Word and Reading Wednesday

 What a year!

I look back over my prayer and goals for 2020 and can honestly say that I NEVER expected this year to go the way it did. 

At the end of 2019 I was coming off the amazing high of directing A Weaving of Grace. I poured my heart into that production and was ready to do the same with my next show, Anything But Normal. I was so excited. And then March came.

I remember watching Tirzah act in the Gingerbread Man knowing that my show was next and being so excited and ready. 

Then the world shut down. 

Instead of directing my show, I had to suffer the loss of it being cancelled. And then watching every other show be cancelled for the season. My days were filled with trying to figure out Zoom meetings and explaining to my children why we couldn't go out to restaurants or coffee shops. I had to watch as finding masks became an every day thing. I had to watch a child almost end up in the hospital with an asthma attack because of the masks he was now required to wear. I watched that same child's face fall every time I asked him if he wanted to go out and him say "no" because he knew he couldn't wear a mask and people would be mean to him. I lost the opportunity to act in another production as our adult show at STP was cancelled after months of rehearsal. So much loss. So much division in our world. In our country. I have tried to help my children navigate these tough things. We had a child test positive for COVID in July and went on lockdown for 14 days. That was tough as working children could not work or see their friends. Luckily, no one else got sick (yes, isolation does work). We celebrated birthdays in ways we never thought. Ordering gifts on line and picking up dinners out and eating in parking lots. Driving to my parents house with balloons and cake and waving from the car as we dropped it on their front porch. Celebrating Thanksgiving as never before as traditions changed because we could not travel to Maryland. 

But - there has been so much good in 2020.

We now have 4 children driving instead of 1 at the end of last year. Our driveway is very full now. Four children are employed and working almost every day. William has moved out and is now living on his own. I got to help direct our Leadership show at STP and it was a wonderful blessing. Carl and I also got to perform in our Christmas show together. We actually got to swing dance on stage. So much fun! 

One of the major blessings of this year is that I got to spend a lot of time with the Lord. I think we all have. I have drawn closer to Him than ever before as I walked through how to navigate a world in which sickness and division has driven us into seclusion a lot. 

That brings me to my word for 2021.

I had in my head that it would be "guard." One of the things I have been working on since the world shut down has been using my words to build up and encourage others instead of tearing them down. It comes from the verse in Psalm 141 that says 

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to do any evil thing, to practice the deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.

I love words but sometimes I use them to hurt those I love the most. I need this reminder on a daily basis. I knew this was something God was placing on my heart but I just did not have peace that "guard" was to be my word of the year. 

On Christmas day God led me to my new word by reading Colossians 3:1 and 2.     

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.

The word "SET" is in both of these verses. I finally had peace about what my word for 2021 was supposed to be. SET!

Now these are two different words in the original languages of the Old and New Testament. 

In Colossians, it is the word phroneo which means to seek, to strive for, and to pursue.

In Psalm, it is the word shiyth which means to put, to set, and to place. It is the idea of a watchman guarding a tower. 

I love digging into the original words of Scripture. 

So, my new word for 2021 is SET!

My prayer for 2021 is this:

O Sovereign Lord,

Just like last year I prayer that there would be less of me and more of You. I pray that by the end of 2021, whatever may happen, that I would be walking closer with You. That I would grow in love and knowledge of You. I pray that I would do those things that would bring glory to Your name alone. I pray that my words would bring glory to You and comfort and encouragement to those around me and those who read my words. That you would prick my heart when the words I say bring harm to others. I pray that as I endeavor to write more and more that You would be the main character in everything. I also pray that I would seek You above all else. That I would pursue You with everything that I am. That I would love the things that You love. I pray that I spend less time on worldly pursuits and more time with You. More of You, dear Lord.

Amen