7 for 11: Top 7 Moments of One Word 2011

Written by on December 27, 2011 in Blog, hearing God, One Word 2011 - 2 Comments

Almost a year ago, I jumped on the One Word bandwagon and focused. Not on being a better mom or organizing my closets or creating a budget (which is what my normal New Year’s Resolutions would fail sound like). Instead, with my friend Alece’s prompting, I listened carefully for one word: one word that would represent what I believed God was calling me to in 2011. For me, that one word was: Joy. You can read back on those posts here. I didn’t blog a ton about it, but I certainly thought about Joy often, reminding myself, disciplining myself, to remember that Joy is not optional for the Christian…it is a trait of our regenerated souls that we must pursue with serious intention. Joy is what sets us apart from those tossed by life’s storms, and Joy is popular. People like Joy. They want to be around Joy. They want to find out where you got your Joy…..Joy leads people to Jesus, especially when it exists outside, or despite, your circumstances.

So as I reflect on a year of Joy, I remember several moments that made my heart sing. I didn’t do Joy perfectly, or even well. But what I feel most about my year of Joy is that I experienced growth. And I think that’s what God was after all along!

(drumroll please):

Top 7 Joy-Moments of 2011:

–A book!

For some, it won’t feel like a long journey. But for me, a shortcut-loving, grade-skipping, three-kids-in-five years kinda girl, working and waiting and working and waiting and waiting and waiting for the right time and the right project and the right publisher was torturous. (the good torture, the kind that drives you to your face in prayer). So that day, when my agent called me (she was even stunned) to offer me the dream-contract with dream-publisher…well, that was some serious joy. And it was made even more sweet because of the waiting, the face-prayers, the wondering if God had indeed forgotten. Indeed he had not. To find out more about the book (coming out in May 2012), read back here.

–Olivia. 

After the book came the hectic, frantic ninety days of writing. Amazing to think that all that wondering and waiting would lead to a sprint of a manuscript. And in the middle of that, Olivia. I blogged about her here if you want to catch the story. The story is long and not mine to tell, but Olivia fought hard and I think I saw a miracle. The moment when I went to visit her and she said my name and gave me a hug was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever experienced. I’ll hold onto that moment forever. I’ve never prayed like that for anyone, or witnessed such love and compassion from a family brought together in that tragedy. I love that girl. She has made an amazing recovery and has already been accepted into college. She’s still waiting to hear from her #1 school….as is often the case, I’m finding that much joy is often accompanied by some pain.

–raising nearly 25K for Feed My Starving Children

In February of 2010, I tried to take a challenge I heard about through Keri Wyatt Kent’s book, “Simple Compassion”. I was blogging through a year of spiritual disciplines and the idea of fasting to make poverty more real was appealing. On a whim, I invited blog readers to join me. You can read about that 5 day challenge here. By contributing our grocery money that we would have spent that week, our small blog community donated about $1,000 to Feed My Starving Children, a nonprofit devoted to feeding the “least of these” around the world.  So when my entire church took up the challenge during our missions emphasis this May, I was thrilled. The response was incredible. Our community was deeply affected by the simple act of going without, and we raised almost $25,000 for FMSC. Joy.

–holy moments at The Great Escape

In June, I helped lead a trip of fifty middle schoolers to Cleveland, TN, for a week of fun, bonding, teaching and worship with hundreds of other campers through The Great Escape. There is a moment captured in my brain like a picture during that exhilarating and exhausting trip. Being with middle schoolers is a “herding cats” experience 99% of the time, and we had finally ushered them into their seats as one of our meetings began. At some point during the worship set, I turned and watched my group. Tears filled my eyes as I looked across the faces of these little ones unashamedly lifting their hands and their hearts to the Lord. There is something very special about witnessing the next generations rising up to meet the Lord–both the middle schoolers and the college students and twenty-somethings that gave their time and energy as counselors. Deep Joy. 

–gospel moments while teaching

This year I had the opportunity to teach in many new places. I preached a sermon, I spoke at a few weekend retreats, I facilitated some workshops. I taught a series to our college students this summer and did my normal thing each week with our student ministry. And as cheesy as it sounds, I experienced God in every one of those settings. God made me to find Him when I ask questions and when I get to share those discoveries. He’s given me a great love for new connections and a joy at encouraging people, even ones I barely know. And I know that He’s done that for each one of us: whether it’s preparing a meal with love or leading a business with integrity or running or painting or holding a baby. Where you feel love–there He is. Where you lose track of time, lost in wonder–there He is. That is sustainable joy, and I’m thankful for so many memories of it in 2011.

–Daily joy moments in mothering

Maybe I chose joy as my word for 2011 because I find myself losing it in the mundane of mothering. Even though my kids are a ton of fun, they are also a lot of work, and at the bottom of it, I’m selfish. I like things my way in my timing and on my turf. Raising young kids has been a struggle! Choosing joy this year, though, gave me enough pause to experience those moments that I never want to forget. Gripping my camping chair in agony as I watched Charlie play goalie and make some incredible saves. Watching Cameron while holding my breath as she performed in her first “mock” gymnastics competition. Trying not to laugh (or cry) when my son Desmond asked the sweetest questions about life, faith and love. I’ve realized that mothers have incredible power. Not necessarily to control their children’s every move, but to bring joy into a home. That old saying, “when momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy…” It’s true. Being a happy mom is a very good thing, even if it takes the power of Jesus to take over my soul and make joy and peace in the midst of the mess.

–Tough mudder

There’s near-death experiences and miracles, ministry, poverty, writing, mothering…and then there’s competition. I don’t know if I should be embarassed to put this on my list but I’M NOT. Tough Mudder was an awesome race and an awesome day. It was so hard! But in the challenge there was team work, new experiences, and pushing yourself to do things you didn’t think you could do. It was cold and wet and dirty and tough and amazing. I could barely walk for four days after. But I loved my team, loved the day, and loved being a part of something adventurous, ridiculous and FUN.

So for now, I’m remembering the year that was and thinking ahead to the year that’s to come. I’m waiting and listening for what God wants to grow in me next. I encourage you to join me, focusing on a One-Word Resolution for 2012. Read more about it on Alece’s blog or stay tuned to add your one-word to our community for 2012!

 

 

 

Stormy Joy: One Word 2011

Written by on March 31, 2011 in Daily Life With Jesus, One Word 2011 - 4 Comments

It’s stormy today, the weather and my heart.

When the winds of change rustle and riffle my spirit, I try, no, I force myself to remind my heart of what matters most.

I pull out an old journal with a prayer I scribbled eighteen months ago, written hastily as the words overtook me, my own Psalm 37, words that I imagined God speaking right to me:

You spend too much time thinking about what’s my responsibility and too little time taking care of the responsibility I give you. All you need to do is choose good today, just today, in the life I’ve given you, in the place I’ve laid out for you. Trust me when I tell you that you can delight in me, and that I delight in you…

I will give you your heart’s desire…and I know you aren’t sure what that is, so why don’t you trust me with the heart I’ve created, your heart, and I will give you its deepest desires and holiest passion.

Every moment I want you to commit to me and my way–both in doing good and delighting in me. That is all you do–I will do the rest.

So now I need you to be still. Wait for me to act. Do not fret, for that will distract you from doing good and delighting.

I love you.

Do not forget that I am the One who saved you, who lifted you up, who healed you. I am the One who has brought you to places of safe pasture.

Do good.

Delight.

Wait.

Now, 18 months later, these words are both familiar and fresh. With a twinge of regret I realize how often I worry about God’s responsibilities and care very little about mine. But under the sorrow of my continual and ordinary sin, there is joy in knowing that doing good today, loving well today, delighting in God today,

is everything.

And so today I have stormy, windy, riffled joy.

But joy nonetheless.

Four Months In: how’s your One Word 2011 going?

Joy in Vegas?

Written by on February 7, 2011 in Daily Life With Jesus, One Word 2011 - 3 Comments

I’m not gonna lie. It was tough to find joy in Vegas.

I’m not shy about my disdain for the Vegas strip and the way it preys on every weakness of humanity. The gambling, the skin, the smoke, the way the casinos are set up so that you lose track of all space and time–feels like thinly veiled demons pulling and preying on every part of us that desires escape.

But Joy can’t be limited to my comfortable couch or my friendly church. Joy–true joy–must find a way to shine even in the darkest of circumstances. Consider this: if joy is only found in places I’m comfortable, then it’s not true joy at all. It’s happiness disguising itself as something permanent.

Vegas is like a dressed up woman with a fake smile and dead eyes. From far away she looks glamorous but up close her face betrays the truth. Between the dancing water fountains and the bartenders flipping drinks and the glitzy shows, the homeless crouch on bridges, the middle-aged waitress tugs down a brazenly short skirt, the teenage mother sits in the coffee shop, glazed over and ignoring the cries of her infant (with a cast on his leg)..these sights betray that Vegas isn’t a perfect vacation destination: it’s a place with pain and despair, just like every other place on this earth.

It’s not that Richmond doesn’t have those problems. It’s that I expect Vegas to be something that it’s not. It bills itself as a paradise but it’s more like a Wal-Mart parking lot.

And so I wrestle with the truth of our sorry state in this world–in Vegas, in Richmond, across the world. But I know my challenge is to find joy despite the magnitude of pain that this life can bring.

So I did.

I found joy in learning about how a barren place like the desert is actually teeming with life and with mineral-rich earth that sustains our lives. (Thanks to our Hoover Dam Tour!!)

  • I found joy in laughing and dancing and sharing life with my great friend Shelley, who puts on a darn good party.
  • I found joy in savoring slow conversation and delicious food with my man.
  • And I found it in the rare feeling of having NOTHING to do.
  • And somehow, I find joy even in the pain.

Because if Vegas was all it claims to be, I would be tempted to believe that joy is truly found on this earth, that we can find enough solace in diversions to feel happy. But the reality is, nothing can satisfy the longings of our hearts. If it could, you would find it in Vegas. But instead, you find a dark place with a bunch of glitter shook over the top of it–and I’m reminded, again, that our hope doesn’t come from this place, that the same struggles that you find in the stories of scripture exist today, and that the good news of Christ’s offer of real, true, free life is still good news. (Especially in Vegas.)

Words for your One Word

Written by on January 19, 2011 in One Word 2011 - 2 Comments

YES.

The One Word Prayer page is up and running.

If you left your one word, your name and link should be up on the page, along with some choice words from scripture that I’ve added. I love our little one-word community. I am eager to read how it’s going for you and to share from my own walk with JOY this January.

Go check it out. Yay.

And even (or especially) if your one word is something like COMMIT or ACTION, go ahead and add it in the comments. It’s never too late to COMMIT. Or ACT. (Or whatever that niggling word is that you know you should share!)

Sunday Morning Announcements

Written by on January 5, 2011 in Divine Pursuit, One Word 2011 - 3 Comments

It’s that time. The time when you’ve just started to get into your worship groove and your pastor starts making announcements about the parking shuttle or the need for volunteers in the nursery or please pick up your coffee cups when you leave.

But it’s a necessary part of community together. So this is the Sunday morning announcement blog, just a bunch of random housekeeping and a BIG SECRET at the end of this post:

1. One Word 2011.

OK, this idea has gone wild. In my mind, it’s a resolution revolution–to take one word to focus on and make it your theme for the entire year. It’s not too late to get on board; chances are, God is already bringing something to mind and this is your chance to act on it. If you head to my One Word post and leave a comment, I’ll add your word and a verse I’ll  pray about for you and put them up on a prayer page.

And definitely go over to the brand-new www.oneword2011.com, and leave your link if you’ll be blogging about it.

Here’s some other One Word Resources:

Get a badge for your site

Check out the Twitter Trending #OneWord2011

“Like” the Facebook Page

2. The Divine Pursuit

My study on Jonah, The Divine Pursuit, will launch two new FREE online groups. I’ve moved the start date back to 1/18, so you’ll have plenty of time to grab the guide and complete the first week of homework. If you need a great place to start with studying scripture, this study will be perfect for you. With 15-minute homework, it’s a short study that goes deep. Go here to order the book, and sign up for a FREE online chat group here.

3. Shameless, I tell you…

But I’m so excited about my feature in this month’s Kyria magazine. Not to mention I actually like this magazine so much. Kyria takes a spiritual discipline and focuses the issue on that exclusively. I got to contribute a “make it personal” section on how to apply the discipline (simplicity) to your life. It’s a great and inexpensive resource, plus you’ll make me feel good if you read it. If you read it and don’t like it, just don’t tell me, HA!

I also got to write an article for Fullfill magazine on my leadership resolution. I am not exaggerating: if we commited to this ONE THING the world would be a better place.

AND, as if you didn’t hear from me enough, I’ve written an article for Richmond’s GRID magazine on the difficulties of teaching faith to my children. Ooo–I feel so controversial, talking about faith in a secular magazine. I’m such a rebel.

4. Finally, what is WITH the bird and fish deaths this week? I read somewhere that the birds were found with broken BEAKS and BACKS. What the heck? And if that won’t encourage you to share your faith with someone, I don’t know what will.

5. If you haven’t heard this homeless guy, watch this video. I saw today on Twitter that the Cleveland Cavaliers offered him a job:

end of announcements. Feel free to resume your regularly scheduled inspirational reading. If you read on because of my BIG SECRET announcement, you have fallen prey to some terrible and deceptive marketing. Love ya!

Joy: 5 Normal: 0

Written by on January 3, 2011 in One Word 2011 - 6 Comments


Today is the first day of practicing my one-word resolution: Joy.

5 Random things that brought joy today:

1. Eyelash Curler

seriously, ladies, this wakes your whole face up. Do it.

Joy: 1 Tired Eyes: 0

2. Dancing

This was my view today at 10:02 AM at the Chuck-E-Cheese. With more than five what-happened-to-my-life Chuck-E-Cheese workers looking at me, I taught this Dance Machine a lesson! Actually, I scored an F. Now, the kinda joyful Nicole of 2010 would have played once and scurried off to act like a mom who cares about my toddler on the horsey ride. But the JOY-Nicole got back on that thing AGAIN, onlookers be darned!. AND I scored a D.

Joy: 2 Normal: 0.

3. This Face
I’m sorry. I don’t care that I’m his mom. That is JOY right there.

Joy: 3 Harried Mom: 0

4. Gratitude. Now I hate to sound trite and tell you (in my head this is a very nasaly, whiny voice) Just count your blessings! I find that “counting your blessings” usually involves things like health and food and children and good parking spots. Not that I don’t think those things are awesome. But when I count my blessings I want to count the promises God has made and delivered on.

Here’s the thing: I think God actually wants us to be wowed by him. Not because he gives us an iPad for Christmas, but because he shows up in a way that makes us know that there is a spiritual realm. That He is present and moving and working around us, and in us, and through us in other’s lives. That there is a kingdom on the move and that kingdom is here. So when I count my blessings, I want to see THAT.

When I counted those kind of blessings for 2010, I wrote down TWENTY. I was in awe of God’s presence in my life, and frankly, a little embarassed that I didn’t recognize how active He was, blessing me left and right in 2010. I am grateful, which makes me joyful.

5. Bible Search Engines. Because I wanted to find a verse with “joy” and “dancing” in it. I found this one:

You turn my mourning to dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy Ps 30:11

Mourning and sackcloth sound a wee bit dramatic (well maybe not after this post), but I think somewhere between the sackcloth and the Dance machine at Chuck-E-Cheese, God whispered:

if it ain’t happenin’ with joy, it ain’t happening.

Touche, my Lord, touche. No matter what. No circumstances should separate me from true joy.

Joy: 5 Normal: 0.

You turned my disappointment to laughter, you took off straitjacket of the ordinary and replaced it with the best-ever dancin’ boots of joy.

It’s not too late to join the one-word resolution revolution! Leave a comment here with your name and word so i can add you to the prayer page! If you’ve already signed up, how’d your first day go??

One Word 2011

Written by on January 2, 2011 in One Word 2011 - 75 Comments


I wanted my word to be determination, mostly because of this picture. (if it’s your word, feel free to borrow.)

But then I realized my determination isn’t a problem.

I wanted my one word to be trailblazer, because I’ve always lived “out of the box” but I keep trying to jump back in it.

That would have been a good word….but…..

but finally, in the stillness of my one-day solitude retreat, I realized God has been giving me a word for the past few months, and it’s time to recognize it.

So my one word for 2011 is JOY.

but first...

Joy is NOT happiness (although happiness sometimes tags along)
Joy is NOT Pollyanna views or Scarlett O’Hara platitudes
Joy is NOT circumstantial
Joy is NOT naive, blind, or superficial.

I think I’ll spend 2011 trying to figure out how to dance with joy through ministry, mothering and writing, but today is a start. I’m captivated by this word because:

  • Jesus promises it (complete! joy) in the midst of what seemed like a time of despair to his disciples (John 14)
  • Kings could be “anointed” with it (Psalm 45)
  • True manifestations of it draw people to Christ like nothing else.

I believe Joy lives alongside Peace as an irresistible quality that makes those around us know we live with something other-worldly inside of us. I am so excited to press into Joy for 2011.

Your Turn: What’s your one word?

So far, I’ve heard words like:
contentment

peace

patience

attentiveness

commit

action

shine

relate

and more….

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be putting together a prayer wall on the site for encouragement and prayer over YOUR one word. Perhaps it will be a place where we can leave each other prayers and verses to spur us on in the journey.

So buck up and leave a comment here with your word. If you want that quality in your life, you’ve got to start somewhere. Every month, I’ll be asking a question to help you along your journey. Are you ready for one-word 2011?

Big thanks to Alece, the brainchild of one word (and provider of cool graphics). Go over to her blog if you need some great idea-starters for you!

Here’s to joy, and here’s to a New Year and a God who promises

“to make all things new” (Rev 21:5)