My Word for 2012: Cultivate

* This post is more on a personal note rather than what is having at Rescue Atlanta. This blog also serves as my journal. These are my opinions, feelings, and my canvas for which I work through a lot of issues/thoughts. I still love input, and hope that when I type these type of entries it still causes people to think and act.*

Recently my friend Abbi wrote a post about her word of the year.  I thought about it for a few days and declared that my word for 2012 was going to be "dig."  I liked the Webster's definition of it and thought it would push and motivate me. Then another friend of mine turned my attention to this website: My One Word.

After reading through the website and the suggestions made, I decided to spend some time praying about my word. See, this is a replacement for a bunch of New Year's Resolutions.  You focus on one word. I liked the thought of really "Digging Deep" or "Digging for strength," but as I prayed, it just didn't seem to rest completely with me. That's when the word "Cultivate" came to mind.  The more I prayed and thought on it, I felt confirmation that THIS was my word for 2012.

cultivate

 verb

1 to come to have gradually 

Synonyms acquire, cultivate, form

2 to help the growth or development of 

Synonyms advance, cultivate, encourage, forward,further, incubate, nourish, nurse, nurture, promote

3 to look after or assist the growth of by labor and care 

Synonyms crop, cultivate, culture, dress, promote, raise,rear, tend

4 to work by plowing, sowing, and raising crops on 

Synonyms cultivate, tend, till

The season of life I find myself in leaves me feeling like I have to start over and work for everything I want again. Things don't just happen....or should I say rarely do things "just happen."  Sometimes I'm left feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, or feeling as if the carrot is dangling just far enough that I can't grab it.  If I want to have new friendships, I have to work at cultivating them. If I want to have deeper relationships, I have to cultivate them. If I want to make new contacts for the the ministry, I have to cultivate those connections. If I want my youth to open up to me and talk to me, I have to cultivate those relationships. I find that I can use the word "cultivate" a lot when it comes to relationships.

If I want to be healthy I have to cultivate better choices. If I want to have peace, I have to cultivate forgiveness. If I want to have a deeper knowledge and relationship with the Lord, I have to cultivate my mind and heart by the study or God's Word and prayer. I feel like I have to cultivate before I can really dig. It's the first step in the process....and one thing that keeps coming to mind is it takes TIME. Patience. Repetition. 

A plant starts as a seed and is cultivated to growth....the soil is prepared, the seed is planted, it is watered, fertilized, and eventually it buds...and even then, some of the plants need continual care.

I also realize that something can not be cultivated if it continually changes positions and moves. It has to be planted, rooted, established and THEN the cultivation can begin. I feel like this in particular is something God is teaching me. Unfortunately, cultivation can sometimes be a painful process because there are times in which things have to be pruned, plucked, trimmed in order to later flourish. I know that there are "weeds" in my life that need to pruned in the days to come, but I truly want to be freed from the pain that they bring. Or maybe there's not even pain associated with it, but its keeping me from being all that God wants me to be.  And I know that I need to be content with starting out as a seed while looking at the rose bushes with the beautiful blossoms.....they too were a seed at one point. I pray that the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control, will become more apparent in my life (Galatians 5:22-23).

I pray that by focusing on this one word for 2012, I will be able to put some simple steps into place to cultivate my mind, heart, spirit, and surroundings to bear fruit in the days to come. And I pray that God will also use me to nurture, cultivate, and pour into those around me in more positive ways. I truly pray that God will use me and Glenn to promote what God is doing in the ministry as well.....that 2012 will truly be a year For His Renown.  I plan to have a journal with this word on it that I can use to write about this topic. I also plan to use this word to do art as well. I'm sure God has way more to teach me than I can even begin to imagine.

I encourage you to pray about your one word for 2012. Throw out the long list of resolutions that eventually end up in the back of a journal or in the trash. Don't make a list of all the ways you don't measure up and simply ask God to give you a focus. Allow that one word to help you makes healthier choices in every area this year. If you decide to do this, I'd love to know your word and be able to see and hear the testimony of how it shapes you this year.

 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:17-20

Let the cultivation begin.

For His Renown,

Morgan