The "I" Word

I am really excited about the new year. Like I said before, I love new beginnings, new goals, new aspirations. I’m not watching any TV during my 90-Day Challenge, and I’m also looking forward to how stepping away from my normal habits will open up my life to new experiences.

What new experiences are you looking forward to in 2011? Life is so interesting in that there is always upheaval and change going on so you can almost always find something to be concerned with, but then time can pass and you look back and realize you’ve missed out on intentional living. 2011 is about surrender and trust for me. I believe the equation God has downloaded into my brain is surrender + trust = intimacy. I have been praying about the subject of intimacy for a long time.

Sidenote: Are you one of those people who gets squeamish just reading the word? Intimacy. Intimacy, intimacy, intimacy. I have to admit to being one of those people myself.

I’ll let you know how the journey goes. I have to be honest—when I was sitting with the Lord and He revealed this theme to me for the year, I wasn’t thrilled. And yet at the same time I was satisfied in that way you are when you are about to swallow foul-tasting medicine but you know in the end it is going to make you feel better. I think that I have been making my way to this point… the point where I am actually ready to go through the hard stuff to get to the good stuff. I seem to be tackling this in many areas of my life all at once, and sometimes I feel on emotional overload. But I keep walking, keep making choices, keep enjoying the little rewards of those choices and letting them fuel my progress. And most of all I am dreaming for more.

If I had to describe the general emotional state of my week so far, it would be this: You know that feeling you get after you’ve had a good, long cry? It feels kind of good, doesn’t it? Kind of clean? That’s how I feel.

Surrender and trust. How funny will it be if next year is trust and obey?