like a lion.

26 Jan 2012 23 Comments

by mary kathryn tyson in one word 2012: roar

last fall, i thought my one word for 2012 was going to be intimacy. it became and has been such a prevalent theme in my life for the last few months. but then i decided it was so personal and,well…you know…intimate.

so i landed on hope instead when my depression was at its worst because it was what i needed most. at the time, i was fragile and sad and just needed to know that all would be just okay. hope was my one word for several days. weeks, actually. in my sadness, hope rested well.

for her own really wonderful reasons, leigh had also selected hope. it was reassuring that my friend and i would be able to encourage each other in hope this year. i even announced on the twitter that we had picked the same word. it felt right at the time.

on new year’s eve, i watched courageous at my church. for a hot minute, i considered changing my one word for 2012 from hope to courageous.

at our family reunion on new year’s day, i told (one of) my very awesome cousin(s) about #oneword365 and how i had selected hope because i was feeling a little bit lost and he said, no, you’re past hope. you need something else, something stronger. his words were oddly empowering and, i realized, true. the following day, we texted back and forth on possible ideas for a new word.

we landed on boldness. 

i sat with boldness for about a week. it felt weird. strange. awkward. uncomfortable. i wanted it to fit, but it just didn’t.

then the gypsy mama, who i love, posted the first five-minute friday of the year. even then, though, it didn’t hit me right away. i wrote my 5mf post that day but it wasn’t until i was on a walk with sweet baby c later that morning that it hit me like a bolt of lightning and i knew that i knew that i knew.

i’ve sat with it now for a few weeks and it has already bolstered my year. it sits right with me and i am committed to it, heart and soul. here now, i’m ready to share it with you.

i am tired of being afraid and waiting for adventure to happen and watching my life from the sidelines. i will no longer shirk back, quietly wishing for it to be my turn. i want to live that which i preach to others, to be fearless and brave.

i am getting back into my own game, becoming my own cheerleader and advocating for myself as only i can. i will be on my own team and champion the person that god has called and created me to be.

i will not stand to be the victim or the martyr of my own life.

instead of a sheepish meow, i will stand on my own two feet in the strength of my spirit and i will roar. not for fear or to intimidate others or to have my way, but i will make my way and leave my mark and i will make a difference in my own world.

like a lion, i will roar for protection and to guard the what and the who that has been placed within my care.

i will stand for causes and face the facts and promote and encourage others. i will fight no other fight but the good one (because no other fight is worth fighting but that one) and i will run the race set before me (and not anyone else) with fierce determination.

not for arrogance or recognition or because i am anything great on my own, but because a half-assed life is no life at all and certainly not one that brings glory to the one who died to give us life.

with both a christ-focused humility and confidence, i will find my roar.

the intimacy between jesus & myself is very personal and i reveal through words here what i am free to share about that; otherwise, it’s not for public measure or display.

i have hope and i know the one in whom my hope is found.

i want to have greater boldness. and to live more courageously.

i am making my way toward brave and fearless.

and with one word, i am all of these.

this is my one word 365.

this is my solemn vow.

hear me roar.

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