Last year, I posted about an annual theme, something I’ve been sharing with some friends of mine for a number of years.  Praying about a theme for each year has become such a part of my life, I can’t imagine not anticipating a brand-new theme to match the brand-new planner pages on my desk.

In my life, God didn’t gift me with themes until 2009 (Brave) and 2010 (Focus), even thought I’d tried to find and live a theme before then. It didn’t really work for me until it came from the Lord’s leading. This past year, 2011, was my year of Grace. Oh, how I’ve needed grace, both in the giving and extending to others, and in the accepting from others as well as from the Lord. 2011 has been a grace-filled year, even in the midst of its multiple challenges.

I really wasn’t ready to think about my 2012 theme on Christmas Day, preferring to think about it closer to New Year’s Eve– but that’s where I heard it. I was four days past my ear surgery, still feeling a little dizzy and disoriented. While in the worship service at McChord Field’s Chapel One, I distinctly heard the word in my heart: Listen. Now, to someone who had just lost half her hearing, this might seem strange. Of all the years to listen, isn’t this going to be the hardest? But as I sat there, realizing I could, in fact, hear John chapter 1 being read, and “Birthday of a King” being played masterfully on the piano, I knew. This is what is being asked of me. To listen. To be still more often, to know that He is God, to hear the words of others. To hear their hearts.

It’s going to be a very good year.

I’m a firm believer in the adage “be careful what you ask for,” but I’m also a firm believer in God. If you step out in faith and ask Him if He has a theme for you, He will be faithful to answer, in His timing and in His purpose, and in His own special way. You will not doubt that it is from Him.

To read more about yearly themes, I invite you to read what author and Bible scholar Beth Moore said about “one thing.”  Another good article about the one-word theme comes from author Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project). A new resource this year: My One Word.

What about you? What is your theme? Does God give you a theme verse? Discuss in the comments.

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