I'm a list maker.
I'm a planner.
I'm a goal-making, resolution-announcing, hop-on-the-wagon kind of girl.
Over the past few weeks, I've discovered  I'm not alone.  There are more of you out there and I've hungrily devoured your goal printables, your unique twists on resolutions, your "one words," your beautiful, shiny "New Year Do-Over" buttons.

I love those buttons...it's that one that says, "Now that I've got a new ____________ (year, week, job, hair-do), I can finally do better with my ___________ (quiet time, diet, cleaning schedule, lesson plans, blogging).  We wait for perfect...
I'm incredibly gifted at waiting for perfect...and while I wait...
My life happens around me and without me.

I wanted to write a perfect post for the 1st of the year with a spiffy, organized break-down of my goals, dreams, and plans for 2012.  And that "one word" phenomenon - this is my first year to encounter that one!  I have been praying and planning for weeks for my "one word."  I scoured the English language to land on one combination of letters that encapsulates this portion of my Journey and where I feel God is leading.

I made four lists of words to pick from here, people.  FOUR!
I made a list from my favorite words.
I made a list from music that I've written.
I made a list from verses I want to memorize.
I made a list from things I want to change in my life.

And then God proved that yet again...His thoughts are higher than mine. 
The word He gave me for this season...yeah, not on any of those lists, friends.


His word for me...Redeem.
For me the significance of those six letters is two-fold and simple.
First, it is a reminder of who I am...a redeemed one.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."  1 Peter 1:18-19

Secondly, it is a call to action...to redeem the time He has given me.

"Look carefully how you walk, not as fools but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16

And that is where I'm going to leave it.  No big plans for how this is going to revolutionize my life...I'm not even going to box God into my constraints of time and say this is my word for the year, or a month.  I'm going to come at this whole thing with open hands and see how He blesses me for relinquishing control to Him.

Do you have a set of goals you're working towards?  Has God impressed a word or phrase upon your heart that you need to meditate on this season?  I'd love to hear about it!