Dear God,

I’ve been reading about people who are praying, journaling, and thinking all in a quest to find One Word that might give shape and focus to their lives in the new year. And since you made me you know, that kind of thing is totally my jam.   So, I thought I’d go to the Source and ask what word you might have for me in 2017. You know me, and you know what will come, so who better to ask for some guidance?

As you know full well, so much of 2016 was spent wrestling when you wanted me to rest. I wrangled, worried, cajoled, and questioned when you were offering me peace. You led me to podcasts, novenas, books, people and conversations that were all about trust. You were asking me to let go, reminding me that you are worthy of my confidence. You proved it over and over. But let’s not forget, somewhere inside I’m still the little girl who always feels lost even when she sees her father at the wheel. Just a couple of days ago, my sister reminded me of a story from when we were kids. All of us were in the car one summer day and my Dad pretended to be lost. It was an elaborate ruse to surprise us with a stop for ice cream, but I was stone cold terrified. I honestly thought we’d never make it home. Home is such a touchstone for me. So, God, is ‘home’ my word? Or ‘trust’? Somehow those don’t quite feel right.

You know, if I truly trust that you are in control and that you have counted all of the hairs on my head; if I truly believe that you are working everything for good, then I don’t need to worry about where I will end up. You are a storyteller. You tell the best stories. I see you writing and working in the lives of people I know and love. I see their arcs, see their hero’s journeys. I see challenges and dragons and I see when they are slayed and when they are not. If I trust that everything that comes to me is for me, that I am a beloved character in a book you are writing with love, and that there is a happy ending for me, then maybe I can step forward in faith in a way I never have before.

And if I can see myself in supporting roles of the stories around me, I will want to make my contribution the best it can be. I don’t want to be anyone’s nemesis. I don’t want to be an evil stepsister or old crone. I want to sing life-giving songs like Ariel, write honestly like Jo, teach with purpose like John Keating. I want my faith to be clear and memorable and instructive, like Owen Meany’s. I want the new year to find me living for others, like Valjean did. I am open to a lot more light and clarity this year. I’ve been on a journey, like Santiago, and I am ever closer to my Personal Legend. Maybe this is the year I’ll find it.

I want to go home, like Dorothy, and see with clarity that everything I strive for was mine all along. Courage, a strong mind, a loving heart. I want to know and trust that yours is the pen that is writing it all. My unique story. This year, I want to strive less and receive more and I want to finally lift my head and walk through a door and leave so much of my fear behind.

And why worry anyway, if all the world’s a stage and and all of us merely players, as another great storyteller once said.

So ‘story’ it is, I guess. In the low moments of the year to come, I promise to remember how you’re still writing, still resolving conflicts, still working out the last chapters, still tying things together. And maybe that will help me to rest. In the most joyful moments, I will remember to look up and thank you because I will know those have been in process all along; through the dark chapters, they were coming to me. I see them in the foreshadowing even now.

Your beloved,

Kerry

for more info on the One Word project, go to:  oneword365.com

for more insight into the ‘hero’s journey’ theory, watch this…. let’s all be heroes this year

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