One Word: Refresh

"I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”  Jeremiah 31:25

"You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance." Psalm 68:9

"Sow for yourselves righteousness,   reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you."  Hosea 10:12

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams."  Isaiah 44:3-4

"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”  Isaiah 55:6-13

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”  Isaiah 61:1-3

Many of my blogging friends have introduced me to the concept of picking just ONE WORD as the theme of the new year.  It didn't take me long at all to choose mine and to find several Old Testament passages to go along with it.

My word is REFRESH.  That is definitely my desire and prayer for the year.  I feel like I have been sojourning in a dry and weary land, and I'm in need of spiritual refreshment.  RENEW and RESTORE are its partner words. I trust that I'm in for a blessing.

How about you?

What is your ONE WORD?

You might also like to read my poem Rebound.

Grace,

Virginia Knowles

P.S. The picture at the top of this post is from earlier this evening.  While waiting in my car in the driveway, I caught this view of rain on the windshield, with my sons' well-lit bedroom window in the background.