Ali's newsletter AEzine said to ponder and come up with a word that would be you word for the year, to look back on, reflect on and live in your life. After thinking and even a prayer or two, my word is:



surrender:
In Christianity, Christ is the head of the believer. The main principles of 'surrender' to the Christian are:
1) Dying to Self, or the "emptying of self" to allow Christ to live through the believer.

2)The second issue of surrender in Christianity is allowing Christ to "take our place" through us, in other words, the emptying of self so that He may live through us.

Another doctrinal principle central to the Christian Concept of Surrender which is also in line with the other two, and often expounded more is the concept of surrender to God's Will. Surrendering to God's will entails both the "surrender of our will to His", in which His plan prevails over man's and the adversary, and secondarily to the surrender of our will for our individual lives to "His will for our personal lives." This is done through the emptying or dying of self, the "putting self aside" and all the wishes, desires, possessions, relationships and plans we have for ourselves in favor of His, trusting divine wisdom, instead of our own, accepting His destiny for us instead of our own.

Okay, if you are not religious, this may be a little much for you. But for me, it is going to give me a lot to think about in the coming year. My road of faith is ever growing and I am finding that the more I surrender to God's will, the happier I am and the better my life keeps getting. I'm 54 and I just realized, or was given the wisdom to see, that we were made to worship. Where has this information been all my life? It has turned my life around in so many ways. I want to put God first in everything in my life, and that means not just the "big stuff" or the Sunday religious stuff, but the everyday things.....cleaning, cooking, working, scrapbooking, talking to others kindly, shopping......just everything. So surrendering to His will is going to be something I am going to be thinking and doing a lot this coming year. He's leading me down this path and I must go!