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I'm sitting in a Starbucks in west Austin amid the relational buzz of conversations and business on a rainy, cool January afternoon.
I sit alone in a crowd. My eyes are fixed outward.
From my window seat, I'm observing the ebb and flow of life that crosses the threshold of this coffee haven. Rushers, Casualers, Uptighters, Fashionistas, Distracteds, Artists, Technologists, Loners... every one of them with a story, dreams, potential. Every one of them yearning for something.
Curiously, from my internal voice, I inquire of them all, "What do you want? What drives you? What do you allow to define you?"
These questions burn in my heart. They fuel my passion to wrap words around this coming year.
It was December of 2009. My wife told me that she had heard of using one word to describe the year ahead. She explained to me that while not fully knowing why that word was picked, I'd choose it and then lean into it as it unveils itself through Divine revelation throughout the year.
I was intrigued.
In January of 2010, I dove in. I prayed. I questioned. I yearned. The word that kept occupying my thoughts and heart was Equillibrium. That year, I found my Water Bender value which remained present but unnamed until April 2011 at The BraveHeart Intensive.
I learned a lot about living an unbalanced but equalized life full of harmony and rhythms that brought me life and deeper into my Calling; deeper into Jesus.
Last year, 2011 was defined by a word that I'm still learning to receive-- restore. Indeed, it was a year defined and transformed through being restored. Restoration was holistic. Restoration was healing. Restoration was holy.
This led me to 2012. What would be the word that defined this year? What would be unveiled? What word is simultaneously shrouded in mystery yet tangible and fully accessible? God, what do you want to do in and through me in 2012?
Rise.
The word first came through a Whisper. A hint. A suggestion. Ethereal and unrefined, it haunted my private thoughts. What could this mean? What lies ahead?
Rise.
It kept pursuing me. Images started to form in my mind. Melodies rang in my ears. This Whisper now had my soul at full attention and curiosity.
Rise.
I could feel it. The power. The majesty. The nobility. It beckoned me to more; to an adventure without revealing what would be discovered. Into the wild...
I am firewolf and in 2012 I will be morphed by the Lover of my soul through one word: rise.