Recently I was invited to a “word of the year” party. When I explained to Erik that this means we need to choose a word to focus on for the year, he decided his word is “beef.”
Ok then. So I am excited to go purely for the fact that a) there will be other women there and b) we will be talking about something meaningful. These two things alone will get me almost anywhere. But before I go, I need to decide on my word.
My friend suggested thinking of something I feel like I need in 2013, or a word that maybe God keeps bringing to mind, something that won’t get out of my head. Well, the word most often in my head is “overwhelmed” which is certainly not something I need. Maybe I need the opposite. What is that? Underwhelmed? Just whelmed?
I’m tempted to think that what I need is lots of warm fuzzy words like safe, comfortable. Chocolate. Who doesn’t need chocolate? I feel like what I need is to not look around my house and see a million things to do. I feel like I need to be known, on top of things, competent, in a routine, loved, needed. And also, chocolate.
I’ve tried a lot of words on for size, but like most of my clothes shopping, something’s always just a little off. I blame my hips. Well, for the clothing at least. But for the words, I realized that I go back and forth between wanting some word that will make me not feel messy or undone, and my strategy for that is either to go great guns and “get ‘er done-ish” about life, or, if I feel it’s insurmountable, I retreat to something like “rooted” or “fetal position.” Or chocolate.
But can I be in between? Can I be in the midst of the mess and the undoneness with a whole heart? And what would that look like?
Content. It would look like being content. So that is my word. I want to be able to look fully in the face of my circumstances and say “yes” to what God has for me this year, whether my house be decorated to my satisfaction or no, whether I am known or not, whether I get into my groove or live one disheveled day after another. I want to receive what He gives me each day, each moment, with a contented heart.
Right after this word came to mind, I opened a Dove chocolate wrapper (that could be the framework for a lot of my sentences, “After I ____________, I ate chocolate”) and the message inside said, “Take this moment. Enjoy it.” and I thought, “That sounds a lot like contentedness to me.”
Interestingly, this is not the first time God has spoken to me through a Dove chocolate wrapper. I guess He just plays the odds, “At some point today this girl is going to eat chocolate. That’s when I’ll get her.”
I’m excited to see how God will use this word in my life this year. I hope at some point He chooses to use chocolate again to speak to me. I listen well when He does.
So if you had a word for the year, what would it be?
