Every year as the NEW YEAR hits our calendars, we begin to think of turnovers, new starts, resolutions, goals....You Know.
It's a Fresh Start. At least, it's as good a time as any. After all, another 365 days is about to come at us...FAST.
What has become quite popular in recent years, is to choose ONE WORD to focus on. It is much easier to keep track of instead of 5 or 6 things we resolve to change, (and then usually don't)
ONE WORD is also:
My Word usually centers around what is going on in my life at the time. In the Past, I have chosen Hope....Gratitude...Intentional...and others.
This year, my WORD is:
I feel the intense need to dig in here in Cedar Rapids...I have been living on the fringes..not setting both feet down in the pulse of this place. The past year I was still looking back over my shoulder too many times at what I left behind, unfortunately...
I am feeling the conviction to really get plugged in, to engage...TO PUSH ROOTS DOWN.
Kurt and I have talked lately of seeking the GOOD of this community, referring to this verse in Jeremiah 29:7.
"BUT SEEK THE WELFARE OF THE CITY WHERE I HAVE SENT YOU, AND PRAY TO THE LORD ON ITS BEHALF, FOR IN ITS WELFARE, YOU WILL FIND YOUR WELFARE."
I have told myself...It is time.
The well-known quote of Jim Elliot, "Wherever you are...be ALL there." has run through my mind and heart 100 times over the past 15 months, and it has hounded me 'til I almost lost it.
When we made our trip to Charlotte to welcome Justin back from his 9 month deployment, I was talking with Jonny of his upcoming USMC boot camp, as well as Kameron's Guard boot camp, too. He made a statement that struck me as quite Epic. I said, ~everybody just wants to get through that part of it. SURVIVE it so they can be DONE!! Jonny looked at me and said, "AND that's where they take their wrong step. You don't go in it with the mindset to SURVIVE. You go in it with the mindset to THRIVE. To rise above, to do more than just get by and get out...to intentionally go in and give it your all. Do Your Best.
It was right after that conversation, that I realized that he had just "found" my 2013 WORD for me. I had been pondering and thinking and understanding what I wanted, but hadn't come up with the word. Thank you Jonny. I love you.
So I close with where I opened. My life - what I do, what I choose, what I live OUT LOUD...is my message to those around me...my world here in Cedar Rapids. If I am not THRIVING in this city, then what AM I doing??? What would God desire of me? How in the world can I be INSPIRING to others if I am not seeking the welfare of THEIR city? Truly, in the welfare of this place, where we Know and Believe that God has sent us... we will find our own welfare. And so....I choose to THRIVE. It is my Life Word for 2013. May God be my strength. May I choose to LOVE where I live. :-)
Happy 2013. I hope that you have a WORD that you can FOCUS on and INSPIRE others as you seek your own growth and change.
God is good. All the time. God IS GOOD.
Hugs and Blessings to my bloggy sisters and any dropping by this day.
8 comments:
Thrive is such a powering word- good choice! I know you have been struggling having to move so far from home and children. Having one half way around the world, but God has put you there for a reason and I am so glad that you are open to finding out just what you are there for.
Thrive, girl, and show that town who you are!
I admire you for SO many reasons:) I know that it wasn't easy to leave where you were and be where you are! Torn between leaving family and wanting to be with your Hubby! But you put the plan in place and now you are there making a sweet new life! I am proud of you for thinking this way! You will THRIVE, I know it! BIG HUGS to you dear Julie!
Thrive is a word that I have prayed for all my family many times in this past year. It's a good strong word and describes how we want to live our lives...not just exist, but THRIVE in all aspects.
Thinking of you...
Julie, what a perfect
word for you. I've had
a sneaking suspicion
that your first year in
CR was "on the fringes,"
as you suggested. As
a person who, until
the last decade, moved
many, many times, I'd
always invoke my mom's
motto: Bloom where you
are planted. It reminds
me of THRIVE : )
I know that, once you
stop looking back, that
you will, indeed bloom.
Maybe that can be your
back up word??
Happy 2013!
xo Suzanne
Awww...the word I've been waiting to hear about! Julie, I am so very happy for you where this word is concerned. As we've talked many times, that first year after a big move like you made, can be such a time of adjustment. I remember one time when I was talking with someone about how hard the move here had been I received a magnet for the fridge...a picture of a flower that said, "Bloom where you are planted". Short and sweet but got the message across. Oh...the people of Cedar Rapids are gonna be blessed as we watch you "thrive"...I'm hoping you'll share as the Lord works through you!
oh Julie what a perfect word for you and for me!! how I need this word with this move for us. It sure wasn't as far as your move but still just the same a move. I do believe I shall steal your word and I know I wish it for all of my children far and wide right now.
Oh and so glad that handsome Corporal is back to see his momma and dad. What wonderful children you have and what a nice time to get to see them make their way in the world. Blessings to you my dear friend. nancy
I love your word, Julie! Thrive has such an intensity to it and I see you as such a person who loves full-force. So this fits you well. I'll look forward to hearing how God works it out this year through you. Love you!
That's a good word, Julie. I know you thrive in Cedar Rapids, or anywhere that God takes you. You won't regret it when you become involved with more people. It'll also give you the opportunity to share Christ with more people.
May you be blessed wherever you are! Thrive! ~ Beth
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