2019: Push

I didn't think that I was going to pick a word for this year, but this word found me anyway.

I started out 2018 not knowing that it would end the way it did: some new friends, a new job, and a lot of new responsibilities. I learned so much last year about myself and my habits and patterns, and it has helped my find my focus and trust my instincts.

Then towards the end of the year, the word "push" started resonating with me in three ways:

• Push myself beyond my self-imposed limits, and outside my comfort zone
• Push the boundaries at work and in life and in relationships, to live....more(?)
• Push myself to be even better than what I thought was my best

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil 3:13-14

I've been learning to let go of some of those "what-ifs", and to value moving forward even when I don't feel like I'm completely ready. I'm realizing that others can see my strengths and are ready to trust me with bigger things that I thought I could carry. I'm learning not to shrink to fit the expectations or perceptions of others, but rather to stretch myself to exceed my own limits.

Every area of my life is pushing me forward, and I'm going to go with the flow. I'm pushing for deeper relationships, and pushing for higher standards for myself, and pushing for excellence in all things, so that I may truly live a life worthy of my calling (Eph 4:1).

Do you have a word for this year? What is it? What does it mean to you?

Be blessed and keep pushing!
Shanique

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Savoring Prayer: A Lenten Series

One of my goals for 2016 is to pray more. I feel like recently my practice of prayer has been erratic at best, and over this year I'm hoping to build a consistent prayer habit.

Even as I made this goal to pray more at the beginning of the year, I began to wonder what I would pray. The inspiration for this series came from the Gospels, where various people cried out to Jesus simple sentences that reflected their heart. So over the next few weeks, I hope to focus on each of these short sentences and the heart behind them. These include people facing doubt, those repenting, people desiring to be cleansed. These people, many of whom remain nameless in the various Gospel accounts remind me that many powerful prayers are also simple, and I hope to share my thoughts on these with you.

Also, wouldn't you know that my church is doing a series on prayer over the Lenten season? What great timing! Several posts over the next few weeks will be inspired by my church's prayer series, as well as by my own experiences.

This prayer goal is part of my #oneword365 for this year, savor, which inspired the name of this series, Savoring Prayer. Prayer invites us to savor God's presence in our time alone, and reminds us to take some time away from this busy life, to focus (and re-focus). Spiritually, prayer is that deep breath that we take before we give a big speech, or climb that next flight of stairs, or walk into that new situation. Our prayer time prepares us for every action and activity that comes next, and yet allows us to pause and reflect on what has come before.

I hope that you too, are encouraged to pray more over these next few weeks. And I'll end this short post with a prayer from Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

Ephesians 1:17-19

Be blessed and shine in prayer!

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OneWord365, the 2016 Edition

Late in 2013 I heard about OneWord365, and immediately I was intrigued by the concept of choosing a word to focus on for an entire year. I mean, just one word, instead of making a list of resolutions that would almost certainly be broken.

So at the end of 2013, I picked my word for 2014, intentional. It was a good word for the season of life that I was in, and for most of the year I keep with my goal of being intentional about the things in my life: grad school and my career, my walk with God, and my relationships with others. But then the time came to start considering a word for 2015, and I was stuck. I couldn't figure out a word that I wanted to focus on for the year. So I halfheartedly chose a word (forward), and then forgot about it for the rest of the year. 

However, at the end of 2015, I knew that I really wanted to pick one word for 2016. I went through lots of words in my head (most of which I've already forgotten), but none of them felt quite right. I was certain that like last year, I'd choose a word just to say that I had one, and it would have no impact on my life whatsoever. So I welcomed 2016 with no word in mind.

Then, on the evening of January 1, my word found me! I was flying back to Indy from the East Coast, just as the sun was setting. Watching the array of colors across the clear sky from the plane I thought to myself, "Wow, this is amazing, I should get out my phone and take a picture!" And myself replied to me, "No, no. Let's not look away to take a picture. Let's just enjoy the moment, and savor it."

At that moment, I knew that that was my word: savor. 

So this year, you'll find me trying as much as possible to enjoy life's little moments, while they are happening. I'll spend lots of time reflecting, having slow lunches and leisurely walks, hoping to savor every bit of this beautiful life.

If you could choose one word to focus on for all of this year, what would it be? Let me know!

Be blessed and shine anew!

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Chasing God

The concept of chasing after God seems pretty simple. I mean, it's just another way of saying that you're seeking him right? Just a more dramatic, more passionate use of words. This is true but chasing after God also implies a much more intentional action. You have not just a definite goal in mind, but you also need to have a strategy for getting there.

Living in the Moment

Part of being intentional is being able to live in the moment, being present in the every-day, here-and-now, sometimes mundane moments that make up today.

Not that we shouldn't have goals and dreams and plans, but we should never spend so much time making them, or updating them or dreaming about them that we forget to live them.

Not that we should just forget about the past, but we should never spend so much time reliving it, or reminiscing about it, or wishing that we could change it, that we forget that life is still happening all around us.

#OneWord365 Umbrella

In case you missed it, my #OneWord365 is intentional.

Intentional [in-ten-shuh-nl]

1. done with intention or purpose

2. of or pertaining to intention or purpose

One Word 365

If you could choose one word to focus on, for the entire year of 2014, what would it be? 

That's the premise of #OneWord365: instead of making a list of New Year's Resolutions, you choose one word, interpret it however many ways you like, and focus on it for the whole year. It can be as highly specific or as vague as you want it to be.

There are no rules about what you should do with this word. You can pray about it, write about it, sing about it, it's up to you. 

Just one word, for an entire year.

One. Word. 365 days.