My Word 2011

I've been reading a lot of blog posts about choosing a word as sort of a theme or focal point for the year. It seems simpler than a specific New Year's resolution, and probably easier to stick to, or at least easier to come back to, if you have a setback. I don't know when this started. Maybe people have been choosing an annual word for years and I've just been oblivious to it. That's not out of the realm of possibility.

This year, I thought I'd give it a try, but let me tell you, it's not easy. I have been thinking and thinking and praying and just coming up with so many that would work well for me. I guess that shows how many areas of my life are in need of improvement. ;) I could choose patience, serve, surrender, give, peace, calm or pray. But in trying to think of my word, I thought to myself, "I need to listen to God's word for me. I'm asking Him what it should be, but am I listening?"

And there is was....like one of those moments where a soft light shines down from above on the person who finally got the message. I could practically hear a chorus of angels singing as it hit me.

LISTEN....that is my word.

Kind of ironic isn't it? I do need to listen...first and foremost to God. When I ask Him, I need to listen to the response. When I make choices in my every day life, I need to listen to that voice that tells me if it's not what God would want me to do. Or that feeling I get when I'm doing things I shouldn't be doing like getting angry in traffic or gossiping in front of my children, or staying up too late at night (btw...what time is it?...eek). I need to listen and acknowledge that it's a message from God.

And when people talk to me....family, friends, neighbors, the mail carrier, a cashier, the UPS guy, anyone ....I need to shush up and listen. Especially when my husband or children talk to me about their day or just what's on their mind at that moment, I need to listen. I need to really, really be there, in that moment, listening....taking in what they are saying. And I need to make sure I do not interrupt as I listen. When we listen to others, we show them we care. They are important. We love them. What they have to say matters.

So there's my word for 2011....my first "word of the year" ever. Listen.

Do you have a word for 2011? Do share. I promise, I'll listen. :)
TTFN
~Tina