2012: The Year of HOPE

In 2008, I heard about this concept of choosing a word for the new year. It resonated with me for some reason, and so ever since I have made that a part of my New Year's traditions. In 2009, I chose the word surrender and in 2010, I introduced the concept here on the blog as I chose the word thrive. Last year, I didn't have just one word that came to mind; instead, I had a bible verse for the year (Psalm 63:7-8) and I have kept it over there on the sidebar ever since.

As 2012 approached, I wondered if I should choose another word, or a new bible verse, or just forget the whole thing altogether. Because as much as I would like to say I surrendered in 2009 and thrived in 2010, I'm not sure those words had much of an impact on my life through out each year. And so I hesitated until mid-December, when I knew my word for 2012 would be HOPE.

Over the past 6 months or so, I have had a new sense of longing for heaven. (Stick with me here, I know things just got a little weird.) Now trying to explain this to anyone has been tough. I told a friend about it and she looked at me like I had this morbid desire to die. "But you have so much to look forward to! Don't you want to see your kids grow up?" So I have mostly kept these thoughts to myself, as I hate feeling misunderstood. No, I don't want to die. Yes, of course I want to see my kids grow up and be there for every step of their lives. I love my life and I am extremely grateful for it every day. But I also know that what is to come is so much better than anything we could have here and now. How could I not long for that?

In December, I read this passage from the book "Jesus Calling" and it helped put into words what I have been feeling. I include it here because it explains it much better than I could. The author is writing from the perspective of Jesus:

Your longing for heaven is good, because it is an extension of your yearning for Me. The hope of heaven is meant to strengthen and encourage you, filling you with wondrous Joy. Many Christians have misunderstood this word hope, believing that it denotes wishful thinking. Nothing could be farther from the truth! As soon as I became your Savior, heaven became your ultimate destination. The phrase hope of heaven highlights the benefits you can enjoy even while remaining on earth. This hope keeps you spiritually alive during dark times of adversity; it brightens your path and heightens your awareness of My Presence. My desire is that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I want to overflow with hope. If my longing for heaven is the beginning of that, I'll take it! And as I read these words, and the bible verses along with it, HOPE began to stand out as my word for 2012.

"For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." ~Romans 8:24 & 25

Hope does not mean that we think something good might happen some day. Hope means we wait patiently and with certainty. Patience shows that we are confident the good exists and that it will come to us someday. Impatience shows our lack of faith: everything needs to hurry up because what if it never comes? I had never made this connection between hope and patience before, and it was a lightbulb moment for me.

"We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul..." ~Hebrews 6:19

My soul needs an anchor.

However, you'll notice that I'm writing this post on January 8th, not the 1st. In the weeks between reading the passage above and the beginning of 2012, I began to doubt that HOPE could be my word. Because my soul didn't feel anchored. I didn't feel like I was overflowing with hope. Everyone else seemed to be excited about the fresh start of the new year, making resolutions and feeling hopeful for all that the year held. And try as I might, I didn't really feel the same way. I just felt like it would probably be more of the same. How could I make HOPE my word of the year when I didn't feel hopeful?

This morning, in the middle of our church service, I finally realized that is exactly why I should make HOPE my word: because I want (and need) more of it. It is not a feeling. It is a choice to wait patiently. So I am declaring 2012 to be the year of HOPE. I don't feel like I have a whole lot of it to start out with. But I am asking God to teach me about HOPE this year and I am waiting with patience for Him to answer that prayer.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~ Romans 15:13


How about you--what's your word for 2012?