One Little Word

Megan from the amazing Bloom Blog published a really neat post earlier this week. She talked about a project, of sorts, that she's taking part in this year called One Little Word, and I love it! I'm going to participate, too.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions, because I think it's a totally meaningless tradition that most people just do because everyone else is doing it and they feel like they should, too (much like matching socks. These aforementioned reasons are precisely why I DON'T wear matching socks. Or shoes. Or gloves. You get the idea.). I mean, seriously? So many New Year's resolutions are very vague promises that people make and then forget about or give up on by the end of January. If you ask me, a resolution means nothing if it's just made as part of a tradition. There needs to be a true committment; an underlying passion for it to be successful. But that's an entirely different rant. :)

And yet, don't get me wrong; I certainly believe that there's always room for improvement in life! (Especially my life!) And I really like the idea of One Little Word: choosing one word to define you and the year 2009. I toyed around with a whole bunch of ideas before finally settling on one. (Did you all take notice of that? I, the Indecisive One, made a decision. YEAH! There should be thunderous applause coming from the audience right now!)

*drumroll*

My One Little Word of 2009 is genuine. My goal for this year is going to be to live my life as genuinely as possible. I think this word has particular relevance to my life lately because I've really be struggling with being genuine on so many different levels.

According to my dictionary, genuine has three definitions, and all three apply to my life and my goals right now.

1. authentic; real
I have a major tendency to try to please people, and a direct result of that is that I often try to act in a certain way to measure up to their expectations. My best friend recently confronted me about this and we talked about how, not only is the "acting" not necessary, but it's not true. It's not real. It's not genuine. Our discussion really made me aware of the many ways that I'm not being "real" in so many aspects of my life and I am determined to change that!

2. free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere
Sincerity has been a big focus of mine over the last few months, and I want to continue to make it an important part of life in 2009, too. I really believe that it's important to be honest with people and tell them how you feel. The two people in the world that I most enjoy talking to and being around are the two who I know will be brutally honest with me, no matter what. Whether this means confronting a friend about a touchy issue, asking how someone's day is going or saying "I love you", it all means nothing unless the intention is truly sincere. It drives me crazy when people ask me "How are you?" but clearly don't care about my answer!

3. descended from the original; pure in breed
When I read this, the first thing I thought of was one of my favorite passages from I John.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
--1 John 3:1-2

I love this passage because it reminds me that I AM a child of God; that I was created by Him for a specific purpose. My life has meaning and value and even when I can't see what He's got planned for me, I can trust that He is leading my life and knows what's in store. Especially in this crazy year, when I'll be facing so many changes and new situations, these are thoughts I need to keep in the front of my mind. Part of being genuine, of being pure is remembering WHOSE I am. When I do that, all my doubts about self-worth and worries about the future disappear.


I've taken Megan's suggestion and posted pink post-it notes all over the place (my mirror, in the bathroom, on my computer, on the fridge, on the radio in the car, on the cat) to remind myself of this new goal. It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of God's help for me to truly implement this in my life this year, but hey, I'm determined!

I strongly encourage you guys to take on this challenge too; I'm quite curious to hear what your One Little Words are!

How God Is Like Ice Cream

Ok. Now bare (bear?) with me.

Today I had ice cream -- real, actual, honest-to-goodness ice cream, packed full of sugar and calories and a million other unhealthy and therefore positively scrumptious things -- for the first time in months. Perhaps longer.

It was, in a word, AMAZING!!!!

How was I surviving without ice cream, you might ask? The creation known as “frozen yogurt” (which is a strange name, really; it doesn’t taste anything LIKE yogurt. But whatever. The inappropriate nomenclature of desserts is an entirely different rant) Well, in my house, we eat “healthy”. Or at least, we try to. Which means that the only kind of ice cream we ever have is fat free, sugar free stuff..."frozen yogurt"...which is usually not...great; quite frankly. Yeah, it’s better then nothing. And at the time, it seems to hit the spot and quench your craving for that cold yumminess and it’s OK, really.

But it’s not great. It’s not the best. It’s not authentic. It’s not REAL.

And while you’re eating the fake stuff, you might almost be able to convince yourself that you like it. That it’s good enough. That it’s kind of like ice cream, really, just…not…
Frozen yogurt is a trap, you see. Eat only frozen yogurt for a long enough time and you'll find yourself thinking, "Huh...so maybe this isn't so bad." You might try to convince yourself, "This is good enough. I don't really need real ice cream anyway. Hmph.". You might start getting used to it; you might find yourself lowering your expectations and accepting something that's less then what you desire.

But in the end it leaves you feeling empty.
It doesn’t satisfy you.
It’s not what you crave; not what you desire.
It just doesn’t measure up.
No matter what you tell yourself, fat-free sugar-free frozen yogurt is nothing compared to true Hershey’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup ICE CREAM. There’s no comparison, really
And when you finally taste Hershey’s, you realize what you’ve been missing out on! You realize how much more there is to life! And you won’t ever want to go back.

So…go with this for a minute… there’s an awful lot of ‘gods’ out there. People “worship” and idolize celebrities, or money, or popularity or their own self-image. That’s the fat-free sugar-free frozen yogurt stuff. That’s the stuff that might seem nice at the time, but really, isn’t all that satisfying. That’s the stuff that you fill your life with because you THINK it’s good enough, but really, it’s not. It doesn’t fill you up.

God is the Hershey’s Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. God is the real deal. In a world full of frozen yogurts that try to convince you that they’re just as good, God is the one who stands strong. God is the only one who can satisfy your heart’s desires and really “fill you up”. When everything else that you’ve invested your time and money into fails or falls short of your needs, only God will be there… true and real… and ready to supply everything you’ve ever needed; ready to give your life purpose and make you whole.

How sweet is that???

So...why settle for something that's fake? Why spend all that time trying to convince yourself that something's "right" when clearly, you crave more?
Wouldn't you rather have the best? Wouldn't you rather have the real deal??

Isaiah 55: 2-3 discusses this thought:

"Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. "

In essense, he's really saying, "Why are you wasting your time with things that clearly don't satisfy your heart's desires? You crave more in life; you crave meaning! Come to God and your SOUL WILL LIVE." (Note that Isaiah also tells us to "eat what is good".....maybe he's telling us to skip the fro yo and get some good ol' ice cream, huh?!)

Paul reminds us that God is the only one who can supply us with all that we need:

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

In other words, He'll fill us up the way nothing else can. No subsitutes. No almost-as-good.

The real thing.

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. " -- John 17:3