2010/2011 Reflection & Word Theme

Periodically, I participate in a weekly meme called Mama Kat’s writers workshop. Each week, she gives a prompt for you to write about. (Click the photo above to read more posts.)This week one of the prompts was: Choose a word that encompasses 2010 and describe why. What word will you choose as your theme for 2011.

Word for 2010—Discovery

Discovery means : finding out or ascertaining something previously unknown or unrecognized. I chose the word Discovery for 2010 because in 2010, I found myself AND I recognized God’s love and protection.

In January of 2010, I watched my marriage completely unravel. My husband and I had been separated since September of 2009 and things did not look good. I remember being too low to even cry. My stomach was always upset and I was emotionally and physically drained. It had been hard on the girls for their Dad not to be home so, I had given in and let them sleep in the bed with me since he left. My girls sleep all over the bed. They woke up every morning well rested and I woke up tired and sore.

One wintry weekend, the girls and I were snowed in by ourselves and I finally conceded to myself that our current arrangement might be permanent. I gave the girls a pep talk and for the first time in months, I put them in their own beds. I turned the TV off, cut off all the lights, and got in bed ALONE. This was a huge step for me because I had always needed the TV or some type of background noise to go to sleep; especially when I was alone.

As I laid there, I could hear every creak in my house. At first it was un-nerving but after a few minutes I could hear a constant whisper like noise. After really concentrating to see what the noise was, I recognized that it was me, breathing. I was breathing. I was alive. I was going to be OK no matter how things turned out. In that moment, I felt true peace.

It was then, in the dark of the night listening to the ebb and flow of my own breath, that I discovered that being a wife and a mom are only part of who I am. Being happily married or having perfect children was not the goal of life. I discovered that God can take care of me better than anyone.

Once I got a glimpse of how much God cares for me, my decisions and choices were different. I was able to stand firm on what worked for me without quivering in the shadows of loneliness. Oh, to have gotten that revelation as a teenager!

Over the course of the next few months, I watched God do a mighty work in me, in my husband and in our marriage. When we reconciled in April of 2010, my path of discovery taught me what my Grandma meant when she said: “There is nothing too hard for God. He can make a way out of no way”.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust)

My word/theme for 2011 is Gratitude.

I have so much to be thankful for yet often I rush through life taking things for granted and keeping close tabs on what I don’t have.

Showing gratitude takes time. You have to stop what you are doing, reflect and THEN write the thank you note. It is during the reflection time that true growth happens and impulse decisions, purchases, and words can be avoided.

Do you have a word theme for 2011?