My Word of the Year

My blogging friend Amber posted her word of the year, which is Honesty. I read her post and was inspired to do the same. I picked my word of the year in an instant. It was Trust. I thought it was a very appropriate word for me. After all, I have always had issues with trust. Whether it's God or myself, friends or romantic interests, I seem to never be able to trust. To be honest though, over the last two or three years, as I've gone further into recovery successfully, I've successfully trusted in a lot of things and people. So I chose the word simply to remind myself that trust is important to me day-by-day...that I'm going to have to trust that even though things are in a bit of turmoil at the moment it really work out ok.

However, as I went to reply to Amber's blog another word literally popped in front of me. I was asked to verify my comment by typing in the word bless. There it was in bold red letters. And I knew that as much as I do need to trust and to focus on other things this year...my calling is to bless.

So, here's how Merriam-Webster online defines it:

Main Entry:
bless
Pronunciation:
\ˈbles\
Function:
transitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
blessed \ˈblest\ also blest \ˈblest\ ; bless·ing
Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English blētsian, from blōd blood; from the use of blood in consecration
Date:
before 12th century
1: to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word
2: to hallow with the sign of the cross
3: to invoke divine care for —used in the phrase bless you to wish good health especially to one who has just sneezed
4 a: praise , glorify b: to speak well of : approve
5: to confer prosperity or happiness upon
6archaic : protect , preserve
7: endow , favor

Ok. So, I can't really do #1 since I'm not a priest or pastor. I do the sign of the cross on occasion, but I don't think that's what I'm going for. I am guilty of using the "southern" version of "bless your heart" more often than not, I'm not really a protector, and I don't have the ability to endow or favor anyone with...anything. So I think it's those middle definitions that are going to be applicable to my life this year.

First of all, to praise and glorify. Who better to praise and glorify than God Himself? And I will strive each day, each moment to do that. I will fall short, of course. But there is no shame in being more aware of this, of truly doing everything I can to honor His name.

Next, to confer prosperity and happiness upon. I am to bless others by my presence. Making people happy is not the goal here for me. Helping them find joy, on the other hand, is. There is such a difference between the state of happiness and the life of joy. And my role this year is to be a blessing in someone's life. To remind them of the joy that exists in the everyday moments. Hopefully it will be more than one somebody...but I will trust that the right people will be brought into my life.