We are one month into a new year and time is already flying. I've set goals, celebrated successes, experienced a slump, been inspired, felt overwhelmed and snapped out of it.

As usual, my first order of business in the new year is to choose MY ONE WORD. My one word "is an experiment designed to move you beyond the past and look ahead. The challenge is simple: lose the long list of changes you want to make this year and instead pick ONE WORD. This process provides clarity by taking all of your big plans for life change and narrowing them down into a single thing. One word focuses on your character and creates a vision for your future.  It helps me do someting about one thing and instead of nothing about a lot of things."


My words in past years included RESOLVE, MATURITY, REFLECTION, HONOR and FUEL.  I often go into each word with my own intention - and I'm often surprised when the outcome is something different. For instance, RESOLVE (2007) was intended to be one of those things where I resolved to a stick-to-it-tiveness. A follow-through type of thing. In the end, I learned how to resolve some conflicts, made some life-changing decisions and re-solved some recurring problems.

The experiment is primarily focused on spiritual formation, but seeps into everything I do! In fact, as Mike Ashcraft explained it in this week's service, it's a lens not a promise. If I see every circumstance, challenge or success through the lens of MATURITY (2009), how does that change how I treat people or react in general?

So what is it this year? MY ONE WORD is STORY. It evolved from the words write, words and remember. Spiritually speaking, I want to know God's story. Relationally, I want to know your story. Personally, I want to tell and write a story. I realized about a month ago that when I know someone's story, I feel compassion, encouragement and love. If I know God's story, will I feel the same way about Him? Stories - the best ones - always seem to reveal redemption or character. If I know I'm redeemed or know God's story, won't that be the best story? If I know the full story, I can make better decisions. My intention is to discover how everyday stories that we create fit into the bigger picture. 

My scripture for this word is Deuteronomy 11:18-21 
 
18 Fix these words [this story] of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind hem on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

So what's your story, Mornin' Glory?

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