Start the New Year in Awe
Are you familiar with the trend of choosing a word or theme for the new year? I like the idea and decided to give it a try. This year my word is "Awe."
As everyday people, sometimes it seems like awe is reserved for Hollywood productions and celebrities jetting to one ridiculous, multimillion-dollar destination after another.
Awe doesn't seem to come naturally for regular, hardworking folk. It's like awe has to be constructed, earned, or paid for.
Or at least that's what I used to think.
What if awe is as naturally occurring a gift as your kids asking for breakfast, and makes itself known when we are brave enough to be still?
I'm learning that awe is very much alive and available---right here, right now.
All it takes it is a shift in my focus to wake up to awe--to see and experience God in the very breath I breathe and eyes I see with.
Just like anything in life, I have to want to see the holiness in each moment and experience wonder.
Initially this feels challenging--I have retrain my mind and heart (hence the focus for a whole year). But I'm hopeful that experiencing awe is not about working harder, achieving more, or striving for awe.
It's about letting go, and letting more of God in. Discovering awe starts with surrendering my desire for control in my life and handing the reigns over to God.
I'm ready to give it a try by focusing on the following:
- Awe can be found in the smallest and sweetest of moments when I stop the noise and just BE IN IT.
- Awe can be found in exploring God's word in Scripture and seeking his voice.
- Awe is God’s personal relationship with me and the revelation of his wonderful creation.
My goal is to just slow down a bit and listen.
As this week kicks off a new year, I'm ready for my new theme. It's not a resolution; it's about releasing the stuff that no longer serves my self-interests and becoming who God truly created me to be. It's also about letting go of what I think and allowing God to completely take me over, and be at peace with the unknown.
Being in awe of God is a sure-fire way to remember my purpose on this journey, and my purpose for the new year. My prayer for all of us is that we may start the new year with the courage to be in awe and live into the mystery and wonder of God.
What about you? Do you have a word or theme picked out for the new year? Share it below!
Awe is great, I will add it to my word, abundant. Christ tells us that he came that we might live life abundantly. I think we miss out on the abundance some times because like awe we think it must be big, over the top, big $$$$. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, family, friends, love, laughter, anything more is abundance, a little less is still abundance. The fact that Christ is with me is abundance.
I love Awe, but I had decided my word this year would be Purpose. It seems like each new year comes in and in no time it is gone and all I have done is live my life in a daily routine. My routine is not bad, but it seems that I should do more. I have decided this year to be purposeful in all I do. That is my plan and with God’s help, I can get that done. God gives me a purpose.