2013 in Review ~ What Have You Accomplished?

Recently an author friend of mine posted on her Facebook timeline, asking her followers to consider what they've accomplished in 2013.

Oftentimes, we look at our year and pull out the negative, difficulties, trials, tribulations, mistakes, and failures. Then we make resolutions to be positive, give ourselves a break, find the joy in our trials and tribulations, make fewer/different/or no mistakes, and succeed in some area of our lives. And by mid-January, we've broken our fast, given up, or failed again and decided the heck with it all.

So when my author friend asked for a list of things we accomplished in 2013, I began to look back for all of God's blessings, favor, miracles, and provision throughout the past year. I looked for things that brought me joy, peace, and melted my heart.

Here's what I came up with:

1. I succeeded at being a lot more "in the moment" in daily living, especially with my children. Parenting is the one thing I struggle with on a daily basis. Have I done enough? Have I been enough for my children? Have I encouraged them or have I spent the day yelling about everything they've done wrong? Did I stop working long enough to make eye contact and answer that question? I may not have accomplished this every time, and I may have regretted a thing or two I'd said, but overall, I did much better focusing on my kids this year than I have in years past.

2. God taught me about Epic Grace and making Jesus my Everything ("Everything" was my one word for 2013).

3. I taught for the first time at a writers conference. Thank you, CLASS writers conference attendees for making my first teaching experience a joyful and encouraging one!

4. I was on a panel for the first time in my life. Another moment at the CLASS writers conference.

5. I wrote my first novel ... and finished it! Writing THE END for the first time is a surreal experience. It shocked me that I had an entire book/story in me. Be on the lookout. Working title is Secret Identity.

6. I am so excited to say that I have an agent to represent my writing, as well. Jonathan Clements, you rock! Thank you for taking me on and believing in me.

7.  I moved three times in 12 months. And not just across the street or around the corner. Two moves were across the country. One to New Mexico. One back to the East Coast. The third is almost here ... in January, we'll be heading to South Carolina again.

8. God blessed my editing business and revealed to me that I have a call to be an encourager. I'm thankful for that gift, as it brings me great joy to see others find hope or discover an idea within themselves as God reveals what they need to me.

9. God provided every cent my family needed to do what we needed to do this year.

10. I was published in two different compilations/devotionals: God's Provision in Tough Times and Refreshing Wind.

11. God answered many prayers for healing, blessing, and my personal request to be able to live close to one of my very best friends and my writing mentor, who is also a dear friend.

12. God healed my father from Kidney cancer.

13. I had three authors that I edited win awards for their writing, which I edited. I had a fourth author hit #1 in a category on amazon for her novel that I edited. God has an amazing way of showing us that we are able to do what He has called us to do. I felt like a proud mama hen showing off her chicks. Go Pastor Chip, Cyle, Judy, and Elaine! Whoot!

So, there's my list of thirteen things I've accomplished or God has done in my 2013. I'd love to hear about yours. Either list them in a comment below, or share your link to your blog post about them. Let's find encouragement together in knowing God is for us! Here's to a blessed 2014!

My One Word for 2013

For the past few years, I've prayed as the New Year approached. I've asked God to give me One Word for the year; one that I would focus on and center my life around. Every year He's been faithful.

In 2012, that word was multiply. In 2012, I have seen an increase in my work as an editor. I have had more successes as a writer. My husband received his first raise in four years. My teenager is maturing in various areas of his life. God's abundance has manifested in our lives. He has multiplied.

My One Word for 2013 is EVERYTHING.

 As I make Jesus the center of Everything in my life, I will see the goodness of the Lord. I am expecting amazing things this new year. As Jesus becomes the center of my marriage, I anticipate a growth in our ministry (Together Ministries). As Jesus becomes the center of my parenting, I anticipate a spiritual growth in our children--a deepening in their relationships with Jesus. As Jesus becomes the center of my career, I anticipate an expansion, an increase, and an outreach to many. As Jesus becomes the center of my health, I anticipate an increase in energy, a decrease in my waistline, and a decrease in headaches and sickness.

As I allow Jesus to be my FOCUS, I look forward to ORDER in my life and the lives of my family members. As order falls into place, I anticipate and am pregnant with expectations that God is going to be PREPARING us for a new season in our lives. That season may be ten years from now, but I know it's out there, waiting on God's perfect timing.

What is your One Word for 2013? I can't wait to hear what God is saying to His children!

Creative Resolutions to Consider in the New Year

As I said yesterday, many of us are considering our New Year's Resolutions. What do we want to accomplish in 2012? What would we like to see God do in our lives in 2012? What would we like to do with our lives for God in 2012? These are all questions we consider as we watch the crystal ball drop down the pole, counting off the last 60 seconds of the year before.

As I've poured through blog posts and facebook status updates, I've noticed several creative ways to answer these questions. Since I'm a creative type, I've participated in a few of these myself. As I list them below, I'll share my own answers...

1. A word for 2012 - This is when you ask God to give you one word for the new year. I've done this in the past. Sometimes I get the word at the beginning of the year. Sometimes I get the word during our annual women's conference. This year, I received it just before the new year. As I read the Word one morning last week, God spoke to my heart. Reproduction. Multiplication. My spirit jumped with such a pregnant word. These words imply birth. Newness. Life. More than one life. What will God multiply in my life this year? Will He pour me out into others, allowing a spiritual birth to take place? Will He bring others into my life, multiplying the blessed abundance of friends and Christian family I already have? Will He cause Together Ministries to take off, reproducing or multiplying stronger families? These words hold so much, and my spirit is one full of expectancy this year.


2. A photo for 2012 - Mary DeMuth blogged about this one. I found it refreshing, as I'd never heard of finding a photo to represent the next year of your life. Running along with my word for 2012, I found the following photo:

Photo Courtesy of Johnny Berg

As I thought about reproduction and multiplication, I considered what type of photograph could represent that. A pregnant mother's belly shot? A field of new growth neatly lined in cultivated rows? A bunch of baby bunnies? And then, I thought of it. Baby kitties. Who doesn't love a litter of cute baby kitties? Next to rabbits, I figured cats multiply rather quickly and in large amounts. When searching for a photo, the curiosity of the guy on the left caught my eye. Here is a pillow platter of cute kittens with one who can't wait to see what's in store for him. Just like me. I can't wait to see what God multiplies and reproduces in my life this year!

3. A scripture verse for 2012 - I haven't found this one yet, but I remember the one God gave me last year. "Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste." Proverbs 13:23 God put something special and useful in all of us. It's a lack of justice that causes the waste we see in the lives of others. Think of the foster kids you know who don't have that "forever family." Think of the kids who harass others all day at school because they know no other way to act. Think of the adults who come into church broken and shattered, reeking of alcohol or dressed inappropriately. No one else would look their way. Think of the unlovables who gripe and complain all day about everything. These are the poor. And there is an abundance in each of them, if only someone would say hello, offer a kind word, smile their way. After all, Jesus came to heal them, not those who have no need of a physician.


4. Make a vision board for 2012 - Props to fellow mom Laurie Wallin for sharing this idea. Watch her YouTube video to find out more about the meaning of a vision board. I look forward to making one of my own and to making one with my children and Daddy for the family.


Do you have a word or a photo for the new year? How about a verse? Would you like to make a vision board for yourself or your family? What would you put on it? Feel free to leave your answers in the comments below. I'd love to hear what God is showing He has for you in this new year!

 

Change and 2012

It's a new year! 2012 has blown in with a cool breeze here in South Carolina. As the temperature changes to a winter-like chill, I keep pondering the word "change."

I've seen that word frequently this week. Change. Some of us like change, while others...not so much.

As often as I've seen the word change, I've seen the word resolution. People across the world are considering their resolutions for the changes they'd like to see made in their lives this year. Which brought me to considering the following:

Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever." In other words, He doesn't change. His Word has been the same since the Holy Spirit hovered over the depths of the earth. It's been the same since Eve convinced Adam to partake of the apple with her. It's been the same since Mary heard from an angel that she would be pregnant with God's child. And God's Word remained the same as His Son hung on a cross at Calvary, dying so that we could change.

And that's the key. So often, we want God to change. We want Him to ignore the fact that we've gone around the mountain of overspending, overeating, smoking another pack of cigarettes, having one more drink, watching one more pornographic movie, holding one more grudge, or whatever else our vice is one more time. We want Him to turn His head as we partake in one more sin, knowing He wants us to change but denying Him the power to help us. Instead, we wish He'd change His foundational truths and allow us to have our way. We feel entitled to our way. Why should we change? He created us, knowing we'd be born with this innate desire to do things we know are against His will. So why change?

I spoke with my pastor earlier today, and he shared with me that he preached about the man at the Pool of Bethesda this past Sunday. (I was laid up with a migraine and upset stomach, so I missed church.) He mentioned how the man had to want to be healed and how that healing didn't come the traditional way. The man wouldn't step into the pool's water as it was stirred. Instead, his healing would come another way. A different way. Through the Great Physician Himself.

So often we get hung up on the idea that our healing, that changes in our lives, can only come one way. Yet God has many ways of working out the changes needed in our lives. Jesus told the woman at the well her life story, but when the accusers stood with stones before Mary Magdalene, He simply drew in the sand. While Jesus took one outside the city, another had to press into the crowded streets. What He does to make the changes occur in my life may be entirely different than what He does to make the changes in yours. Because we're each a unique individual, and He knows exactly what we need.

Photo Courtesy of Caltiva

The question is, will we honestly allow Jesus to put us through the Refiner's Fire, enduring the process in order to see the change brought to completion? Will we endure the heat, the chiseling, and the forging? Will we trust Him to give us the strength we need to see the procedure through? Or, will we do as we usually do and give up at the first sign of a flame? Will we go around that mountain again, expecting God to change, unwilling to change ourselves?

Will we see our 2012 resolutions through? Will the pain of remaining the same be more painful than that of changing?

What changes would you like to have God's help with in your life in 2012?