Listen

 

Tell me Your thoughts today…

My friend Jennifer told me about her habit of choosing a word for the year. For a year? One word? Apparently, it’s a sort of journey to her, a word that keeps her pretty puppy eyes opening to meet the gift in each new day. Over time, her words of the year have had a lasting impact on how she defines life. I just met Jen, and she’s a writer with whom I want to have adventures, so I signed up for the emails from her Find Your Word discovery guide. Each day for a week, Susannah Conway gave us an exercise to brainstorm words and roll them across our tongues and hearts until we each found the one that was right. The process was delicious, sparking me to write new things and take a daily break from my high-speed life in order to get a glimpse into the upcoming unknown.

As a writer, I’m sure my world will ricochet with words throughout the year. Perhaps it’s because of this that God drew the word Listen on my eyelids before waking that final day. It reminds me of a song called “Conversation” that I wrote one afternoon, back before I began trying to cram 30 more things into my 3 free hours a day. Enjoy it while you read by clicking here.

I’m assured that while I may begin the year with one understanding of my chosen word, it will turn into a friend with a variety of moods and behaviors throughout the seasons. I’m looking forward to listening—to God, to what people are really saying (or not), to nature, and certainly to more music. For now, I begin with what I know, and I welcome you to begin with me.

These are the verses that arrived with the word:

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 NIV

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:23 NIV

                                                                   I’m listening