I don’t know about you, but I’m often in need of an anchor. Something to keep me tethered, focused, on the right path.
In theory, that’s what a word of the year (or phrase/thought/idea for the year) is supposed to be. It’s something I’ve chosen for a couple of years now, and this year may be more relevant than any before.
For 2020, I chose the word ‘unhurried.’
When looking back over 2019, I realized that some of the worst seasons of my spiritual life, rhythms, and relationships came when I was in a hurry. When I was rushed, when I wasn’t getting enough sleep, when I was running from thing…to thing…to thing.
It’s when I was living more as a rushing robot than as a created being that a sentiment I first heard from John Mark Comer rang most true:
“Hurry is a form of violence on the soul.”
Hurry has truly been one of the worst things for my soul and my relationship with my Savior, and it’s time to change that.
I refuse to rush through 2020 and miss the things that actually matter.
I refuse to rush through my mornings and miss the quiet, the calm, the time to meet with God before the world is awake.
I refuse to pack my schedule so full that my encounters with fellow humans are robotic – so full that I don’t have time to talk to my Mom or ask the cashier how their day was and genuinely listen.
I refuse to rush through life in a haphazard way which leaves the things that must be done finished improperly and the things that should be done pushed to the side.
I want to slow down. I want to be calm. I don’t just want to walk with Jesus – I want to walk LIKE Jesus.
Being unhurried will take work. After all, I still have a job, demands, bills to pay, things to care for. But doing the necessary work of saying no to what I should and building in good, life-giving rhythms is well worth it.
What about you? What idea is anchoring your 2020?
KELVEY OLIVIA VANDER HART 