My Word for 2013 is....

My friend, Kris, is so dear to me.  We get to spend time each week together at the Homeless Outreach, try to do lunch once a month, and chat when we can.  Recently she shared on her blog her word for 2013.  It made me think about having such a word.  What would choosing one word to add to living my daily life look like.  Could I do it? Do I want to do it?  But in the pit of my stomach, I was challenged.  Challenged to pray, seek, and think about a word...my word for 2013.  A word that would call me to action, to service, to gratitude, to give, to share, to contemplate over, to meditate on, to be a noun, to be an action verb. You see my word is LOVE.  

Love...an encompassing word.  So much to be said for it, about it, the lack of it.  It is also a word we take for granted and throw around for everything.  I had a friend say to me one time it really upset him when someone would say, I love McDonald's french fries.  For him using the word LOVE had such a deep, close to his soul meaning for him, it truly upsets him to see people throw the word around like yesterday's laundry.

So how will this word impact my life in 2013?  Will it make a difference to others in my community, my family, my friends, my world?  

In 1 Corinthians 13 we have the Love verses.  Many times this scripture is used in weddings but what if I read this everyday.  What if I truly apply the words to my life?  

Love is Patient....I'm not always a patient person.  

Love is Kind.....I'm  not always a kind person.

Love does not envy....Sometimes I envy others or my perception of what I think there life is like.

Love does not Boast....I come from a loud and proud family.

Love is not Proud....More layers for God to peel away.

Love is not Self-Seeking....Life cannot be just about me.

Love is not Rude....Ok, I've been working on this one for years.  Still working on it

Love is not easily angered....Loving people who do not love others angers me.

Love keeps no record of Wrong Doings....I don't, well most of the time

Love does not Delight in Evil....I got this one!

Love rejoices with Truth....The truth will set us free.

Love Protects....Even when we think it hasn't

Love Trusts.... Without trust we can have nothing else.

Love Hopes....Hope for a world of love.

Love Perseveres....Love is more than french fries.

Love NEVER Fails....We fail as humans but Love does not fail.

Whew, this is just one verse that speaks about Love.

There's the great commandment: LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul; LOVE your neighbor as yourself.

Loving God sometimes seems to be the simple and easy thing to do.  But when we look at the LOVE he has for us....I'm not sure we can even really begin to fathom it.

A verse that has become the biggest "poster" verse is John 3:16

For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him will not perish but have everlasting life.

God Loves Me. I am to Love Him.

God Loves You.  I am to Love you.

God Loves his creation and created us for his glory.  We are to love one another.

So what will 2013 look like for me?  I'm not sure but I hope, pray and cling to Love.

On this day, December 31, 2012.  I'm thankful for the love I have.  The love of a husband for the past 28 years of my life.  The love of a son for 21 years.  The love of my parents and brother for 43 years. The love of family, friends.  Some who I have spent a lifetime with, some who I have only known in 2012.  I've learned that Love comes in all shapes and sizes. 

 It crosses all socio-economic barriers, if we will allow it too.

I look forward and I'm a bit scared of where love may take me in the next year.  

What do I need to find a fresh love for?

Who do I need to share love with?

What barriers are up that do not allow me to love?

LOVE....4 letters that I pray will change my life and yours in 2013 and beyond.

Without Love I am nothing.