One word

And here we are, another year down, another year older.

My good friend, Kym, is excellent at keeping me accountable.  She sent me an email a few days ago:

"Got a word picked out for 2014?  When you look back at 2013 where do you see your word?"

It's a good thing I have Kym because I have to be honest, it's been a long time since I thought about my word for 2013.  I took a look back at my January post of a year ago to reread what I had written.  My word was renewing and my first thought was that I significantly lost the battle for renewing in 2013.

But then I read the verse I had chosen:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will.  Romans 12: 1 - 2.

and the first word of the final sentence caught my eye:  then

Then what?  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

2013, for me, was about renewing so that I could be better prepared to test and approve what God's will is.  We certainly tested and approved God's will and it was undeniably good, pleasing, and perfect.

So what is my word for 2014?  I initially tossed around several options.  It didn't take long for me to settle on a word, less.  As Kym says, I "wore" it for a few days and decided it definitely fits.  In the simplest sense, I could do with a bit less physically - changing some bad eating habits developed living alone and then with a new baby in the house, simplifying the "stuff" around me, making better choices in where I spend my time and energy.  Spiritually, I want to live my life focusing less on me, and more on Christ.

John 3:29-30 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.  He (Christ) must become greater; I must become less.”

The Message says it like this:

"This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines."

This year, I desire to allow Christ center stage while I slip farther off to the sidelines.

I'm excited already!

Has God given you a word for 2014?