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Me in a tree! ~The Audobon Zoo in New Orleans

Me in a tree! ~The Audobon Zoo in New Orleans

 

 

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ~Phil.3:13-14

 

(Caution: Long post ahead. Bold points for the lazy busy)

Happy New Year, dear readers! I have been busy trying to come up with my word of the year, talking to a possible editor for my book, filling in for people at work, and writing my butt off to reach my deadline for having the book ready for the editor. After going through several posts, I realized I never even told you what the word of the year for 2012 was. I was so confused that when I wrote this post on my personal blog last week, I still didn’t get it right. The word of the year for 2012 was FOCUS. Before I reveal my word of the year, a brief introduction to how I came up with it.

This year I saw an uptick in people using a word of the year. Katie over at Marriage Confessions mentioned that someone she knows professionally does this and asked people for their words of the year. The response was staggering (I hope to one day be able to ask a question on a blog and get that many responses!). Rosetta over at Happy Black Woman also does a word of the year, as well as words to sum up each month in a monthly review. As a consequence, all of the good words were being taken (not that I have a problem with sharing, says the only child for the first eight years of her life). I know how powerful stating your intentions can be, so I wanted to make sure I chose a word that would characterize what this year is going to be for me. So of course I picked two words of the year. 😀

You’ve already read the first “word of the year,” the most important of the two, the scripture quoted at the beginning of this post. As I examined my life, I realized that I am forever trying to go back, and it isn’t working for me. I have moaned about wanting to be at a previous weight. I’ve relived my pitiful previous writing “triumphs.” I want to be as zealous for the Lord as I was in previous years. I was stuck on how others have viewed me in the past. I was looking behind me and seeing all the good and the bad. I was determined to either recapture or forever evade the things that had taken place in my past. But the past is gone; it’s time to forget those things which are behind. Whether they were “the best days of my life” or the worst mistakes I ever made, my focus can’t be on trying to go backwards; there’s a greater reward in front of me.

At the same time, other than in Christ, I have no desire to live in the future. I don’t know if it’s because my future has been so uncertain as of late concerning my relationship and my career path, or because I am tired of living for “when [insert goal post here] happens,” but I don’t want to try to live for the weekends of my life anymore. Jolene absolutely nailed it in her post on her word of the year, “Be.” Yet, that didn’t fully describe what I wanted this year to be about either. So what did I decide upon?

I’ve accomplished several goals in the last year and I want to keep that going. I want to set myself up well for the future while appreciating the present. I don’t want the past to be the goal, but for the best of what’s before me to be my focus. Therefore, the word I chose for this year is…SAVOR.

1sa·vor

noun \ˈsā-vər\

Definition of SAVOR
1: the taste or smell of something
3: a distinctive quality

savor verb

intransitive verb
: to have a specified smell or quality : smack
transitive verb
1: to give flavor to : season
2a: to have experience of : taste
 b: to taste or smell with pleasure : relish
 c: to delight in : enjoy <savoring the moment>

When I thought of this, two scriptures immediately popped into my mind (aside from Phil. 3:13), two of my favorites: Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8), and

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ~Matt 5:13

Savor speaks to a few key things I want this year to represent:

  • Gratitude and praise to God for all that He is doing for me each day. Enjoying spending time with Him. Really tasting and being able to say that the Lord is good.
  • Being in the moment. Whenever you savor a bite of food or a moment, you relish and enjoy it. You are fully present and in that moment. You feel the texture and taste the flavor of it. You aren’t thinking of the last time you had it, neither are you looking forward to the next bite; you are enjoying the now. I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor and enjoy the journey as I progress to the next destination. It can be hard not to mourn what it gone or yearn for what is to come, but I’m going to focus on enjoying where I am and letting things happen in the fulness of time, when God wills it to happen. I can’t speed up His timetable anyway.
  • Lastly, I want to be savory, to be well seasoned. I want the things that I say to be well seasoned. As the salt of the earth, I want to flavor the things around me, to preserve and influence them. I want people to see how God has enhanced my flavor. I want people to want what I have that makes me so…delicious. I want to be able to say and do things to lead people to Christ, to encourage them on their walk with Christ, and to prompt them to share with me things that will help me in the next stages of my journey.

SAVOR. The word for 2013.

I promise I’ll tell you how Decision 2012 went soon. I double promise.

Your Two Cents: What’s your word of the year?

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