Message from Pastor Karyn for Feb, 2026
I’ve been using star words/intention words/guiding words for a decade now and (as you can tell) it has taken all sorts of shapes and forms during that time. Some years, whatever word or words I have, have actively lived in me, constantly present and shaping me all year long. Other years, I completely forget about them until the end of the year and they become the lens (or one of them) that I use to reflect about the past year. Sometimes I have picked them out of a basket and sometimes they are given to me by close friends and sometimes the Holy Spirit drops them into my heart and mind. In all these different iterations, one thing that has stayed constant is my need to have something to help me focus my prayers and discernment and curiosity on. I’m a bit like a cat in the midst of a windy day with all the leaves blowing around, I don’t know which way to look sometimes. When my relationship with God is what grounds me in a world and in a season of life where everything feels like it is in flux and chaotic, something that helps me focus is needed. Like the hymn My Hope is Built on Nothing Less in verse 3 says, “His oath, his covenant, his blood sustain me in the raging flood, when all supports are washed away, he then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” and if my focus is broken by everything else swirling around I feel like I am standing on quicksand. So words help that focus.
I know it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and that is okay. I hope you have found a way to deepen your relationship with God that makes sense for you. But if you are one of those folks who took a word and are now wondering what you are supposed to be doing with it, I am hoping to have something each month that you can do to engage with that word in a little different way. This will help me, too. It will keep my word in the front of my mind and heart as I make my way through whatever this year holds for me.
Here’s a good first step: look up the definitions of your word, look up the history of the word and its usage and begin to ponder what that may mean to you wherever you are in your life. For example, my word is tenderness. You have heard me say that I am somewhat annoyed by this word and the ways the Holy Spirit keeps manipulating me into situations where I have to ponder such things. Seriously, she can take a break for a while and go bother someone else. ;) But I am up for the challenge (I won’t go so far as to say to the Spirit, “bring it,” cause that is just asking for trouble). When I looked up the definition, the one that stuck out to me was the secondary definition, “sensitivity to pain.” Now, this definition is primarily taken in a medical context, but in a world that seems to be oozing with all sorts of pain, perhaps what I need to be thinking about is being sensitive to pain, other’s and my own and perhaps creations. Paul tells us that creation is groaning in labor pains awaiting the coming of Christ again, so that last one isn’t totally out of left field.
Which brings me to another hymn Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me. See, on the portals he’s waiting and watching, watching for you and for me. “Come home, come home! You who are weary, come home.” Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling, calling “O sinner, come home.” This gives me more to think about and invites me to think about this familiar hymn in new ways that is making my heart yearn for some time so I can write and write and write, but alas, I need to stay focused. That is another thing you can do with your word, look up any songs that may contain it. Pastor Stanton sings, Time, Love and Tenderness by Michael Bolton every time we talk about my star word, which makes me laugh and makes me ponder. I feel a Tenderness playlist brewing.
And finally, pray. Pray that the Spirit works through this word to deepen your faith and your understanding of what God is calling you to right now. Pray that God would remind you that in whatever way you engage in growing your relationship with God, is imperfect but enough. Pray that you will always know Jesus walking by your side as you venture into spiritual lands unknown. Pray and trust that your efforts will not be in vain. I will be praying all of these things along with you and looking forward to what God chooses to do in us this year as we continue to grow together.
