-CS Lewis (who else?)
I’m one of those people who stopped making New Years resolutions long ago. I never stuck to them and mostly laughed at others who tried.
One of my dear friends, Steve White, has an incredible tactic (and incredible follow-through): he makes a list of things he wants to accomplish that year, from eating a salad for one meal to getting a new stamp on his passport, and doing a study of the life of David. They are long categorized, organized lists. And every year, he pretty much knocks them all off methodically. 
I spent last new years with Steve, his family, his great dog Lance, and another great friend, Emily. We watched a horridly depressing movie to end 2009 (Slumdog Millionaire), and then discussed Steve’s list for the upcoming year (including horseback riding at more than a trot and reading the Chronicles of Narnia). In 2010, I tried the Steve-White-way.
…I never even finished making the list.
So 2011 was rolling around. And another great friend, Madison, said that he doesn’t make resolutions, but instead prays and waits for God to give him a word, a theme for the next year. And scarily, his last three themes have been dead-on and defined their respective years. (Madison, good luck in 2011 with your new word theme.) 
His method seems a lot more manageable and reasonable than “No chocolate for a year”, so I’ve decided to give his method a try.
So, I started thinking about overhead themes that I needed to work on, especially while on the race. There are so many things I know God wants to rework in me (that won’t be fun, but are totally necessary). So I start pondering and praying and nothing is settling…mostly because every time I’d hear something, I’d be like “OH NO! That sounds horriiiiiiiiid!” (which is a good sign that I indeed need improvement in the department).
A few days before Christmas, Madison and I were driving back from wine tasting, and I said that I thought I’d come with my “word” for 2011, told it to him, and was promptly shut down, followed by five minutes of silence, and then BAM.
The word made its way into the car. And I cringed. And fought vehemently against it.
And it’s a word that makes me writhe even now. It’s a word with which I have always struggled and wrestled and evaded.
And it’s a word that I desperately need to work on…and even more especially with God.
…
direction
…
Yikes.
Run away. Run away. Run away.
…that’s what I’ve always done.
So, I wrestle with this word because I came out of college with no clear direction, no long term plan, no five year plan, no six month plan. And that’s good because I was able to follow God onto the race.
But there is life after the race.
2011 the year of direction:
1. will first involve a total deconstruction of the word as it has come to exist in my mind.
2. will be followed by a 180 where I completely abandon all I know, cling to, and love in exchange for knowing God, loving Him, and following HIm–however that looks.
3. Make a complete circle by realizing that God does call us to something, and that I can be driven and motivated for Him, for His glory, and know that He does have a plan for me.
4. And then drop off at a 480 tangent to the circle where He shows that even the completed circle was still boxing Him in.
…Are you lost?…
I’m still trying to make sense of it too.
Bottom line.
2011 is my year of direction.
A year where I will have no expectations, except to be ruined for His kingdom, His love, His majesty.
A year where I will learn that He, and He alone, is my direction.
And a year, where I will come back to the words of my dear Sammie Jo from Uncaged:
If it doesn’t point to Christ, it’s pointless.
__________________________________________________________
Happy New Year.
I’ll be landing in Miami in 48 hours and in the Dominican Republic in less than 72. 
Be praying for me, my family, and my squadmates and their families as we all say our goodbyes until December 2011.
