The Word

How has 2020 impacted your goal setting and planning ahead and all your New Year’s Resolutions?

Many people seem to do it, at least those on my social media pages. As a new year rolls around they choose a new word to capture the vision or hope for what the new year holds, how they hope to grow or see God reveal Himself.

I didn’t know so many others did this when it just seemed like a good idea to me a few years ago. Those of us who just love a good word, who are fascinated with stringing them together, enjoy dwelling on the power of a well-chosen one.

Most years a word has kind of grown on me as a theme rather than just showing up instantly. This word has often proven to be a strong thread running through experiences and relationships, pulling together lessons, creating a clear pattern, revealing growth and change.

One year, not long ago, the word “yield” seemed to be everywhere I went – what kind of “yield” will this or that seed produce? Or when do I need to “yield” to what God’s doing rather doggedly pushing ahead in what I think I should be doing?

Last year I didn’t seem to receive a word, and maybe that was providential? I remember hearing many others remark on how 2020 provided the perfect opportunity for some clear (or perfect?) vision. But I didn’t have any great vision for what lay ahead, just trying to get some bearings and recalibrate as my family anticipated more significant transitions.

So, what about this year?

I didn’t go looking for a word. I think, in a sense, I’ve been speechless or without words.

I’m unsure what kind of word could capture a motivating theme to grow out of the jumbled disarray 2020 turned into. 2020 refined the idea of making goals and planning ahead. With some trepidation, I peered into 2021 and resolved one simple thing: to take each day as a gift – one day at a time – to be lived wholly and holy, humbling walking with my God.

So, do I have a word now for 2021?

I do. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, it comes directly from looking at the disordered state of 2020 and realizing something very simple and true: it’s a mess.

It may be a bit embarrassing to admit – un-spiritual or de-motivating. But there it is – mess.

It can take on different functions and nuances depending on how you use the word.

It can be a noun, as in “I am such a mess” or “Hey, look at that mess!”

It can be an appropriate adjective: “messy room” or “messy grace” or “messy life.”

It could possibly be used as an adverb although that would be a bit unorthodox (but hey, it’s 2021!). “She messily grabbed the pile, dropping scraps of paper as she ran.”

I began reading through the Bible again this year, and I began working through the new pile of books to read as well. And you know what? I see messes everywhere – the messiness of lives lived. It’s like the beauty that comes out of real ashes; a heart-broken grandma holding close a new baby; bitterness evaporating when the image of the divine is clearly beheld in one another.

But there it is. My word for meditation and contemplation this year – the word that may shed light on experiences and relationships, threading together lessons and insights to make a pattern. I wonder what that will look like. I hope it’s a picture of God in all the mess, as I messily love others and count on His grace to be more than enough, His real messy kind of love leading the way, one day at a time.