Leading & Learning

I first heard about this concept a year or so ago but just recently have given it some major attention. As I headed toward the end of a pretty tumultuous year I was ready to hit the reset button in a big way. It wasn’t that I was filled with regret. It was just that it was a hard year, that’s all. So I wondered about the best way to make a fresh start and I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of developing a set of “resolutions”.

Then right before the flurry of Christmas activity I read a blog about the One Word concept and it jogged my memory. So I looked a little closer and decided to go for it. You can find out more by going to http://www.getoneword.com. My goal for this blog is to give you a little bit of background as to why I chose the word I chose, not to sell you on the one word concept.

My word for 2014 is… PRAYER.

Now, it may seem like a no-brainer to you but I want you to know it took me a bit to commit to it. The idea is to choose one word that will transform your life and that’s a pretty daunting challenge. I thought about it for a long time and then really asked God to give me the word that would really transform me.

Maybe this word is so appropriate because of the difficult year I’ve had, I’m not sure. It is definitely the right word for me for 2014 though, there’s no doubt in my mind. It’s not that I’ve been struggling with prayer – I absolutely love to pray and find myself uttering little mini-prayers to God all day long. I’ve also began trying to implement something the whole staff at Dare 2 Share is doing – The Daniel Challenge – praying 3x a day on your knees for revival among teens. I would say that prayer is currently a big part of my life.

The one thing that stood out as I was searching for just ONE word was that it needed to be a word that, if I truly focused on it all year long, would make me a different person when I looked back a year from now. From the bottom of my being, I honestly believe that prayer will do this. It’s going to be a great year!

By the way, if you haven’t read The Spiritual Secret about the life and ministry of Hudson Taylor, you should pick it up and put it on your 2014 reading list. It’s well worth the time.

It’s that time of year. The Colorado weather is constantly changing and it’s impossible to keep the outside of the car clean. So I stocked up on that helpful blue liquid that squirts on to the windshield from some secret place under the hood just to be sure that I can push a button and magically be able to see where I’m going. Yep, seeing where I’m going is pretty stinking important.

But sometimes the magic blue liquid just isn’t enough. The two semi-circle openings clear the way for me to see okay, but there comes a point when I just need to completely clean the entire surface in order to get a clearer picture of where I am headed. That’s how life can be at times too. Especially over the holiday season. I have been rushing from one thing to the next, clearing the way for me to just see through.

But now it’s time to clean off the entire pane of glass and gain some perspective. It’s 2014 and I believe that God has some great adventures in store for me. I just need to stop for a minute and clean the windshield.