I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t fall for it when they use the word ‘goal’ instead of resolution, either.
I have a hard time sticking to these self-imposed changes. I think it reminds me too much of dieting. And that literally puts a bad taste in my mouth.
However, at the beginning of this year, I received a newsletter from a website that I had subscribed to.
The newsletter announced that there was a tool that would generate a word for you to meditate on for an entire year. As a lover of words, I was instantly in. This, I could do.
You can find this tool over at Jen Fulwiler’s website.
The newsletter suggested that I offer a little prayer before I clicked the magic button to see what word was generated for me.
So, I sat in a moment of silence before I asked God to please give me the word that I most needed to learn from. With mounting excitement, I clicked the button. And then, my word appeared.
In a split second, I went from a moment where I knew that God would speak directly to me to what I imagine might be considered paranoid schizophrenic.
I sat back and thought well, well, well…
Wasn’t Jen Fulwiler a computer coder before?
How did she set this thing up?
I will admit that I know nothing about computer coding but this smelled of conspiracy theory… This could not be a coincidence. Surely, she was able to write code that would scope out the content of my computer and figure out what subjects I researched and wrote about most.
Jen Fulwiler was beginning to look a lot like the lady sitting behind the crystal ball…
But what if God did in fact send me this word?
I looked back at my computer and there sat my word in bold text.
Detox
I bet I’ve used that word more than the average person. But, I’ve only thought about it in one context. Perhaps God was asking me to look at this familiar word with regard to me.
I tapped on my computer keys looking for the actual definition of detox and found this:
“A process of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances; detoxification.”
Then I looked up the word toxic and the first thing that showed up was a massive list of synonyms: venomous, virulent, noxious, dangerous, destructive, harmful, malignant, injurious, pestilential, pernicious, unsafe and environmentally unfriendly.
As I looked at this list with a new perspective I sat there realizing that maybe just maybe, God knew what He was doing…
Then I read the definition of toxin/poison:
“A substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed.”
There was so much to consider here. It might take me a year to ingest it all. Maybe longer.
I went on my merry way and later that week, I attended my favorite twelve-step meeting. That night, our chairperson shared with us a newspaper clipping that ‘Dear Abby’ often uses in her New Years column.
She handed me the article to read. As I began to read it, it felt like this article, if followed might be one way for me to begin to detox my life.
What’s more it felt like God was confirming that the word offered, was coming directly from Him.
And so, I wanted to issue a little warning: if you ask God for something, be sure that you really want it!
This little word will be the focus of future posts. I have so much to consider. How can I detox my mind, body and spirit? And, what things in my life are toxic?
There’s a lot to think about. Please follow along by subscribing.