Queso and God

I really wanted my 2018 Word to be queso. I’ve long contended the answer to world peace must lie in a bowl of queso and salty tortilla chips. Living out a year of queso wouldn’t be easy, but I was fully prepared to surrendered myself to the job.

#bodybyqueso Can I get an amen?

Despite the potential for world peace, and for reasons related to cholesterol and girth, I was forced to reconsider a year of queso quotidian.

I pondered “flawsome.” I love made-up words. Flawsome — part flawed, part awesome — felt well, flawsome. Anna told me the word sounded like something a dentist would say, “floss ’em!” The homophone, which caused me to sit in the sin of my disobedience to the daily oral hygiene routine, was clearly not going to work out for me.

With queso and flawsome off the table, I searched in earnest for a word. I journaled, doodled, looked up roots, studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew origins of contenders. Old man Webster and I did some serious time together.

All.the.words. My mind was a wordle of possibilities.

Around Christmas, I pondered the word “presence.” Presence is from the old French meaning “being at hand” or “being alongside.” Digging deeper I uncovered synonyms that got me all jazzed up — being, existence, company, related to “people”, nearness, front, proximity, companionship.

Seriously, could there be a better word than presence for the mission of the Turquoise Table?

As hard as it is to give up on the dream of queso and flawsome, I declared my 2018 Word: PRESENCE. I committed to the word by spelling it thoughtfully in turquoise ink across the pages of my 2018 Powersheets and Write the Word journal.

Done. Check. Score one for me!

On New Year’s Day, I woke up stressed. Who does that? Our New Year’s Eve celebration was dreamy. Snow flurries & fireworks ushered in the new year. The house was warm and quiet, I was the first to pitter patter down the stairs in 2018. My head was spinning, sadly not from champagne, but from all.the.things.

I made coffee, cracked open my journal with hope that starting the new year in scripture would help clarify presence, because the last thing I was feeling was present. All I wanted to do was pull the covers back over my head.

I dove in to Day One of New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. {Hint: GET THIS DEVOTIONAL}

The very first words I read got all up under my skin and slapped me wide awake into 2018.

 

At the risk of sounding dim, might I say, “duh.” But, these Godward words gobsmacked me.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

My word is God.

Yep. Sure is. And, I’m pretty sure it’s the real deal this time. I mean, how else can you explain going from queso to flawsome to God?

As I look back up at the confusion of all.the.words I feel peace and present.

Seriously, could there be a better word than God for the mission of the Turquoise Table?

Pretty sure there will be queso, too.

Happy New Year, friends.