here are some who give each new year a name. It is sorta like "name-giving" in the Bible--you give your child a name that God instructs you to give it in faith believing that God will bring to fruition in his/her lifetime all the things that name implies for the good of God's kingdom.
Ps 38:9
All my longings lie open before you, O Lord.
After reading the scripture above, praying and thinking about this for a few days, I decided to name this year, 2010, "the year of longings."
I think I know what my "longings" are but do I really? God knows. His Word says that all my longings lie open before Him.
My longing this year is to know and identify what my true longings are, to emphasize those that would enhance the cause of Christ, to de-emphasize and obliterate those things in my life which do not glorify Him. Tall order, huh? He must increase, I must decrease. John 3:30
I think the photograph above depicts my life at the beginning of this New Year. To me these horses represent the varying aspects of my longings. Will I "run off" in all different directions this year? Will I corral my ideas and energies and make them work together to bring good to my friends, family, God's kingdom? They remind me of the energy in horse-power, the energies of two or more working together for one cause.
This picture also reminds me of this verse and this dream I had sometime back and I know that it is only in the Lord's Name that I can trust--I must give my longings to Him this year. I must ask that He nurture, direct and channel my longings to the plan He has for my life to travel this year.
How will I handle the challenges of this year? How would I have reacted at the beginning of 2009 had I known ahead of time that my oldest son would suffer a heart attack and very serious health issues, that my 12 year old granddaughter would be diagnosed with juvenile onset diabetes?
So it is that I come to you today with the longing to share some of my deepest longings.
One thing I long for is dedication and commitment in my life. My health is not good right now. I have not taken care of my body as I should. I have a pinched nerve in my back and am presently in physical therapy and on high dosages of prednisone, trying to alleviate surgery.
I need to lose weight and exercise. I share that with you--you are my accountability partner. At the end of this year--2010--I want to go back and review this longing and see how I did.
As God leads, I will be sharing other longings of my heart with you this year and how God is working in my life.
If you have named your new year or if this post inspires you to name it, would you kindly slip in a little comment or send me an email. I would be so interested to know where your desires lie for the coming year.
Happy New Year,
Dianne
2010-the Year of Longings
P.S. Thanks to Pioneer Woman who so generously shares high resolution photographs for us to do with as we please.
and thanks also to Ann Voskamp at Holy Experience. It was on her blog where I first read about "naming the year."
