When Your OneWord Revisits You... 2021

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Maybe you are not aware of the movement that is OneWord365... or maybe you are in the know and already have fully embraced your Word for 2021! I normally try to post a few times a year about my Word and let Y'all know how it is showing up for me, but 2020 was far from 'normal' and those posts just didn't get written! 

I've been doing this OneWord365 project for many years and yet, each December, I pray into what He may have for me and ask Him to lead my Word to me. (And --usually-- I argue and second-guess! It's fine. It's all part of my charm!)

My OneWord last year was... --wait for it... : GATHER!

Yeah... GATHER, you guys?! (You can't tell me God isn't funny!)

I wrote this at the beginning of 2020, regarding my OneWord:

"We are awake to possibilities... and we are opening our hearts and our hands (and our home, because --obviously!) and we're, once again, desiring to be intentional in how this OneWord shows up and shows off!"

I was intentional in the beginning of the year - and then, COVID.  

To be fair, even after COVID turned into a whole pandemic, we tried to stay intentional in how we could continue to safely gather our people and keep our hearts and hands open (and disinfected!) -and the gatherings in our home became gatherings on our patio!  

The irony of my OneWord was not lost on me as everything shut down all around us and social distancing, mask wearing, and self-quarantining became the new norm.

 Still -- Gather happened through out the year in gathering friends and family... neighbors and co-workers... not as much as we would have liked, but it did still happen.  

Gather also showed up in the ways I gathered my paints to create and my thoughts to research and entertain new ideas and in how I gathered and held fast to my convictions and tried to move in Grace and Love in the midst of a very opinionated, politicized world! 

If I'm honest, I sort of stopped looking for it, though! I stayed intentional to meet up with friends and to connect with neighbors and to help when and where I could... we kept our circle small --but we kept our circle! Maybe not at first, but over time we decided our mental health was super important and while I am an introvert --I'm also a pastor and an Enneagram 2 and --well, we all need each other. (It turns out!?) 

So... as I began praying about my NEXT Word for 2021, I asked the Lord to leave his humor at bay and give me a Word that is both divine timing and one that will encourage and empower me on towards the things He has for me!  I mean --that's a lot to ask of in a word, but that's sort of the whole deal, right?

When He whispered my Word, however, I felt the 'need' to remind Him that I have sort of already had that Word!  And it wasn't even my Do Over/Do Better Word of Joy... I explained to Him that there are a kazillion billion words and it made no sense to use one that I used maybe 7 or 8 years ago... and then I realized 7 is the number of completion and 8 means Resurrection* and maybe, just maybe, He knows what He is doing after all! (Insert sarcastic charm here! See? It's fine, guys!)

So, my OneWord365 for 2021 is (once again!) :

~Release~

I loved having this Word back in the day! My Word was officially "Releasing" and it was the first time I ever practiced OneWord365 back in 2012! I thought it was going to mean so many things and I was wrong on nearly every front! I remember thinking of it in terms of a Book Release... or Releasing the extra Weight... or being set free(r)!  Some of those things happened, but it showed up in other ways, too!  Instead of reliving what it meant to me last time, I thought I'd do a quick refresher on the actual definition of my Word in preparation for what it may mean to me in the year ahead!

Release: re·​lease | \ ri-ˈlēs  \

: to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude

: to let go : DISMISS

: to relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses

: to give up in favor of another : RELINQUISH

: to give permission for publication, performance, exhibition, or sale of

: to make available to the public

: to move from one's normal position (as in football or basketball) in order to assume another position or to perform a second assignment

: relief or deliverance from sorrow, suffering, or trouble

: discharge from obligation or responsibility

: relinquishment of a right or claim

So, after 2020, we have all learned to lower our expectations and make plans loosely --but I am looking forward to seeing how Release has it's way with me! 

I'm open to it! 

There are heavy things I need to release --regrets, past hurts, lack of confidence, extra weight --sure! 

But there are not so heavy things I need to release too: Hope, Joy, Prophetic Words, Paintings, Spirit-Led Conversations and Prayers... 

May 'Release' happen in us, and through us, and
around us all in 2021! 

And May we each:

* = If you're not sure why this is so cool, read THIS!

What comes to your mind when you hear the word, Release? What about you, my friend? Do you participate in finding One Word (or letting One Word find you?)  If so... what's your Word for 2021? I'd love to hear!

LABELS: AUTHENTIC, BE LOVE, BRAVE, CHANGE, CHURCH, COMMUNITY, DREAM, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, GATHER, HOSPITALITY, IDENTITY, INTENTIONAL, JESUS, KINGDOM, ONEWORD365, SHINE ON, SPEAK LIFE, WORSHIP