Tag Archives: planning

My Word For The Year!

A few years ago, I started thinking about a word that helped to represent my goals for the new year. Last year, I decided to put a little more focus into selecting my one word and letting it motivate and encourage my goals, rather than allowing the goals to motivate my one word. It was a pretty amazing year and the concept seemed to stick with me and encourage me in some very positive ways all throughout the year.

My word last year was SATISFIED. I first got the idea for the word from Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” I reasoned that if I don’t want, then I must be satisfied and this simple idea which I latched onto, became the driving force that helped me to shift my focus onto the things that were working and off of the things that weren’t working. This simple shift allowed me to empower the positive and weed out the negative that so often tended to distract and discourage. It was a very amazing year, filled with blessing and amazing opportunity.

I had planned on having my one word for 2020 picked out before the year began, but for a variety of reasons, I was just not ever able to focus in on it and figure it out. I didn’t give up, I didn’t freak out about it, I just kept the task on my list and knew that when the time was right, it would come to me. Today was the day and I now have my new word for 2020.

My word for the year is TRIUMPH, which carries with it the idea of victory, achievement, success, conquest, winning, growing, developing and becoming. It is what we were created for and is the ultimate fulfillment that we are all destined to experience.

My Scripture for the year comes from 2 Corinthians 2:14 – it says: ‘But thanks be to God, who always leads us in TRIUMPH in Christ, and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”

My idea with this word is the encouragement to follow through, complete the things that the Spirit has laid out for me and expereince the fulfillment of accomplishment that comes with being in step with my created purpose.

I really want to encourage you to think about and discover your one word for the year. You can go to http://myoneword.org/ and it will help guide you through a simple process and give you a lot of good ideas for choosing yours… If you already have one or happen to figure your one word out, please feel free to share with me, I would love to hear it…

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Tomatoes!

tomato8oz_Duke's_MayoOne of my favorite things about this time of year is tomatoes! I love tomatoes!  I especially love them ripe, sliced and in between two slices of bread, smothered with Dukes Mayo and sprinkled with pepper!  I also like them green, battered and fried crispy brown!

Another thing that I like about tomatoes is watching them grow! One day you have a little yellow flower and the next a small green ball.  The green ball continues to grow and change it’s shape and then it starts to change it’s color.  It eventually turns into a big, red, ripe and juicy tomato.  When it turns red, ripe and juicy, you better pick it and use it or it will rot!

We are a lot like tomatoes! We are green and growing or ripe and rotting! The difference between us and the tomato is that we get to make the choice!

What are you? You are green and growing when you realize that you don’t know everything and there is still much for you to learn!  You are ripe and rotting when you think that you have arrived and simply seek to live life on cruise control!

I want to be green and growing! I want to learn all of the amazing new things that God puts in front of me everyday!  It is exciting to think that everyday is another day for me to grow and change!  God is still working on me!

I have changed a lot through the years and the most incredible thing is this:  Some of my most amazing change and growth is still in front of me!  Enjoy letting God grow you today!

U-Turn Blessings!

u_turn_sign_2So you have heard from God and made the decision to turn your life around! The Spirit has spoken and you have listened from the inside – out!  The message inside your heart will change the outside of your life!  Now that you are heading away from the destructive patterns of the world and toward the constructive plans of Heaven – what should you expect?

When we repent, change, u-turn or 180, then we can expect God to show up in big ways! God wants to do an amazing work to you and through you!

First – we can look for REFRESHING! I talk to people every day about life stuff and have discovered that most people are tired, frustrated, discouraged and just plain weak from the blows that life has dealt them.  We all need and long for refreshing!  Refreshing is not something that we can do for ourselves.  Refreshing is the work of God.  You can open your life to it, but God has to do the work.  When we repent, we open our lives to the refreshing work of the Holy Spirit.  God comes into our tired, frustrated and discouraged lives and strengthens us with power, hope and encouragement.

Second – God will provide RESTORATION! This is an amazing and beautiful gift from God.  Often times as we live our lives and make mistakes, we will later discover that our mistakes were not cheap, in fact they often costs us so much more than we ever dreamed we would have to pay.  But God is more than faithful and when we repent, He begins to put back together the broken pieces of our lives.  Your life may seem like a big ole mess, but it is never to big of a mess for God.  In fact God specializes in taking the impossible and making it possible!  Just trust Him and do what you know you need to do!

Third – God will bring REVIVAL! God has a whole new spiritual place that He wants to take you.  He has things that He wants to show you that will change your life for all eternity.  God wants to grow you from the inside-out and enable you to do awesome and mighty things for Him and His glory.

Make sure that you have made the turn away from self and go running just as fast as you can into the open arms of a loving Heavenly Father!  You will be glad, so glad that you did – as you experience His refreshing, restoration and revival!