2021: Connect

2020 showed us all a lot of things.  One of the things it showed our family was the importance of family and how being closer to them would be a good thing. So we moved.

When I was planning my wedding, I joined this community on The Knot. There were too many trolls, and Instagram was new, so we moved over there. A couple years later, I found a group of blogging women when I joined the blogging world. I wanted to share what I was learning as a young wife, and I wanted to connect with others.  But I was challenged one year to pick "one little word." I have loved doing this year after year, and I've tried to share below what each of my words word for the year. I think I missed a few years of writing about them, but they have been transformative for me. Now, most people have moved on from blogging, but I've picked it back up, simply because writing is cathartic for me, and I'm really starting to hate facebook.

2013: Grace

2014: Be

2015: Brave

2016: Trust

2017: Abide

2018: Release

2019: Surrender

2020: Rooted

As I started thinking about a word for the new year, I kept thinking of how much I needed a social media break. So I took it. I jumped back into Instagram (slowly), but haven't really made my way back to Facebook yet. During my break, I realized just how often I took pictures to post or share. I realized how often I look to others for acceptance or affirmation. I realized how little I knew some of the people I was following. I realized how often I picked up my phone.

This year, I want it to be about connection. I want to truly know the people I surround myself with and those I follow on social media. I want to connect with others without someone thinking I have an ulterior motive. I want to live more outside the world wide web. I want to connect with my family. I want to connect with the Lord.

So for 2021, I choose CONNECT as my word. What is your word?

My Word for 2014

Happy New Year!

I really can't believe that 2014 is here already.

2013 was a great year for us, and I have high hopes for 2014.

As I was thinking about what my word for the new year would be, I prayed that God would just lead me to it...just as He did last year.

And He did.

Growing up, I always counted down for such exciting and monumental things in my life.

I counted down to age 13...the year I could get my ears pierced.

I counted down to 15...the year that I could get my driver's permit.

I counted down to 16...the year that I could get my driver's license.

I counted down until 18...the year I would graduate high school.

I counted down until college graduation.

I counted down until my wedding day.

Yada, yada, yada.

This year, I recently realized that I didn't really have anything to count down to anymore.

Sure, we counted down a little bit to our closing day on our house, but I wasn't near as vocal about it.

I think it was at that moment that I realized that maybe I don't need to be counting down anymore.  Not that life isn't exciting...because it definitely is.  But more because God wants me to just soak life in.  Right now, Tyler and I are enjoying life, but what is the point in living if you aren't soaking it all up?

So as I prayed and asked God to bring me to my word...He did.

It was pretty much a no-brainer for me.

My word for 2014 is

BE.

The word 'be' means to exist or live.  

For me, living means to be in the moment.

To be grateful for what I have right now. 

It means to just be present.

I am so excited to see what God has in store for us this year.

I am excited to be grown and stretched.

I am excited about the endless possibilities for this blank canvas.

But for now, I am so thankful for what God has blessed me with.

I am thankful for the abilities and resources He has given me.

I am thankful for a best friend that He gave me to do life with.

This year, you'll be able to find me enjoying life...soaking it all up.

Because really...we aren't promised another day.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34 NIV

A Year of Grace

Last December, I came in contact with some Instagram friends who had a word for the year.  I wanted to learn more about this word...and how they each picked it.  What I gathered is that instead of making New Year's Resolutions, they picked a word to focus on for the year.  What a great idea!  

I think New Year's Resolutions are overrated.  They get made and about two weeks later, they get left behind in the dust.  So I decided that I wanted in on this little word-picking-for-the-year-shindig.  Boy am I glad that I did.

If you remember, I picked to word Grace for 2013.  Let me just tell you, I had no idea what the Lord had planned for me this year.  Oh goodness.

My mind was open to giving and receiving grace this year...but I shortly learned that my heart was not.  I knew that I wasn't grace-filled.  I knew that I needed to be working on it.  But my heart was completely shut to the idea of grace.  Oh I could receive God's grace...his forgiveness, but I couldn't seem to give grace to people who needed it.  Something was seriously wrong with that picture.

I am a fairly dense individual.  I don't get subtle hints very well and that includes when God is talking to me.  I feel that He has to hit me over the head when it comes things He needs me to hear and learn.

This year, what I didn't know was that God was working in my heart.  He was softening it little by little.  Then one day, He poured His truth on me.  My eyes were open.  My heart was listening, and I was broken.

The next few weeks were emotionally painful for me.  I was working through pain that I had held onto for years.  I was working through situations that hadn't been resolved.  I was working through a mountain of lies that Satan had been telling me through those years that I had chosen to believe.  Yes, I chose to believe those things.

I had even broken down and asked my small group for prayer as I was sorting through all of the issues.  I had been held captive to unforgiveness, bitterness, and even hatred.  I was tired of living this life.  I wanted a life of freedom.

You see when you harbor unforgiveness in your life, the only person you are hurting is yourself.  For some reason I thought that holding onto hurt and anger and grudges would be the way to go.  I thought it was the only way that I could live.  I didn't ever think that I could ever begin to forgive.  

I was right about that, though.  I couldn't ever forgive.  Not on my own.  If it were up to me, and only me, I would hold onto all of that for the rest of my life.  I would try to get even.  I would be filled with hate forever.  It is only through the grace of God that I could forgive.  It is only because I allowed Christ into my heart and let my guard down, that I could truly know what it meant to forgive.

Through lots of prayer, reading the Word, writing down my thoughts, and the encouragement and prayer of my small group, I finally found that freedom.  Slowly but surely, my heart is being healed of all the hurt, guilt, and hate.  I know that God is Healer.  But what I hadn't really known is how He can truly heal my heart...from a pain that I never thought that I would be rid of.  He can heal my wounds...the ones that cut so deep.  He can heal my attitude towards others.  

God has broken down those walls in my heart.  He has busted through and stamped out all the lies.  He has has restored my soul which has allowed me to forgive and extend grace to those in my life who have needed it.  This has been nothing short of a miracle.

God definitely gets all the glory in this story.  There is no way that on my own I would have been able to make this kind of progress.  There is no way that on my own I would even be talking about God's Grace today.

Friends, I am here to tell you that God can truly heal you...but only if you let Him in.  Is there an area in your life that you need to let Him in?  I kept this part of my life from Him for so long...it was such a burden to bear.   But when I finally let Him in, I found freedom.  I found peace.  Most of all, I found grace.  

No more am I a slave to hurt...guilt...hate...bitterness.  I am free.

Other Words...

As I mentioned in this post, my word for the year is Grace.
But knowing me, there's more to it than that.
I'm a list person.
A goal person.
Like I had mentioned, I had several words in the running.
Most of those are things I still want to focus on throughout the year.

Boldness: I want to be bold for Christ.  A lot of the times I just sit back and do my own thing.  Do I ever tell people why?  Sometimes, but not a lot.  For example, my co-workers know that I don't drink alcohol.  But I've never told them why.  I have been convicted by the Holy Spirit.  As a Christian, I personally don't think it's what God wants me to do.  I'm sure that if I told my co-workers all that, they'd think I'm crazy.  But I want to be bold for Christ and if He leads me to tell them, I will.  I want to be able to tell others that Jesus loves them.  That He died for them.  I have to be bold. 

Still:  I need to learn to be still.  I need to be still in my spirit and in life.  I keep busy cleaning, reading, crafting, blogging...whatever I can find {mostly to take my mind of the loneliness}, but sometimes I just need to stop.  I need to still my soul.  There's a need for calm in the midst of the crazy world.  To just sit in peace.

Authentic:  I think this goes along with being transparent, and I know that I have got a long way to go.  I'm a pretty honest person...I'll tell you what I think most of the time.  Sometimes this isn't always a good thing, and I've always justified it by saying, "Well, it's better than lying."  I want to be honest, but I also want to be gracious.  Sometimes it's just better to keep my mouth shut.  To be authentic, I want to be who God made me to be...a creature of worship.

Intentional:  If you've been reading my blog very long, I've tried to post monthly goals.  This helps me be intentional about life.  It helps keep me on track; working toward something.  Ultimately, I want to be intentional in everything I do.  I want to be intentional in my actions toward others, in my words, in my everyday routine.  I want to be someone who is intentional in all things, knowing it's God who employs me.

These are just a few of the things that I hope to work on.
I'm nowhere near perfect.
I'm merely human.
I mess up.
I say things I shouldn't.
I say too much.
I hurt people's feelings.
I put things before God sometimes.
I'm a work in progress.
Yet I have a God who gives me grace.

via

Grace

Happy New Year!! :)

I can't believe it's 2013 already.

Crazy how the years just fly by!

Do you make resolutions?

I used to when I was younger because it was the "cool thing to do."

Then I realized that nobody ever keeps them.

It's a good concept, too bad we can't follow through.

I have to admit, I saw my Instagram friend, Jessica post her "One Little Word" the other day and I thought it was a spectacular idea!

So I started brainstorming a list of words that could be mine.

Some of them included:  authentic, intentional, boldness, quiet, enough.

I woke up today and have just been in a "mood" all day.

So with the word grace at the top of the list, I decided that it needed to be my word for 2013.

When I get in one of these moods, I just don't have patience for anyone.

So God was talking to me loud and clear this morning.

Grace.

Why grace?

God has been convicting me of needing more grace in my life.

I need more grace with others.

I need more grace with myself.

And my Father continually gives me grace every, single time I fail.

Being a Type-A personality, a red, I'm not the most gentle person.

I can be an abrasive, bossy, perfectionist that doesn't have room to give anyone grace.  Myself included.

Man, that's rough.

I pray this year that I can grow into a woman of grace.

I want others to be able to see that change in me.

To be able to ask, "What is it about her?  What does she have that I don't?"

And I want God to be able to shine through me in all circumstances, extending grace to those who need it, even when I don't particularly want to give it.

This will definitely be a challenge to me, and it was even this morning.

But my God is still in the miracle-business.

He can help me make it happen!

So I may not have "resolutions," I do have a word.

And a list of things that I want to continue doing:

-keep reading with SheReadsTruth

(by the way, a new plan started today!  There's still time to read along with us!)

-keep trying to find a church home

-keep creating

-keep being intentional in my life

What word would you choose for 2013?

I do have to share one more thing.  

My Instagram and bloggy friend, Rachel posted this verse and it just made me think.

I had to steal it from her and post it here for you! :)

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.  It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5