Happy New Word!

I know, I know. I am the Queen of Awful Bloggers. I was going to blog about my marvelous one word last year and I was going to finally, FINALLY be successful with a journal. And then April slipped into May, which tumbled into June which somehow transformed in October and then December and now here I sit, in a brand spanking new year.

Officially, I still have a few months left of my year long One Word challenge. But, seeing as I was an epic disaster at that attempt last year, I figure it's better to just start fresh in January. I even have a fancy new word. Yes, I have already chosen my new word, can you believe it?? So, what all is new for 2016? So glad you asked. Wait, you didn't want to know? Oops, sorry. Too late!

New Approach
Last year, I think I took to much of a "resolution" look on my word. Gentleness was supposed to be a way to focus on being kinder, meeker, softer, particularly with my loved ones. If I'm grading myself, I got a big fat F in that one. Although that one word was great and I did need some help in that area, I certainly didn't finish the year any gentler than when I started. I also discovered that so many times when I was trying to be "gentle" that I was letting myself be a doormat. Needless to say, that lasted all of two seconds before I blew up and stood up for myself, because a Red Bird will not be denied. This year, I realize, that my approach should not be about my gentleness or my anything. It should not be about me and how I walk through this earth and how I interact with others on it. My approach needs to be about Him and His character. Him. Not me.

New Goal
Wait a minute Red. I thought you just said this wasn't about you, but about Him? So what's with the goal? Alright before you start in on me for already losing focus and shifting my approach and screwing things up...I still have 362 363 (leap year!) days left to do that. But what good is any endeavor without a goal, lest we set adrift in the seas of complacency. Or something like that. But seriously, I do have a goal for this year. Not that I miraculously become the world's greatest journaler. That ship sailed loooooooonng ago. No, my goal is that I learn something about Him, His character, His will, and my purpose. Whew...shove me in the shallow waters, before I get too deep! But in all seriousness, I want to gain a better understanding of God and His character and personality. I want to draw nearer to Him. I want to stay the course with the challenge not just because I am stubborn, but because I am learning and seeking and changing. I think that's a goal that we could probably all stand to have on our lists.

New Method
I'm tinkering with the idea of attempting some new method for my year long study of one teeny aspect of God's character. I have yet to look up my word in my handy-dandy, bite-sized Exhaustive Concordance, so I can't say with any certainty that my word is actually (a) in the text (b) frequently recurring or (c) embedded within inspiring and motivational verses. Perhaps I will find my word is more of a theme rather than an explicit instruction or characteristic. Then again, maybe it is found 384 times (spoiler: it's not). The point is that even if my word isn't found in the Bible as often as I might like, even if I do not have a mile-long list of verses to pour over and ponder, I need to be able to learn and research.

New Choice
This year, my word choice has less to do with me, and more to do with Him. See, already making progress with the new approach. What is a characteristic of God that I want to see more, learn more, know more? Not what do I want to become or do I want to change, but what is He about and how does this word reveal Him to me?

Which brings us to this, my new word.


Intentional.