OneWord 2011: Update

So I’ve sort of neglected the blog as of late.

In the past I would have said I’ve already failed at keeping up with my One Word for 2011. But I haven’t given up just yet.

I chose “focus” as my One Word.

Because I wanted to focus more on God, on the here and now.

I read One Thousand Gifts recently and loved it. Have you read it yet? I highly recommend that you do. I might just have to read it again soon because I don’t think it all sank in. But one thing that I did come away with was this: in order to give thanks, there must be a focus on the present. That is the only way we can give thanks for the everyday.

I haven’t been as diligent about keeping up with my One Word as I hoped but there’s still time. And I’m realizing that by creating focus in my life doesn’t mean that I can take on more but that I will be more intentional about what I am already doing so that I can give my all to that moment.

I can give my full attention to my God, my family, my friends when I am with them. When I am working – whether it is at the law office or photographing a wedding – I am fully there and giving my all to it. I will truly be able to do my job as unto the Lord.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. {Colossians 3:23,24}

And when I am home I can focus on what my Spirit truly desires – to commune with the Lord through reading and studying His Word.

So I’m not giving up. Not yet. (I’m too stubborn for that.) I’ll just keep going, making sure to focus on where I am, who I’m with and what I’m doing.

One Word 2011

Alece chose one word. So did Ann and Lindsey.

I thought I had chosen a word for last year but I didn’t.

This year I am. I’ve chosen the word focus. Focus on God. Focus on now, on the present.

The definition of focus is “a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity.”

One reason why I’ve chosen focus is because I noticed this past year that I had lost focus of God and His plan for my life.

As an amateur photog, I know the importance of focus in pictures. This year I want to learn the importance of focus in my life, in my relationship with God. I want to focus on life in the here and now. No longer looking back or worrying about tomorrow.

I’ve looked over my shoulder for too long, worrying about my past harming my present or my future. And I’ve been worrying about tomorrow for too long – concerned more about what is going to happen 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks or 5 months from now instead of living. I haven’t been taking in all that’s around me on a daily basis.

Living in the moment, living for God. Focused on the here and now. I am going to learn to do that in 2011.

It’s going to be a process. It may hurt here and there but I won’t give up.