On [my one word of] 2013.

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This year I'm starting a new tradition (that may or may not continue). I'm joining hundreds of other bloggers over at One Word 365 in choosing a word to focus on for the next 365 days (minus 8 or so...2013 is getting a late start over at R&B). For 2013, I've chosen:

Release: 1. to allow or enable to escape from confinement.

Releasing the tight grip of my fists, to have open hands to others.

Releasing the expectations of others, so I can be free to be me.

Releasing the hurts of the past, so I can love deeply and fully.

Releasing others to thrive in their gifts, so they can learn the freedom of Christ, as well as giving rest to others who carry more than their fair share of work in ministry.

Releasing myself from the pressures I put upon myself.

I read several definitions of release. It’s one of those words like “run,” that have way more definitions than you would expect. My favorite definition of release was "allow (something) to return to its resting position by ceasing to put pressure on it. Example: press the cap down and release."

Oh, how much this can relate to life. There is always so much pressure pressure pressure, and never enough rest.

I learned a lot about being ok with rest (three months away from the chains of the alarm clock) while I lived in France last summer. I finished my last semester of grad school in December and entered a new season of rest. No more school.

But my word isn’t rest, it is release.

Because it’s less about returning to a resting position, and more about ceasing to apply pressure.

Pressure to fill our days with noise, people, things, words, chaos. I want to intentionally put margins in my life. Thick wide-ruled margins, like the pages of elementary school notebooks. The ones that are made extra broad, because they expect and allow for mistakes. 

When something is released, it is free to be exactly what it was meant to be. Nothing is holding it down, or back, or asking it to slow down, or be quiet, or anything other than fulfill its entire potential.

[ps: My sincere apologies for falling off the grid mid-series last month. But, I was finally reunited with my love, and well, I’m sure you understand. After three months apart, spending time on the blog just didn’t seem important. But here I am, back in Missouri and back on the grid, because he’s still in Oregon and my readers have been neglected. Rainboots & Beef will be returning to normal programming, and stay tuned for announcements about the launch of my new blog: Being Joyful Always!]