke to my heart three years ago. It was a sense of foreboding that things were about to get bad...really bad, but that in 2012 we would see things turn around - miraculously! I make no claim at being a prophet, but when God lays something on your heart like this, you know it! I decided to just hide this word in my heart and watch. I guess I don't have to tell anyone that the past three years have been tough...but there is change in the wind. It is coming - can you feel it? Anticipation is growing!

Anyway, back to this year's word. I was on a run the other day and, as I often do while running, I was praying. (Okay, so sometimes I'm just praying I can continue to breathe and for strength to move the next step, but I'm usually praying!) This time, I was asking for my "word" for the year and the word "INCREDIBLE" kept coming to mind. Okay - this isn't one I'd have chosen, but it sounded interesting. I came home and looked it up.
Incredible: so extraordinary as to seem impossible
Okay, so far I'm liking this word for the new year.

Then a couple of days ago, I was reading a devotional by another blogger and another word almost jumped out at me - "MERCY". Now the feeling this word gave me is hard to explain. It was heavy - not a bad kind of heavy - an overwhelming kind of heavy...the kind that makes you want to go to your knees and bow your head under the weight. It was a worshipful kind of heavy.

Mercy: This one has a LOT of meaning.
1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence
2. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.
3. an act of kindness, compassion or favor
4. something that gives evidence of divine favor or blessing
It doesn't take a prophet or even someone very smart to realize that as a country we are in need of God's mercy...how much I am in need of His mercy. 


The more I thought about it, the more I realized that somehow the two words were to be coupled together: INCREDIBLE MERCY. These are my "words" for 2012. Could this be the year when we see God pour out His incredible mercy and save us from a destruction we have brought on ourselves? I guess time will tell, but until then I will hold on to these two words knowing that whatever the year may bring, His INCREDIBLE MERCY is far greater than what I deserve.

What will your word(s) for this year be? Please take a moment to share them with me! You'll be surprised when you look back at how accurate that word has been!

Psalm 25:5-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long. ⁶ Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,
   for they are from of old. ⁷ Do not remember the sins of my youth
   and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
   for you, LORD, are good.

Proverbs 28:12-14

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹² When the righteous triumph, there is great elation;
   but when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.
 ¹³ Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
   but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
 ¹⁴ Blessed is the one who always trembles before God,
   but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

Micah 6:8

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.

Luke 1:49-51

New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
   holy is his name. ⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
   from generation to generation. ⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
   he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.