May I Have a Word With You?

A fresh new year is now firmly upon us. I waited a few weeks into January to broach this lets-start-out-right nugget so that if you’re like me and feel like your feet are stuck in suction muck, you’ll have had a little extra time to get your act together.

For many, the first of a new year means choosing a word for that year … a word that brings focus to personal plans, desires, goals, and energies for the upcoming twelve months.

A bit tardy to the party (as usual), I began selecting a word-for-the-year in 2017 and I’ve found it to be a wonderful habit indeed. What better way to dash off the starting blocks than to hone in on a word that inspires and motivates you to go spiritually higher up and deeper in? (Love that phrase from C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.)

I know a gal whose word for 2021 is “wing.” It comes from the scripture about the Lord protecting His children under His wing, like a mama bird protects her young from harm. She felt it was important for her to remember (after last year’s fear and uncertainty) that regardless of her circumstances, she will always be safe under her heavenly father’s wing of provision.

A guy I know has chosen the word “yet.” *He says this short, pithy word helps him focus on what he has and not on what he’s lost. And what he has includes the incredible gift of Jesus and the salvation He’s brought to us. Did you know “yet” is used in scripture about 400 times – often to provide hope during times of great loss – in passages like:

“I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. YET I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease” (Lam 3:20-22, NLT, emphasis mine).

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET will I rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Hab 3:17-19 NIV, emphasis mine).

Wow. What an understated, underrated, but very hope-stirring word: yet.

My word for this year is “faithful.” It comes from one of my favorite verses, the one that I keep sticky-noted to my computer desk to remind me why, when things get tough and I’m avalanched under rejection slips and hurtful criticism and only two people enter my giveaway and when the publishers forget my name, I still keep plugging away at writing.

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me FAITHFUL, appointing me to his service” (1 Tim 1:12 NIV).

And that wonderful word – faithful – goes both ways. Because He’s always faithful to me, I want to be more and more faithful to Him. Every day of 2021.

So what’s your word for the upcoming year, my friend? We’d all love for you to share it with our community of BFFs (Blessed Friends Forever)…

 

Hey, don’t forget about my Deep Waters Giveaway going on right now!  To enter, you simply send me a prayer request dear to your heart and I promise to lift it (and you, my friend) before Papa God’s throne.

Plus, I’ll drop your name in the drawing for a terrific prize package, including:

• A sweet Blessed Girl tee displaying for all the world to see Papa God’s promise in Is 43:2 “When you go through deep waters I will be with you”
• A copy of my newly released Too Blessed to be Stressed: 3-Minute Devotions Journal for Women
• The adorable “Bless this Mess” mug pictured above (filled with choco-goodness), and more.

Just click on “Freebies” right here at my website then the Deep Waters Giveaway for details.

 

*Thanks to Steve Laube for this awesome insight.