The task: I decided to use my Angel cards (little cards that have a word on them) and choose a word for today. That word would become the focus of my activities today.
Now...I truly believe the Holy Spirit is at work when I do things like this. I always get the word I need not necessarily the word I want. In fact, most frequently, I get a word that makes me cringe and squirm and I don't discover why it was the perfect word for the day until much later...sometimes days, weeks later! So...I shuffled my little cards. Spread them out. Said a little prayer like, "God...help me to be open to the possibilities of today," and I chose one. 
Flipped it over (crossing my fingers and toes that it wouldn't be something like "growth" or "mercy" or "feelings") and I got...
ENTHUSIASM! Wow! What a fun word to choose! Thanks for the easy road, Spirit. Did I just say, easy road? HA! Discovering--excavating, if you will, is not easy. Sometimes it's more fun than other times. Sometimes it's happy sometimes it's painful--but nothing about this is easy. Good thing I like a challenge.
So I'm into enthusiasm today. I sat in my comfy chair and just sat in the quiet for a bit. I had already gone for a run this morning--did I run with enthusiasm? What does it really mean to live with enthusiasm? Where is God in the day-to-day enthusiasm? Do I really know what the word means?
I couldn't really answer the last 3 questions; I gathered this is what today's quest is going to be about.
Do I really know what enthusiasm means?
I had some initial thoughts...energy, joy, passion, active, happy, bouncy...ok...I usually have one or more of these characteristics going on. So what? I looked it up and this is what I found from Wikepedia:
Enthusiasm originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, defines enthusiasm as "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or communication." In current English vernacular the word simply means intense enjoyment, interest, or approval.
INSPIRATION or POSSESSION...BY THE PRESENCE of [GOD]. Are you kidding me? How awesome is that? I had no idea that was the original meaning. What a great starting off point...so I reframed my questions a bit thanks to Wikepedia.
How am I inspired by the presence of God? ...in the day-to-day? ...in the bigger picture? Do I live with enthusiasm? Let's see how the day unfolds...
1 comment:
Hey it's Nicole, Ali, Abbey, and Sydney! Just wanted to see if you get our last post! We don't know if we did it right..but we are very anxious to hear from you! :)
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