New Year, New Word?

 

 

Last year I discovered the concept of word of the year. Struggled a bit to think of one that suited me but was reasonably achievable. (suggestions from the family of ‘tidy’ or ‘skinny’ were never going to work).

I had been reading a number of Christian blogs and realised that the thing I wanted to achieve was to be intentional. A bit scary for someone with a tendency to be reactive and revert to little girly helplessness at the least sign of stress.

How did I get on?

Firstly I wanted to be intentional in my prayer and bible study life. tried a few strategies; email Bible studies, good, but the fact that it was email meant it was hard not to look at the other ones: memorising and Scripture Typer went well for Lent but not enough study component for the whole year. What worked for me, and I didn’t find it until Advent is SOAP and Good Morning Girls. (I’m a kinaesthetic learner so writing stuff is good for me). Ready for Luke now, girls.

Secondly, I wanted to be intentional in my marriage. What a blessing to find Darlene Schacht’s e book. I have to admit that at first her ideas shocked me as I felt that they went against all my ideas of equality and the rights of women. But as I read on I became convicted that actually serving my husband wasn’t the same as being a doormat. Anyway, I tried it. Getting up early and making his lunch may not seem like a big deal but it sure went against the grain. I was sure it wouldn’t be appreciated and would be just another job for me. Wrong. it feels good and we start the day well. I have a few more chapters to work on this year…

I sometimes have to put an elastic band round my wrist to remind me of my good intentions but I’m getting there. A bit further on my journey. And as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians ‘we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more’

So, 2013.

The thing we kind of didn’t get intentional about until the end of the year was our finances. That little girl resurfaces at the thought of bills. We forced ourselves to read our bank statements, we renegotiated all our suppliers, we cancelled anything we could cancel and for the first time in twenty years, we wrote a budget.

And so, new word is…. stewardship. And for me that’s going to include our budget,  healthy frugal meals with no wastage and our stuff. Our time, our money and our stuff. Those great resources God has provided for our needs and others. All of those areas are going to be a challenge, ‘but one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 3 13.