And the Word for the year is.....

"You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country..." Deuteronomy 1:6-7

If you've read my previous post, you will know that I am in the process of choosing a word for 2011- a word to aspire to, to inform my decisions and challenge me out of my comfort zone.
Honestly, I found it terribly hard to pick just one word for the year. So many of the words listed on yesterday's post struck a chord with me, and I've been particularly conflicted by the seemingly opposite concepts of making space- for God, for meaningful relationships, for renewal and reflection, and advancing; an action word- 'don't just be- get up off your butt and do!'  After much thought though, I've ended up deciding on the word ADVANCE as my word for 2011.

For far too long, I've been hindered by the scary  mountain of "I should lose weight", which appears impassable. ('Shoulds' nearly always do!).  In some ways I've been living in the future- in some fantasy land called "One Day When I've Got It All Together", and neglecting to uncover my true potential now.  But even God reached the point where he'd had enough of this small thinking! Look at what he said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy:

           The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the LORD swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.” (Deut. 1:6-8)


A modern paraphrase could read "Dudes! Stop sitting around in your tents at the base of this mountain. If the mountain's too hard, just get up off your scared butts and advance by another way! Ignore the mountain- go via the foothills and around the coast, and as you overcome the smaller obstacles, you will find that the big old scary mountain has been left behind too. Go in and take possession of everything I've promised you!"

So that's my charge for 2011- 'Get up off your scared butt and advance!'
What are some ways I can advance and leave my mountain behind in 2011?
I can:

• keep getting rid of stuff! Clutter = overwhelmed = immobilized, still stuck in the tent at the bottom of the mountain!
• if we have to move house in 2011, choose somewhere smaller, simpler, and make it home. 
• stop making financial excuses and take a dance class. I love to dance, what am I waiting for??
• stop buying stuff to make my life happier, but rather make the effort to truly appreciate what I have, and relish time with the awesome people who populate my life.
• slowly reduce my debt (by saying no to the consumer lifestyle that always calls us to upgrade, upsize, etc.) Re-learn to utilize the things I already own.
• keep reading God's word- the Bible. He's good, and he's promised me a lot of good things. But I tend to forget!
• jettison the processed foods in my daily diet and live off natural, healthy foods.
• maintain a healthy work/life/study/ministry balance. Continue to be selective in what I say yes to!

How about you? In what ways can you advance in 2011? Hit me up in the comments- I'd love to hear from you!