Happy New Year!

It’s been 2018 for a minute now and I know for some, there are mixed feelings as we enter into another year. Some have entered with relief, some with sadness, some with joy and some with dread. I personally love new beginnings. I love a fresh start, I mean we all need one now and then. But what I love most about new beginnings is the anticipation of what’s to come.

Honestly, our 2017 was a year of adjustments. We bought a new house and joined the launch team of a new church plant…there were new schedules, new commitments, new responsibilities and new adventures. I visited Africa, Mexico and several new states for me here in the US. Each journey held a new lesson, new challenge and new experience.

Overall, 2017 was a good year but no season is void of challenges and opportunities for growth. I learned a lot about myself…my selfishness, my pride and my insatiable need to stay in constant step with the Holy Spirit. I felt the pains of running ahead and lagging behind. I felt the sting of humility and was reminded of the importance to count the cost, measure my words, thoughts and actions.

In looking ahead to 2018, I’m also reminded that one season builds on the next and what happened in 2017 was preparation for what God holds in store for 2018. For that reason, I can appreciate all that we went through and all the lessons learned. I know I’ll forget, I know I’ll miss the mark but I press on…seeking diligently to live a life worthy of my calling.

My word for this year is PURPOSE. Not in a way to desperately figure out my purpose but to consciously be living ON and WITH purpose. Recognizing that everything…every encounter, every conversation, every relationship, every situation…God has a purpose for me and my part to play. My prayer is not to simply “go through the motions” of 2018 but to look for and appreciate the opportunities I have…opportunities to grow and stretch, opportunities to serve, to surrender, to trust and to live the fullness of what God has for me and my family.

I pray the same for each of you reading this. I pray that you would intentionally seek the Lord in every way, allow Him to work in and through you to help you become more like Him. I pray 2018 would be a year of boldness, victory and growth for you! My Pastor, Brad Barbour, preached an awesome word yesterday on “New Year New You,” you can watch it here.

Isaiah 43:19, ““See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Happy New Year!!!!!!😀