I don't do new years resolutions-- well truth be told, I used to a few years back, but I just don't anymore :) Its more of a personal decision…to save myself the embarrassment of not following through! SO, really its pride??!!! Yikes. Actually… I do have 1 resolution! I want to brush my teeth in the middle of my day… and I am 7 days in and have YET to do it…wow.
Anyway, a few years ago a friend shared with me that she spent the last few weeks of the year seeking the Lord for what would be on his heart for the upcoming year! It has always been so neat to do… BUT, this new years "seeking the Lord for a deep word" stuff was a little different :) I was traveling so much the last 4 weeks of 2013, that I didn't really quiet myself to listen to him about 2014. I went home for Christmas and then to Kansas City from the 27th-30th for the OneThing conference and to visit a church out there. As I got to the airport in KC, immediately I started telling the Lord "what the world do you have my here for" ?? And really, I felt like I had really missed it and should be at home. But, I just tried to let the trip unfold, cause truth be told…there was nothing I could do about it, I was already there!
As I was at the conference and even at the church… I was pressing into every conversation, getting on my knees in worship, praying in the car… doing anything to "unlock" what I felt like was the reason why I was there! And really nothing. Nada. Blanks. Silence. Quiet. Going into the last few hours of my trip, I still didn't have any direction or sensing from the Lord about the upcoming year, and was resolved to just head back to Charlotte without anything… and then…
...I went over to a hang out with a new favorite friend of mine… Liz :) I went to just hang out, but I could sense it was going to be more than that. We talked. Well, actually I shared some relatively simple things that were on my heart. And, I didn't think anything of it, and then for the next little bit… she spoke life over me. But, it wasn't just life… it was words of empowerment, direction, focus, exhortation, hope, perspective and most of all FAITH!!! True, biblical faith! Then, she took another step and declared some things over my life that were almost prophetic… they were things that she didn't know about me, but were EXACTLY what I needed! It was an unlocking that happened… a resetting…a setting my face in a new direction and course for 2014….and she ended with "This is your year!".
And I left their house a different person. I can't explain it, except that I have felt completely different ever since. The difference is FAITH…so…
This is a year of FAITH for me… Faith in my life and those around me! I am believing for God to do things tangibly in my life that can only be explained by pointing to the creator and Savior! This year I am asking for the gift of faith and for God to get me to a place where I am believing for BIGGER things… in my heart, in my mind, in my life practically… I want to share my faith with more people, lead people to the saving knowledge of Jesus… I want to meet my husband…I want to start a job and vocation that is connected to long term purpose in my life and what I was created to do and BE… ahhh….
...I am going into 2014 unafraid of my dreams, unafraid of the desires in my heart, unafraid of the big things that are on the inside of my heart to DO!!! The opposite of fear is faith… so, its time!
And, of course… like any other "faith filled Christian", my lingering question is "what if… it doesn't happen"??????? Well, honestly… I have decided that I would rather go on the adventure of believing God, trusting His word, walking by faith, praying out big things that I am sensing on His heart... and grow from it… than just living in small, confined, manageable, simple, restricting parameters and cultural Christianity ruts! I am afraid to say I was absolutely that girl… just praying the same small things, and just in a rut… argh! Faith is bringing me out… and I don't know AT ALL what I am doing, but I know that daily I am asking God 2 things…
1) Stretch my prayers with more faith…to pray things I have never prayed before...
2) Teach me what it means to walk by faith with you in all things...
And, I believe that He is going to start a life long work in this area of my life!!! And, for the first time in yyyyyeeeeeaarrrrrrs, I am excited about seeing what God has for me… And I know that it wont be all roses, and I will have dissapointments… but I would rather believe God and be disappointed than wonder what life out of the boat would really look like!!!
…. 2014 here I…we… come!!! Come on and do it with me all you resolutioners… and I will try and brush my teeth once during the middle of my day too! haha!
This is my verse for this year… Psalm 65:11… love it!
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