Naming

Do you pick a theme for your year every January?  I do.  I think a lot of people do, but I also think a lot of us forget about it a few months into the year just like we forget about our renewed commitment to exercise or read more or whatever.  But there is something significant about putting a name to things.  It gives clarity.

At the marriage class this past Tuesday, (which has been so good by the way if you were unable to attend). Palmer asked "What do you expect or want from marriage?  What makes an A+ marriage?" I love that question because it is so easy to rock along in life never naming who you want to be, what you want to be core in your life, your goals, your vision for life.  This can be applied to almost anything.  Your career.  Parenting.  The culture you desire for your family and home. Your struggles.  Your crisis.  Whatever season you are in.  Something happens when you name it. It is a powerful thing.

Palmer also quoted Zig Ziglar who says, "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."  But even more tragic than "hitting nothing" is missing God in the moments of your life.

We meet God in the naming.  The past few months have been hard ones for me.  And then this past week has been a week of upheaval and heartache for me personally.  It has been a week of grief and loss.  So yesterday morning I opened my journal back to January and I read through my conversation with God about the year 2012.  I read about my desire to surrender control and know Him in weakness, to posture myself in such a way that invites Him to carry me, lead me, hold me. To not be so self-reliant.  I also read about my theme for the year of courage, courage of heart.

I have some heros when it comes to courageous hearts.  And in January 2012 I journaled about these women.  One friend's courage to forgive and heal.  Another friend's courage to hope when it would have been easier to "move on."  And our brave Libba Armenta's amazing courage to truly Live in the moment amidst tremendous grief and sorrow. I wrote,

"Each of these women have courageously trusted their hearts to you when they could have "played it safe" and protected themselves.  Some might even have considered it wise and prudent or "guarding their hearts" to have walled themselves off.  Yet verses like "guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life" and "out of the heart the mouth speaks" speak of how incredibly valuable the heart is because it is the center and source out of which we live.  We must care-well for our hearts (not wall them off) if we want to live well.  Each of these women have chosen to embrace living from the heart and courageously, not naively, trusting you through the process."  

Right now I find my heart is in a fragile place that I would not have chosen for myself, yet God was so very kind to whisper these words to me back in Janaury.  To "aim" my heart towards this kind of heart courage.  The words He spoke, the year He named for me back in January is orienting me through a disorienting time.  It is anchoring me.  His words are life.  His words sustain me.  His words can sustain you, too, but it begins with creating the quiet to pursue Him and hear Him.  We must take the time to name where we are.  We must pause to hear His namings, His vision and hope for our seasons.

This is what it is be a traveller.  To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, He is not safe, and so the journey isn't always safe either.  It is not for the faint of heart.  But He is good.  He is good. He is good. He is good.

The theme of our retreat last March was Your Story Matters.  And over the coming months we intend to share stories.  Stories of Travellers.  Stories of how God meets us.  Wherever we find ourselves.  He meets us.  In broken and painful places. In ordinary moments. He is there. But sadly we can miss Him because we live with a lot of noise. We do not take time to listen to His whispers.  We power through heartache and hardships.  We numb ourselves with distractions.  But He is there.  If we will quiet ourselves, if we will seek Him and ask Him, He will speak to us.  He will speak to us when our life feels like it is unraveling, and He will speak to us while we are washing the dishes.  He cares about it all.

In September Libba Armenta will be sharing with us at our En Route Gathering about her journey as a traveller through the difficult loss of her daughter, Glory.  And there are other stories that will be shared here, through our blog.  But I encourage you to take pause and to invite God into your story today.  To create some quiet space to hear from Him and name where you are.  Name this moment, this season, wherever you find yourself.  Encounter Him in the naming.

And if my life were to have a sound track, I would "name" this my theme song for the year.
What would be your theme song?



written by:  Holly Norton