My Word, 2010 Edition

Last year I choose a word for the year instead of a resolution. I love how that worked out last year. The Lord taught me many things through the study and focus on the word ‘Courage’. I think I will write up a recap of my courageous year perhaps later in the week.

I have been pondering and praying over what my word for 2010 should be. I’ve thought and thought and I narrowed it down to two words; encourage and contentment. I prayed and tried to decide which word and I finally decided I’d just focus on both. They’re both very different words and concepts but I believe they will dovetail quite nicely as my focus for this year.



I choose ‘encourage’ because it occurred to me how encouraging words are like a balm to my soul, like food to the starving or water to the thirsty.

When I’ve had, for instance, another mother tell me something positive about my children it makes up for an entire day of hard parenting. When I have someone complement me on my writing or parenting or cooking (rare!) or whatever it may be, when it is specific and sincere it fills me up. It occurred to me that I’m probably not the only one who fills this way.

I think encouraging things all the time. I think the complements and the kind thoughts all the time but I don’t often verbalize them. I’m not sure why but I’ve given it some thought.

I think part of the reason I often don’t express encouragement is because I don’t want to seem arrogant. Like I’m the expert on parenting and I am deigning to offer you a token of praise for a job well done from the master. I don’t want to seem patronizing or like I have it all together myself. I don’t want to appear that I think myself the expert in whatever field I am encouraging someone else in. But as I was praying over this word I realized that I have never once been encouraged myself and taken it this way.

So this year I choose to be actively, verbally, encouraging; to my children, to my husband, to my extended family, to friends and acquaintances, and even to strangers on the street. I’m asking God to show me circumstances where I can use the courage he taught me about last year and do His work by speaking life into others with encouraging words.

Later I’ll write on my focus on the word ‘contentment’.


*I'm not going to tell you where the picture is from. It is an item that is for sale somewhere on the internet and it's one of a kind and I WANT IT! As soon as I can, I'm going to buy it. Then I'll tell you all about her little shop and how you can get one of your own like it, but until then, you'll just have to wonder!*

After

I think I shall call this photo 'Anticipation'.



We hadn't even come downstairs yet. It was about 6ish in the morning. To say she was excited would be an understatement.

This next photo we shall call 'The Aftermath'



And this next photo shall be called 'Since Then' because that pretty much sums up my attire since then.



Also, I think someone needs to make it law that Christmas is from now on and forever, to be followed by a weekend.

That is all.

Marry Christmas from the Hilltop

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.







May you all have a blessed Christmas and be surrounded by those you love, and maybe even a little snow.

In case you're wondering...

...where I have disappeared too.



I'm under here. I may be out sometime after Christmas.

Pay no attention to the crazy lady in the Excursion driving like a nut.

I was driving down I20 at a speed that may or may not have been in excess of the posted limit, in the far left lane when I noticed the hood on the Excursion begin to shimmy and shake up and down, like it was not properly latched. I had visions of the hood flying up and momentarily blinding me as I swerved all over the highway narrowly missing other drivers, before it flew off and crashed into a vehicle behind me, causing a 50 car pileup shutting down I20 completely. Then my life flashed before my eyes, which was much less interesting than my previous imaginations.

As my mind was occupied with all this panicked thinking, I made my way, ever so carefully to the exit, all while watching my hood bounce up an inch, down an inch, up an inch, down an inch, over and over and over.

Please, please don't fly up! Please, please don't fly up, I pleaded with the inanimate object that is the hood of my Excursion.

I made my way off the highway and into a nearby parking lot. I sang praises to the Lord as I put the Ex in park and hopped out. I walked to the front of the vehicle and pushed down the hood, hearing the blessed sound of the latch catching. I glanced to my right to see two police officers gaping at me from their cruiser. I smiled, waved, and hopped back in the Ex and on my merry way, praying they would not pull me over and ticket me for generally recklessness and idiocy.

I then called Bob, the last person to open the hood of my car and told him of all the ways his life would be awful if I were not in it, and could he please not try to kill the Mama in the future.