We are about to ring in 2020.
Obviously it's the year of perfect vision, right?
Hindsight is 20/20.
Seeing is believing.
Walk by faith, not by sight.
I can see clearly now the rain has gone....ok, sorry, I had to.
Most of you who have been following me know that at the end of each year, I choose a theme that I want to focus on for the new year (pun intended). This post may be a bit self indulgent and I apologise for that, but my prayer is that it may help you too.
Below are some of my past word themes.
2012 was GROWTH 2013 was RESTORATION 2014 was HOPE 2015 was PEACE 2016 was FLOURISH 2017 was NEW 2018 was EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY 2019 was JOY
The words from years past denoted something I wanted more of. This new year I don't want something, I want to know someone. I want to become someone.
When all the titles, achievements, accolades, mistakes and regrets are stripped away, who is left? What describes me? Who am I without the worldly descriptions and family lineages and messes I created? Who is Ami?
I truly believe that having a word of the year focused mindset is a rich scavenger hunt-esque method of perceiving life with the expectation of finding moments, newness and observing the day to day through the lens of that theme. And for the past eight years, it's been life changing. I don't do resolutions, I do new mindset solutions.
I have been trying to write this post for two entire days and gotten nowhere. I was absolutely stuck in what I wanted to share and a was totally unsettled on the word my heart was bonding with for 2020. A new acquaintance suggested that I walk away and so late Friday afternoon I decided to make an early dinner and snuggle in with a movie. I truly felt like I wanted to dive in to "A Few Good Men" since all day I felt like Kaffee needing his baseball bat to think. However, a movie title that I had heard about over the summer and wanted to see randomly came across the screen of options and I chose it. It's the latest Kendrick brother film titled Overcomer. If you follow christian based movies, they are pretty good writers and directors in sharing christian messages.
The underlying theme of this movie is exactly what I was trying to write from my head and heart - what is my identity? Y'all - God meets us in our struggles and frustrations, even if it is trying to write a blog post. (the was nothing random about me seeing this film Friday)
We tend to see ourselves from a worldly perspective because we have our human experience to prove us right or wrong. We can see our physical world and that tends to give us proof of certain people, experiences and places. We can touch, feel, taste and hear and that offers "proof" of facts. But we have another set of eyes - spiritual eyes and they are much different than the eyes of our body, or our physical eyes.
Our spiritual eyes are a gift from the Holy Spirit. Our spiritual eyes reside in our hearts and help us perceive spiritual realities and they work even when our physical eyes don't or can't. Spiritual realities are those things we as Christians can't physically see, but have faith in, things like the trinity, the eucharist, forgiveness, salvation.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people... Ephesians 1:18
“The eyes of our hearts” refers to our total inner person, which includes the intellect, the emotions, and the will. In other words, this is not just an intellectual ability to understand or these truths. The knowledge that Paul is praying for includes an intellectual grasp of the truth, but it also grips our emotions and brings our will into greater submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Our identity isn't based on our jobs or roles, our talents or passions, no matter how important those things might seem. Instead, who we are at the deepest level flows from our relationship with our Savior, whose love and grace shapes our true identity as His children.
Your identity will be tied to whatever your heart is tied to. So I ask you, who/what has your heart? What are you giving your heart to?
The year of 2020 I am going to be focusing my heart on one word. BEHOLD! In Scripture, there is always something special and important we need to see and hear within the context of the passage that follows the exclamation.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:19
It actually means to stand in awe and be amazed. When used we are being asked to fix our eyes upon; to see with attention; to observe with care. It's a marker to make sure the listener/reader is listening as if the writer was saying to the reader "Hey you, listen up, this is the good stuff! Pay attention! This is important!" The word is not common now and most modern bible translations have replaced it, but I love the word and I'm bringing it back!
So what does behold have to do with who I am? Here's my connection. You become what you behold. In the year of 2020 - I want to see with spiritual eyes, who God says I am. Not the Ami that the world sees, that satan tries to get me to see, that my children see, my co-workers see, my friends see, my readers see - but who my Father sees. I believe that when God sees us coming to him in prayer he exclaims "Behold! Ami is here!" I want to fix my spiritual eyes, the eyes in my heart upon how God sees me through Christ. I am asking God to do a new thing in my mind and heart and to help me behold the woman he sees, he created, he loves. I am praying for acuity in self perception, clarity in knowing myself (the good and the bad), and vision to embrace and love my own heart. To do that, I need Jesus to stand in front of me, because without his filter of perfect holiness and light, I am doomed to see nothing good of myself in the dark.
Behold, the year of behold begins.
So what about you? Resolution? Word Theme? How do you give yourself direction for the new year? What will you focus on in 2020?