"L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi!" which means in Hebrew, "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year!" That's my final new year's greeting to you for 2011.
I can hardly believe this is the last day of January. Time moves along so quickly.
Later this week I'll post my reading list for February but today I thought I'd post something a little more personal I've been crafting this month. It's a work in progress, just like me. A personal manifesto of sorts.
In corporate-speak, I guess you'd say I'm writing a personal mission statement. But it's not done yet - not in final, finished, ready-to-stamp-on-a plaque-and-hang-by-my-desk form. Nonetheless, I'll go ahead and show it to you. Right now its more a series of statements of what I'm prayerfully looking for.
My Manifesto:
I want to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude, of groundedness, of enough, even while I long for the something more Christ promises.
I want to live deeply, from my head and my heart. Deep in my family and my faith. Rooted and growing.
I want to dwell vibrantly as a Christ follower in my community. As well as vibrantly in the privacy of my home and the solitude of my prayer closet.
I want to walk the earth and feel I’m an organic part of it. Not just a worker, producing for the Gross Domestic Product. Not just a consumer, buying and acquiring. Not just a Nielsen rating, waiting to be digitally entertained. But a bearer of the image – the goodness, peace and joy – of God.
I want to remember I am a hand-made part of God’s green Earth. A beating, breathing piece of humanity made from dust, carbon, water and the very breath of God. I want to remember that each person I encounter is as well, and be to them a tangible representation of a soul walking in tandem with Christ at the intersection of body and spirit.
I carry His creative impulse, and I want to nurture that under His influence for His glory and my joy.
I want to cultivate a pure heart that is still enough, humble enough, and thankful enough to see God.
I want to grow flowers and cook dinner parties and read novels beneath a chenille throw. And I want to enter the homes of the poor, take the hand of the oppressed, and spread the miraculous blood of Jesus.
I want to raise my children to the status of grown in a way that makes them frequently long to come home.
What I’m after is a happy productive life that honors God. And I want to relish the collection of moments that will make it up. Moments that slip so quickly through the hour glass, never to be recouped, only forgotten or remembered with fondness or regrets.
I know I’m going to have to act, feel, decide and pray my way into a life like this each day – for it won’t just come. But it is possible, because the kingdom of God is here. And He dwells within me as my wellspring of life.
That's the rough draft. Maybe none of it resonates with you, that's okay. But it's welling up in me.
Do you have a personal mission statement? If so, I'd love to read it.
The winner of this weekend's giveaway is Jenny C. Congrats, Jenny - email me your addy!
Hi Rachel. I haven't written anything like this but this gives me much to ponder! -Betsy
ReplyDeleteWOW! That is beautiful. I would just copy yours...but, you would probably know. :) I think you are well on your way to many of these. You inspire me!!! Now, let's have coffee!
ReplyDeleteI haven't officially written one, but my goal for this year is to love, be loved, accept and reciprocate the truest God-love possible, not the failing, earthly kind. I want to love my husband better, my kids, the check-out lady at Publix, and the even people who really perturb me ~ everyone. Just love. Focusing all of 2011 on love. And I do promise that I am not a hippie... ;)
ReplyDeleteLove your blog, by the way!
That is amazing, Rachel...Gets my brain to thinking....very inspiring Sue R
ReplyDeleteGreat goal, Tamara! Glad you like what I scribble here - thanks for visiting.
ReplyDeleteCarol, I'd have coffee with you ANY time!
Hi Sue & Betsy, I love when I read something that gets my mind thinking. So glad my little manifesto sparked that for you. :)
I love your statement that "I want to raise my children to the status of grown in a way that makes them frequently long to come home". This too has always been my desire and I saw it complete when my daughter who lives in Switzerland suprised me and showed up on my front porch the week before Christmas because she needed to "come home" for the holiday. I am so thankful that God has given my children a sense of home. I cherish the times they all gather in my kitchen and laugh and eat and just "be" together. This is truly a gift from God.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me.
I have had a general purpose in life that has been revised a few times. It is a little reflective of one of your points.
ReplyDeleteMy life is to praise God daily and live my life to reflect Him!
There are times it is difficult and there are times it is really difficult, but keeping Him first and seeking to honor Him is worth it in the end.
That's really inspiring, Rachel. I read something about having a "family mission statement" a while ago. And since then I've been thinking about it. Now your post takes me back to that thought. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI love what you have written, has given me some food for thought. Mine is simpler... I want to have a heart for God the way David desired.
ReplyDeleteI want to reflect His love to those I come in contact with.
I want to be the helpmate my husband deserves.
Now, since my son is in college, and I always wanted to be a good mom...we are in a new season. Of course, that desire to be a good mom doesn't go away, it just takes on a new light. Now that he is an adult (just turned 20), I want to be a friend to my son, taking a cue from you...one who's home he is eager to come back to, and one he is happy to chat with. Thank you for this "encouragement". I also want to encourage and lift up other women :)