My One Word

One of my favorite ways to start the day is to listen to K-LOVE on the radio.  For the last few weeks I've been hearing them talk about choosing one word to set the tone for this new year.  Forget the resolutions that we know know we'll never do or keep.  Let's just keep it simple.  One word.  You can read more about the My One Word project here.

The hard part is choosing JUST ONE word.  I had a lot of words that I want to be a part of my year this year.  Open, Wait, Surrender, Deeper, etc.  But I finally chose MY one word.  It just felt like the right one.

Engaged.

Absorbed.  Captivated.  Involved.  Interested.  Immersed.  Go all in.  Betrothed.  Committed.  Guaranteed. Fascinated.  Enthralled.  Busy with.  Bound to.  Participate.  Present.

I desire to be more engaged with my Lord, my husband, my family, my friends, and even strangers.  I chose this word because if two people are engaged, they are in-sync, in-love, completely obsessed with each other, busy making plans for a future together, committed to each other, involved in each other's day-to-day lives, un-guarded, vulnerable, open to what lies ahead, and excited, fascinated by spending time together. The results of being engaged should be two committed people bound together, inseparable.  That's how I long to be with the Lord and with the people around me. 

Taking a deeper look at my life and relationships right now, I feel like I have one very deep relationship with my husband, a pretty-deep relationship with my Savior and parents, and a sort of surface-level relationship with a lot of other people.  Obviously that's completely out of order and not fair to any of the relationships that I have.  

I want to have my relationship with Jesus back at the #1 spot, where He belongs, and that means being fully engaged in my daily time with Him.  Not just checking it off my to-do list because I feel like it's something I am supposed to do - but craving it so badly that I know I won't be able to make it through the day without it.  I want to be engaged, immersed, and absorbed in the Word.  When you're engaged, you're glowing, and it's all you can talk about.  He's already captivated by me, enthralled with me, committed to me, interested in me, in-love with me... 

"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." Psalm 45:11

Even though I have an awesome relationship with my husband, there's always room for improvement.  I want to be present for him, a better listener, and more involved spiritually together.  I want to always be engaged to him, bound to him, committed to him.  I've always said I never want us to stop "dating" but I guess I also never want us to stop being "engaged" to each other and with each other.  I look forward to growing even more.

I want to be engaged in my relationships with friends and family.  More involved in their lives, a better listener.  I want to go deeper with them, past the surface.  Learning more about them, but allowing them to learn more about me by letting guards down and opening up more.  I want to be present in their lives, too.  You have to be a friend to have a friend, right?

So I hope you'll participate with this challenge to choose just one word to set the tone for your year, too.  The process itself of choosing just one word is worth it alone. 

What's your one word?