Here are some answers to some of your questions in my last post which contained no words at all:
Why yes, I do think my men are just about as handsome as they come. Don't we all think our kids are the cutest? But it is really sweet of y'all to tell me that. Thank you. Although I just birthed 'em. God created them that way.
And OH MY GOODNESS YES(!) they DID have fun in the snow. Along with all the cousins. Our youngest had only seen snow once in his life, and that was in a cooler, trekked from the north. Just enough for him, at the age of 8, to make an 8 inch high snowman before it melted in the Florida sun.
Our older 2 had not seen it in 20 years. Along with the cousins, every single "kid" in his/her 20s, they played their little hearts out on Christmas night. The Florida kids in sneakers and layered in hoodies ... the Georgia kids in boots and gloves because they snowboard in the mountains. They were soaking wet and hysterical with laughter. They built a snow village and then proceeded to decimate it with my niece's high school leftover javelin they found in the garage.
Watching them was a blast from the past. They scurried like toddlers after each other and rolled like puppies in the snow. It was a sight for this mama's memory bank and theirs as well. A gift to us from a God who knew we'd need a wonderful memory to hold us close for the next while.
We moved to Florida in 1991 so the youngest has never lived where it is cold, the middle one has little memory of it and the oldest can still tell stories. So their experience is varied. But suffice it to say it has been a long while.
That is the Butler being pulled by our boys on a piece of cardboard inside a garbage bag. We also tried the lid to a plastic bin. Sledding is best with the proper equipment and technique. We had neither.
It was the best Christmas I can remember since my boys were very small. Just the best.
And now ... it is 2011-- time for a new Word of the Year.
I absolutely LOVED my Word of the Year for 2010. It was TRUST. And God tested me in it, taught me to put it into practice, and helped me to learn it to the point that I feel stronger, healthier, and more full of faith right now than I did this time a year ago. And isn't that the point?
I prayed one prayer so often during the year. It went something like this, "Well, Lord, you know our need, and you know our hearts, and I'm just asking you to be in this thing. Because I know that you can do exceedingly more than I could ever ask or imagine."
For years and years I have prayed so differently. I would say I came to God with more of a wish list, and pretty much told Him the way it should be. I knew what was best and all He needed was for me to tell him what that was so He could move on it as soon as possible.
This year, I learned what it is like to just let go. As I prayed my prayer of "...be in this thing" ... I pictured what God must have been saying for all the years previous, as I read Him his To Do List. "I can certainly do that for you," He'd say, "but I sure had something much better in mind."
Why that continues to awe me I don't know.
As the Butler and I drove home from our Best Christmas Ever we discussed my Word of the Year for 2011.
PURPOSE.
Every year at this time I get a little excited and a little nervous (except the year I took PERSEVERANCE and fought it right from the start ... I didn't want it and God insisted and I hated it all year ... but I persevered and made it through and I am happy to say learned MUCH).
I get excited because it is, after all, new. And I never know what God will do with it. What He will teach me. Where it will take me. But I get nervous too, because I never know WHY God wants me to have a certain word. What is going to happen this year that I will need to learn PURPOSE? I don't know. And my imagination runs wild and I think of all kinds of nasty scenerios.
But this year I am not nervous because I have learned to TRUST. I TRUST that God will provide a PURPOSE for all He asks me to to and go through. And I TRUST that His PURPOSES are worth whatever that might be.
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD'S purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21
Taking a Word of the Year is the singlemost effective tool in my walk with the LORD. Just for fun, I thought I'd list the ones I've done.
2004 ... Faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-24)
2005 ... Peace (Philippians 4:6-7)
2006 ... Perseverance (Galatians 6:9)
2007 ... Satisfaction (Psalm 90:14)
2008 ... Listen (James 1:22)
2009 ... Simplicity (Jeremiah 29:13)
2010 ... Trust (Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 3:20)
2011 ... Purpose (Proverbs 19:21)
I literally could write a book on the things God has taught me and the ways these words have been made real to me each year. From the year I stuck with a job I did not want (perseverance) to the way God provided this renting, garden-loving gal a rose garden with no one to tend it (trust) to the downsizing of a household (simplicity), He has never failed to make each word a tool for teaching me more about Him. I think that is why this whole process works so well. It is not up to me ... it us up to Him. And He never fails.
Just for fun, if you are one of those that takes a Word of the Year, put it in the comments so that we can all see what it is. And if you aren't one who takes a Word of the Year, consider this your invitation to do so.
And on that note ... I wish you a very Happy New Year.
Goodnight. (I lie ... I was in bed hours ago and just put this on auto-post. I'm sound asleep right now.)
