New Beginnings

For the last 8 years or so I’ve had a word of the year. I know many people pick one now, but when I first started it wasn’t really popular. The place I first saw the idea was actually in a church setting. People were encouraged to pick a word that they felt God was placing on their hearts and to commit to studying it throughout the year. They would find it in scripture and see what lessons could be taken from it.

When I was leading bible studies I had the ladies in my groups pick a word of the year to study too. We would share what we were learning and it was honestly one of my favorite things we did. They used to say that picking just one word for a whole year was a big commitment, some wanted a six month escape clause. After the first year they also became very selective in their word choice because they knew that word was going to greatly influence their life for the next 365 days.

I can honestly say that when I’ve faithfully chosen to study a word it shows up not just in scripture, but everywhere - in songs, in TV shows and movies, in conversations with coworkers. When the word you choose is a focus of yours, you’ll see it start to pop up in the most surprising of places.

This year my word is NEW. There are numerous verses in the bible that contain the word new and I’m excited to view them with fresh eyes. I chose new as my word because I think I’ve allowed old plans, dreams, hopes, to be something that I’ve focused on. Kinda like looking at what I hope the past would have held stops me from looking/working toward what the future could be.

If you haven’t picked a word out for this year yet I encourage you to think about it for a couple of days and then commit to it. I can guarantee that you will find some amazing things out about yourself, your relationship with God, and you interactions with others. However, you’ll also have moments when you regret picking the word you did. Not because you’re actually regretful, but because you’re facing a hard situations and your word is at the center of it. Be hopeful though, in my experience the good has outweighed the hard.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.

Revelations 21:5

Friends, pick out the word and lets see what God is going to teach us in 2020.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

P.S. My plan for January is to post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays if you’re interested in seeing what I learn this year check back in then. Happy New Year!