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**First, congratulations to (drumroll, please)...
Sabrina! Thanks to random.org, your comment was selected as the winner :0)

Shoot me an email at ajkilbourn(at)hotmail(dot)com...you know all the usual tricks here to keep the bots from spamming me nonstop! We'll connect and figure out just how I can make your word "intentional" into something you can look at as a reminder this year.**



And now, the rest of the story...

My word last year was faithful, and if you look back at my introduction to that word a year ago you'll see that one of the first stories that popped into my head was Peter stepping out of the boat in faith, amidst the crashing waves. It seemed Peter kept popping up after that, too...I guess maybe I'm drawn to those hard-headed, passionate, stubborn guys...but I digress.


This year I struggled to find a word for 2013. I read other "One Word" posts, hoping maybe somebody else's word would jump out at me. When that didn't work, and December was over, I started thinking that maybe I wasn't going to have a word this year.


Then I "stumbled on" a post by a man I greatly respect from our church in Russellville, Dr. Morris Inch. The writing was full of little nuggets, kind of his reflection back over 2012, but towards the end one thought jumped out at me: Jesus is the Way.

Hmm.


Thinking back right now, I couldn't tell you exactly what Dr. Inch said (though I highly recommend you hop over and read his words!). As is often the case for me my mind took off on a tangent path, the original thought forgotten.

This time, the first thing that came to mind was "Followers of the Way." Paul tells us that that is what the early believers were called. I did a quick internet search and first came across a couple of strange cult pages...
so I did what I should have done first and opened my Bible for a quick search through the index, looking at the word follow.

I"ll give you a guess as to whose name came up...
yup.
Here comes Peter again!

 The first and last words that Jesus spoke to Peter (at least of those recorded for us in the Bible)?
"Come, follow Me." (Mark 1:17)
"Follow Me!: (John 21:17-19)

Huh. That's interesting...
Peter, this stubborn guy who jumps out of boats and who denies even knowing this "Jesus" guy when things get hard.

Knowing everything about Peter, knowing how hard-headed and passionate and stubborn and explosive he can be, Jesus simply says, "follow."

I said earlier that I seem to be drawn to guys like Peter. Well, maybe that's because I'm kind of a female version of him (Petra, maybe?).

So, knowing what I'm going to face in 2013,
and knowing every 
stubborn
     hard-headed
             explosive
                 passionate
aspect of my personality, this year Jesus simply says to me, "Follow."

This should be interesting...

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Comments

  1. Colorful HeartJanuary 10, 2013 at 5:25 PM

    And sometimes those passionate, stubborn, hard-headed, and explosive followers make the biggest waves in the lives around them when they finally choose to FOLLOW Jesus with all that passion and perseverance...

    Best wishes on the journey!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SherylJanuary 10, 2013 at 9:15 PM

    Following isn't the easiest thing in the world. Thanks for sharing our word and the journey that took you to it. The rest of the journey should be interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. KimJanuary 17, 2013 at 7:11 PM

    Hi - I've been meaning to comment here since last week's Faith Jam (we were "neighbors" in the link up). Sorry for the belated reply! I love when God connects the dots in Scripture and shows us seemingly small things that can blow our minds. Like how He keeps bringing you back to Peter. Incredible!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bonnie GrayJanuary 25, 2013 at 3:49 PM

    Hi Mandy, I wanted to circle back and let you know how much it meant to start the new year together -- thanks for sharing your one word this year with us in the faith jam. "follow" is such a beautiful word to hear from God.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Debbie GFebruary 25, 2013 at 9:58 AM

    Hi there! I just stopped by because I saw over at Faith Barista that we have chosen the same One Word. Love the way you chose your word - or should I say your word kinda chose you? lol

    ReplyDelete

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Thoughts? I would love to hear them!
~Mandy

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