Enthusiastically, Dawn

Hey there friend…this may be my longest post of the year. But I hope you will grab a cup of something delicious and linger. I am sharing my wrap up thoughts on last year’s One Word, and revealing  briefly my new word for 2017.

It’s OK to read it in two parts if you like…but the way things have been going in my neck of the woods, I need to put it all out here in one post!

I appreciate you reading and commenting…

If you read my posts regularly, you know I am in the habit of participating in the One Word 365 and My One Word communities. If you are unfamiliar with the One Word philosophy, it basically is choosing a word as a springboard and theme for your new year as opposed to another list of resolutions. If you want more information I have written about my own journey with each word I have journeyed with since 2012 and you can check out the highlighted links above for details on finding your own One Word for 2017.

Last year God gave me my One Word in a dream…or upon awakening from a dream. That is  not the usual way my One Words are provided, but for some reason beyond my understanding, that was the way God chose to reveal my 2016 One Word.

An excerpt from my journal:

Lord, I thank you for the first thought you gave me this morning. How I awoke and realized it seemed as if I’d just closed my eyes , but when I opened them it was morning. I confirmed this by looking at my watch.

…my thought was something like this:

…opening my eyes to the light of eternity. How one day I will close my eyes and open them to the glorious light of Heaven. And I saw this glorious heavenly light- not unlike looking into the sun, but it was not just central; it was ALL and forever.

Lord, I thank you that you are with me in the interruptions, the ordinary, the mundane and the small.

The verse  I was led to, on the heels of Christmas, was Luke 1:45. I never forgot my One Word all year- Revelation …but the verse, for some reason seemed to fade into the backstory of daily life. It started out a very strong impression, but until I looked back at my writing from January 2016 to prepare for the new year, it was overshadowed by  circumstances, events,  and the rhythm that carries us from one year to the next.

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Luke 1:45

I stand now in a kind of awe. Because this year was the year my faith was put to the test…again. Have you ever heard the saying “out of the frying pan, into the fire”? Well, of course you have!

I think I am starting to realize that if we are Christians who really desire to be like Jesus, I mean REALLY– no holding back, the real deal- we are asking for God to just keep flipping us back and forth from the frying pan to the fire with ever-increasing heat. 

Please stop preaching and/or believing another gospel. Please stop believing lies. You either want truth, or you want your ears tickled. You either choose God or Self. If self is your god, chances are you live in the realm of frequent frustration with Gods’ plans…You either want Jesus…or another god. You either want your way or God’s way….sorry all paths do not lead to the Good Ship Lollipop. Better know the truth and choose- then to wind up on the Ship of Fools.

I digressed, didn’t I?

But the fact is, somehow in all of this pain, there is peace. Somehow, while the heat gets increased and we glow red-hot, something happens to us. To our faith. To who we are.

This year took a lot from me, personally, and more from people I know, love and care for.

But not one of these things happened apart from the will of God. Not. One.

That’s hard truth, friends. I watched and walked with my mom through a cancer diagnosis, major reconstructive surgery to her stomach and esophagus, multiple tests, fear and trembling, tube feedings (something I never knew I never wanted to do), radiation and two rounds of chemo.This year felt like a non-stop journey to a place I never wanted to go.

I watched  my daughter’s teenage best friend lose her dad  in a similar but swifter journey, leaving four children and a widow barely able to catch their breath. Talk about heartbreak.

The past year felt like the year that wouldn’t stop taking. Right up to the very end, when a fellow Journal Keeper and close Planner Pal abruptly died two weeks before Christmas leaving another family reeling and me feeling like that was the last sucker punch I could handle for 2016.

Maybe your year had its own losses, struggles and challenges.  I pray 2017 is as God wills for you. I can pray this fearlessly, because I trust the One who dishes out circumstances, not randomly, but according to His good purposes alone. You either believe that or you don’t. But I am fully persuaded of it.

I continue to cling to His promises above all other promises. I hold out for the Truth, above all other truths. I know that He who is in me is stronger than anything in the world and anyone in it who rallies against me. Are you with me?

The Who that resides in me is greater than the Whatever that is in the world. I hope you’re taking notes. I hope you take away this if nothing else for your own new year. May your faith be firmly grounded in Truth.

This year I believe I saw miracles in the lives of my loved ones. I’ll continue to count and remember those in light of the losses, pain, sorrow.

Will you join me in seeing the miracles before your eyes?

Even if you have to squint, I implore you to look.

Meanwhile I am double dipping and posting my One Word “revelation” gifted and delivered to me during my quiet time on Christmas morning. Again, not when or what I expected. But, oh, so confirmed in my heart by the Holy Spirit- all praise to God the Father in the Name of Jesus! He is so good!

My One Word for 2017:

Light

Lord, clear my head,

nourish my soul.

Cleanse my heart,

make me whole.

I long to do your will , oh Lord.

To do anything but,

I can ill afford…

so strengthen me for the fight

that I may continuously

shine your light.

To God be the Glory, Amen.

” We are to order our lives by the light of his Law, not by our guesses about His plans.”

-J.I. Packer

I will be sharing my journey as usual here on the blog through my poetry and prose.

Share your One Word thoughts below, and may your 2017 be all that He wills!