Mid-Year Check-in... OneWord365

It's been 6 months... 

Six months of the good and the bad of my One Word for the year...

Six months of looking for it... running from it... and not always completely convinced that it will unfold into an understanding of what it is that I am to grasp through this One Word this year!

My One Word for 2013?

Yep... that's right: "Surprise!"

I wrote about it back in January - how I didn't really want it to be my Word... I'm a faith girl and while I immediately thought of the fun and exciting parts of this One Word - I also was well aware that not ALL Surprises are welcomed or wanted... About a month in to this year, I wrote this:

I have been surprised in both good and bad ways already this year! Already! It's only February!  I can feel a shifting taking place in me... an excitement and an openness for the unexpected.  I can feel myself leaning in.  "Surprise!" is teaching me - or reminding me - that we were MADE for adventure!  We were made for risk... to take a chance, roll the dice, expect the best.  To go out beyond our comfort zones and have only Him - ONLY Him - to depend on! This will require a few spur of the moment ideas or outings... it will require me to stay present and be available at the same time!  It will require me to keep my eyes and my heart open... I am seeing that not only does God intend to surprise me, He intends for me to be surprised by myself; by what He has done and is doing from the inside out in me.  He intends for me to be a surprise, a blessing, to others as well!

So I pressed on - and in to my One Word... I found Surprises around every corner... big ones and small ones - counted and kept close... then shared over at OneWord365 in a Guest Post and that was all back in February.

And this... well - this is June.

So how has "Surprise" manifested in my life?  Steadily... in big ways and small ways... in the good and the bad ways... in all ways it has been pointing me to the fact that He is the One that I can count on!  He is the One... He is aware of every part of my day and He is involved in my routines... in my bossy lists and my spur of the moment decisions.  He is active and intimate and He just LOVES Surprises! 

I can honestly say that it's been in the midst of those BAD Surprises (heartbreaks, friendships strained, finances stretched, jobs and opportunities that didn't work out, cancer reports and tests and tests and ...well - you get the picture...) It's in the middle of those unwanted Surprises that I've been the most caught off guard to find Him - right there beside me, all along.  He takes even the dark... the unwanted, the unplanned for, the neglected and pushed away... the No-Thank-You and the Not-Ever's and He just cozies right up beside us.  

He doesn't do it to gloat... He's not all about taunting or testing...

He does it because He is always....

hear me now -

He is ALWAYS at work...

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28 NASB

So - here we are... in June - midway through this year and I have Surprises that I am looking forward to, Surprises that I am hoping for... believing for... praying for... and I am sure - as is the very meaning of my One Word - there will be things that I couldn't have ever planned ahead for that will come my way - both 'good' and 'bad'.

Here is what I am learning in that revelation though... it's really only us who categorize 'good' and 'bad'...

To Him-...?

To Him - it's all good.  

He sees the beauty in it - in ALL of it - because He is the one who has gifted us this one life - and He intends for us to live it well!

He told us again and again that He has given us Life and Life Abundantly... it was for the Joy set before Him that He endured the Cross (Heb 12:2) and when troubles and trials and unwanted Surprises come our way - just remember, He is right there beside you.

Right. There. Beside. You. 

And if you lean in, and grasp a glimpse of His perspective,
you just may see Joy beyond your circumstance as well!

So how is your One Word for 2013 treating you?
How have you seen it come into your life so far?
I'd love to hear!

Speak Life. Be Love. Shine On.
~Karrilee~