welcome to a new year

I don't make new years resolutions. I just don't. I'm terrible at sticking to them, I lost interest, I get distracted, life gets in the way, etc. (all of the usual excuses).

So, this year I resolved to have pick a word (or words) to focus on for the next 12 months. There were literally thousands and thousands of words that I could choose, and when it came down it I couldn't choose just one word.

My words for 2016 are these: patience, grace, trust.

I want patience with my friends and my family and myself and my God and my circumstances. I am known to have quite the temper. I get fired up easily, and it takes a while for me to come back down to Earth. I get frustrated easier than I should. I often make mountains out of mole hills. I want what I want and when I want it, and I'm terrible at being okay with waiting.

I want grace. I am learning that giving someone the benefit of the doubt is often the better choice. I am learning that no one is perfect, we are all deserving of grace and mercy, so I should stop expecting people to live up to some unattainable level of perfection--it's not going to happen. I am learning that grace is freeing. It produces love and understanding and freedom and joy! It makes people feel heard and not condemned. It gives us a chance to love others in a way that is glorifying to the Lord. Grace is not easy, but it is well worth it.

I want trust. I always want trust. I pray for trust with my future, my relationships, my fears, my goals, my dreams, everything. I'm learning to stop making decisions based on whether they make me feel comfortable, and start making decisions with the hope and desire that God will use me--even through the fear. I want unfailing, unconditional, unrelenting trust in God the Father. God wants me to trust in him, to put every ounce of fear and uncertainty aside in the pursuit of his plan for me, and he never, ever, EVER leads me in the wrong direction, so why wouldn't I trust him?

I am beyond excited for this new year. God was so so good to me throughout 2015--even when I refused to let him work in me. If 2016 brings half of the growth and change and excitement that was found in 2015, then it will be such an amazing year.

And my prayer for you is that you're willing--willing to let God work in you, willing to put yourself aside for his glory, willing to give it up to him. I believe with my whole heart that God's plans for you this year are incredible, so be open to him. He won't let you down.