My 2020 OneWord…The Year I See Clearly-20/20

Like Every Other Year, I Do Not Chose a Word. My Word ALWAYS Chooses Me.  

This year was no exception. In 2019, it was my intention to make every act sacred. 2018 and its stressors tried to kill me. Nevertheless, I persisted. By mid-year, I asserted that self-care was my mandate. But since I have never prioritized my own life, although I am famous for telling friends to put their own oxygen masks on first, I failed at self-care. 

Not Until I Received a Chronic Health Diagnosis

(finally my turn in the family) and my own serious health scare (just a scare) that I figured out that I too was worth it. 

So, if not Self-Care, Then What? 

I genuinely meant to put myself first, but life, and bad habits.  Despite all I have endured, I remain faithful.  Therefore, I prayed for guidance to try again, better positioned to succeed. I promised myself self-care, and I failed.

But What if I Promised God? 

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 

Exodus 20:8-11 NIV 

I became quiet, waiting for a word. I waited, far longer than I believed I’d need to, and then it came. Self-care was a commitment I tried making to myself.

Sabbath is Sacred. I Will Make it My Pursuit this Year. 

I’ve already begun slowing down, actively pursuing at least one day’s rest. Not only is it good for body and soul, it is that to which we are called. 

Life will overtake me again, and I will need to rally for warfare. What has changed is that I acknowledge that with age brings wisdom, and warfare looks different in this season.

When the Trumpet Sounds Next Time,

I will need to be strategic, well-rested, well-prepared, well-armed, and aligned.  Sabbath rest grants me that opportunity, the opportunity to surrender. I have good resources, great models, and abiding faith. Lord, I want to practice rest.  

So I take a Sabbath.  

And then I let the Sabbath take me.  

The emails pile up.  I say no.  I sit on the back porch and eat a crisp Jonagold. Mom and I make a salad. I sleep with my sweet Dan. I remember once again that the world doesn’t need me so desperately after all.  

A spirit-wind blows.  

Rain falls.  

Snow melts.  

The soil darkens with earthy nourishment.  

And important things begin to grow. 

Rachel Held Evans

And so it begins. My OneWord for 2020 is Sabbath. As I pursue its practice,

Pray for me? 

Encourage me? 

Join me? 

#sabbath 

#whatdoyouwant