Where...I share my ‘word’ for 2013

And so, 2013 is upon us, filled with all that comes with the ‘New’ – anticipation, reflection, hope, sweet longing, curiosity.

 

New Year is a freeing time…anything is possible.  We reflect on the year gone by and we have the chance to make different choices. Resolutions are made, hopes are articulated, plans are birthed and conspired.

 

This year I haven’t made any ‘resolutions’ so to speak. 

 

No, not for me the resolutions that fade into a mist of hazy guilt at non-accomplishment and vague failure.

 

But, rather, a word.

 

Inspired by http://oneword365.com/ and that community of glorious peoples seeking to live into all they can be, I have chosen for this next 365 days to live into MY word.

 

A solitary word, percolated up from my Soul and Being, forming into a solid sense of what I shall lean into this next season.

 

And, for me, this word is PURPOSED.

 

Purposed in endeavour.

Purposed in being.

Purposed in becoming.

 

To live fully, intentionally, PURPOSED.

To know that my journey with Jesus is leading forward, pressing in, going deeper.

And not by accident. But on purpose.

 

I shall try to no longer get to the end of a morning, a day, a week, a month, or even a solitary moment and feel it wasted for lack of choosing to live intentionally, or for lack understanding its purpose with that glorious gift of hindsight.

 

I shall seek to rise each day and live into the day ahead. 

 

I shall choose to look at the purpose of each of my endeavours and seek what Gods purpose is in each moment – in the people I meet, in the tasks I set my hand to, in the dreams that rise up within me.

 

When I meet with people to listen, hear their questions and wrestling and, when invited, to try to speak truth and love into their lives, I shall press into the purpose of loving, of re-building, of whispering that a different story is possible.

 

When I see a glorious sunrise or sunset, or have my breath taken away by creation, I shall press into the purpose of JOY.

 

When I hang out with the people who KNOW me – and I mean, KNOW me – I shall rest in that glorious truth of being ‘enough’ for them, and know that the purpose of these times is sheer belonging, love, delight and open honesty with no fear.

 

When I rest and re-create I shall press into the purpose of knowing true Sabbath – that *today* I can live as though all my work is done, because God is big enough and I do not dwell in slavery but freedom.

 

When I make my clothes I shall press into the purpose of creativity, self-sufficiency, good stewardship and freedom from the tyranny of the sweat-shop.

 

When I teach and lead our congregation I shall press into the purpose of community, of city-on-a-hill and lamp-on-a-lampstand life.

 

When I bake for people I will purpose to bake love into my creations, so that the gift of my time and care will nourish and feed.

 

When I am handling my money, be that in shopping or gifting or saving or releasing, I shall think about the purposes of these things, about where they fit into the bigger picture, about whether my choices bring life and freedom or tie me or others up.

 

When I find myself ‘wasting time’ I shall choose to remember Theroux’s quote, ‘As if we could kill time without injuring eternity!’, and I shall ask questions about what is being built in my life in these ‘down-time‘ moments – am I truly being re-created and refreshed or is life passing my by?

 

When my heart desires to go in a certain direction, make a connection, speak a phrase, voice an opinion, I shall ask myself the purpose of these things so that I don’t just let things ‘happen’, but live INTO them.

 

And, in all of these things, I shall seek to remember that Gods purposes far outweigh mine, that some of the most gloriously joy-filled-intoxicatingly-achingly-beautiful-significant-moments seem to happen as if by accident and that, whilst in my PURPOSED living my hearts desire is to be in step with Holy Spirit and all that She is doing, there must always be that space for Holy and Divine Surprise that leads us into spaces we have never known before, and open up whole worlds in front of our very eyes.

 

And so, to a year of living as though PURPOSED.

 

What are you living into this year?