Choosing a word for the year is like picking out an outfit to wear to a very special occasion. What if I pick the wrong one? What if I get there, and it doesn’t fit quite right? What if when I get into the light, my shoes don’t match my dress? What if no one notices?
I feel the pressure. Do you?
Last year I didn’t really pick a word per say. It really picked me. I’m guessing you can probably figure it out.
Hope soared in my life in 2012. It hung on every sentence. It floated in the air like a song. God used it in a mighty way in my life to remind me that He is still here at work in my heart. He pressed me to share it with others. “It” being hope and my heart. I said, “Running to Jesus always brings about a miracle,” and I have seen it with my own eyes this past year. How else do you explain 26,000+ women carrying around their Kindle with a book you penned on it? Really? Hope has spread. I am humbled.
In my own life hope has stirred something down deep. I have been moved from a place of merely surviving my life to a place of longing. I no longer want to be holding on for dear life. I want to move forward. I want to step out. I want to become who God wants me to be.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not discounting the years I’ve had surviving. God met me in the most amazing way. I love what Corrie Ten Boom said, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” Amen? Amen.
Hope met me in the mess. He let me know in every way that He was for me. He showed me the way out. Hope challenged me to wave my white flag so others could join me on the journey. And they did.
But today, I feel as though I am sitting on a precipice looking out on the landscape of my life. I have forty or so years behind me. I have, maybe 40 or so years ahead of me. I want to “use my influence well” as Jen Hatmaker challenged. I know it is crucial to become more of who God wants me to be.
Become.
A change of state.
To come, change, or grow to be.
To come into being.
Oh mercy. It sounds a whole lot like process. I am not a fan of process. This is how I can be 100% sure this word is from God. He is stepping forward into the great unknown of this coming year, looking back over His shoulder and calling me out off my precipice. . .
Come now Stacey.
Let’s become.
There is more this year.
There is growth this year.
There are changes to be made.
I have no idea where He is leading. That in itself is a little frightening. But I have the feeling it is going to be one great ride. I have the sense that this year of making me more like Him, will be hard and good all at the same time.
I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, you feel the same way, too. Recently I asked some friends what they were hoping to find when they stopped by my blog. The vast majority said, “I want to grow. I want to be stretched. I want to become.”
Ok, well, they didn’t say all that. But they did check the box that said “I want to read more about growing as a Christian woman.” So in the year ahead I’ll be checking in with you and telling you more about become and how God is working it out in me. It is always more fun when we do life together. So, I’ll be looking for you, here, and out there during 2013.
Hello, my name is Stacey and my word for 2013 is:
Become.
Are you with me?
