"The Word of the Day is..."

IF I were participating in this amazing thing over at aliedwards.com, in what she calls the "One Little Word" project (and I'm not saying I'm not. But I'm not saying I am either. Agh! The inappropriate, weird pressure I put on myself to do every amazing thing I see!) where you focus on, and sort of scrapbook/journal the story of the way that word unfolds in your life for the entire year (!!!), I happen to already have my word.

I just, by coincidence, think God wants me to think about this word.

I just happen to have a feeling about this word. (Can you tell I'm trying to believe I don't have to do the big committed projecty thing just because I have a word?)

It is LOOK.

And He is speaking it to me: "Look."

My K-gartner reads a lot of Dick & Jane, which is perfect for him. He gets such a feeling of success reading multiple stories that use the same twelve words.

A primary word in the stories is "Look." It is a building block. It points to something worth noticing.

God is saying "Look!" to me. He's pointing to the ways in which He is working all around me and through me. He's saying "This is really worth noticing! Check out what I'm doing here." 

Is my word "Look" because I'm so tempted to put my nose to the grindstone and keep on keepin' on? Or is it because I'm tempted to think everything is really about me and the good things I'm doing? Or is it because I focus on the wrong part of the equation at times, miss the bigger picture, and fail to have an eternal perspective? 

So many good reasons. I like it. I'm going with it. It's my word for 2011.

Funny that this verse comes to mind. Do you know it? It's Isaiah 43:18-19:

Do not remember the past events,
pay no attention to things of old. 
Look, I am about to do something new;
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert.

Funny, because it is a little inside joke between God and I. Several years ago, this was the verse I was fixed on. It was MY verse. Then I got a little tired of it, I wasn't really "feeling" it anymore, so I asked God to give me a new verse. I wanted something fresh to inspire me. God probably first laughed, and then whispered to me one way or another that His Word  never. expires.

And so it's funny of Him to renew it's meaning in my life. Once again. Still MY verse.

I get it. I'm opening my eyes.


{Today I'm linking up with Amy's blog-full-of-awesome {that's not the name of it - just a dumb phrase that just came to mind} with thoughts on the New Year. You should check it out because she's a super cool girl who happens to be really good with a camera, not to mention lots of other things. You can meet her here, at Lucky Number 13.} And I used {these} because she really likes them too.