Some people pick a word for the year, a word they believe God has in some way given them as a guidepost, a word that somehow defines what God’s hope and joy is for them in the next chunk of their life. Last year was the first year I ever engaged in this spiritual practice. I felt God was pointing out the word complete. Over the last 365 days it was embodied in several ways:
- A deeper understanding that I am complete in Christ through his righteousness above anything my striving could earn.
- That I am enough as I am.
- Although I don’t deserve God’s love based on my behavior, He loves me completely because of his character.
- And finally, and most compelling, that I was called to finally complete a long form testimony, a memoir, about how I came of age and came to God during the cultural earthquake that was the Woodstock era when women’s roles did a head spinning 180 from the likes of June Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver to Grace Slick, the sexy, psychedelic lead singer of The Jefferson Airplane, who invited an entire generation down the rabbit hole.
This year, I feel the Lord is pointing me to the word courage.
So, what does courage look like, and where does it come from? Is it something we can muster up on our own? Is there some profound well within our soul from which we can draw brave waters? I think not. There is nothing deep inside me except fear, worry, disappointment, and self-condemnation.
Although all these emotions point to a lack of trust in the power and goodness of God, I know as a believer, he promises to live in me. Perhaps then, courage is placing my confidence in him more completely despite my impostor syndrome.
From my smattering of French and Spanish, I know that coeur in French and corazón in Spanish mean heart.
Brené Brown says, “The root of the word courage is cor – the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage had a very different definition than it does today. Courage originally meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.”
Brown goes on to connect courage to vulnerability. “Heroics is often about putting our life on the line. Ordinary courage is about putting our vulnerability on the line.”
Author, and columnist, David Brooks, said something to the effect that writers write about what they are trying to figure out. My memoir is about figuring out who God really is and who I really am to him even at the bottom of my empty well. My goal is to take my reader on a vicarious journey through not only my external low points, but through the interior travels of my heart, that led to an ascending knowledge of God’s profound grace.
Therefore, at this point in my journey, courage means placing my completed manuscript, and its transparent coming of age and coming to God story completely in his hands, trusting that as I put God at the heart of any matter, I can risk beyond my human capacity.
None of us can comprehend our complete destiny as if it were a movie we could stream. Following our destiny is more like connecting the dots in a child’s activity book to see the complete picture.
The word complete was my last dot. This year I will pick up my pencil and search with all my heart for the next series of dots marked courage and see where it takes me.
BTW, one concrete example of how I picked the word courage is the fact that when I googled how to find your word of the year, I fell upon the following blog about being fearless. Check it out. Maybe it will give insight into choosing your own WTY. God has something new for each of us to learn about him every year, every moment, as we connect the daily dots that lead to His divine purposes for our lives.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10(NLT)
Thanks for the cover photo by Isis França on Unsplash
Copyright 2023 Ann C. Averill
