Every year I think about choosing a word for the year. I began this a few years ago, and it's sort of a fun practice for me. For 2018, I knew going into this year that I was going to be facing some new challenges. So I thought about what word I wanted to define me, define my actions and my outcomes. What word did I want to choose to help shape what I knew might be coming as well as many events or obstacles or blessing that I don't yet know. So, for my word, I choose:
Faith
Faith is such a small word with such large shoes to fill. In Spanish it is only 2 letters - fe. But the word has such an ability to impact every part of me, those around me, every decision I make and every single thing that I face.
We use our faith every day... we have faith our vehicle will start to get us to work. We have faith that the chair is going to hold us up every time we sit down. Those are minor examples, honestly. Faith is really not as easy as it seems. For me, already I have a few circumstances confronting my faith. Will I choose to trust or will I fret? Faith sometimes requires action and other times it requires waiting... and figuring out which one is being asked of me is also a challenge and part of the journey as well.
At times having faith is simple and at other times, it seems impossible. So, for me, I want faith to define my year. I may not always like its outcomes, but I trust in the One who knows what's best for me. I might not always feel good during the growth that comes from the process, but I have faith that the One who holds the stars and moon knows the best path for me.
Faith is hard. It doesn't always come naturally. I'm human. I want to take control and fix and do... not wait and see. I don't always understand, but it's not my job to understand, it's my job to trust. So many words can be said about the journey of faith, but that is my word for this year. along with that, I close off with these verses (bear with me, it's quite a passage, but it just all fits) that I am finding match the journey quite a bit already.
As I close, I lastly just say that I may not be as visible on the blog site this year. We will see as the weeks go along. I'll pop in now and then to share my journey, to talk about my fitness, to hopefully encourage you all. But part of my faith journey I think requires me to step back a little bit, too. Writing helps me process, so I won't be giving that up. But... as life shifts for me a little right now, the focus shifts, too. It's part of the faith journey. Stay tuned... I won't completely disappear. I will just be more in the background.
Growing in my faith. One day at a time...
Isaiah 40: 21-31
"Haven't you heard? don't you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God- the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. To who will you compare me? Who is my equal? - asks the Holy One.
Look up to the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. O Jacom, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you not heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. "
Faith
