I am literally so bad at this… I began writing this post right before my trip to D.C. for the 2019 Passion conference (instead of packing the night before) and it has just been siting here in my drafts…
I am here to still share this post in it’s original context and not stray away from the conviction that I had starting the year off.
January 1st, 2019
I am getting ready to set off on yet another journey, this time to visit our nation’s capitol!
I’m heading there tomorrow in the hopes of starting out my year fully connecting myself to the Lord who has been so good to me in 2018.
I have seen His provision and blessings in the happenings of this past year and I couldn’t be more grateful for the life I live.
I’m not sure how this past year was for you, but the Lord took what seemed was going to be the worst year, in many, for me, into one of the most beautiful years. And when I say the worst… I mean it… It started out completely horrible and ended in such pure joy!
I’ve seen a lot of people posting their end-of-year recaps on Instagram, Facebook, etc. and most of the ones that I’ve read have had a negative tone to them. Yes, jokingly I’ve seen the popular “Thank you, next,” but how can we summarize an ENTIRE YEAR into this saying. I’m looking back at just this morning when I woke up and got to spend quality time with my family, which I haven’t had in a long time and I can’t imagine just tossing moments like that into “Thank you, next.” All of the times I’ve been able to spend quality time, in fellowship, with friends and family mean so much to me that I can’t justify skimming over them. Not giving thanks to the Lord for every second I am alive just seems so wrong. No matter how bad your year may have seemed, it was nothing in comparison to what Jesus has done on the cross for me and you both.
Yes, I have fallen victim to saying such passive things about past years, but today, as I sit here writing this, I have such a strong conviction that I needed to share.
How can I not thank Jesus for everything that I am? How can I not kneel before and glorify the Creator of all Heaven and earth? How am I to look at years that have passed and say that they were “bad years” for me or that “I wish I could forget that they ever happened.”
All of the moments of my life, both good and bad combined, have helped form me into the woman I am today and I think it’s time we take hold of those moments and give thanks to the Lord for working in us throughout all of it!
Now, this year will be different.
I am going to intentionally recognize the seasons of blessing, learning, and hardship and hand them straight over to the One who holds the world in His hands.
Join me this year, take in every moment as if it were a blessing from God. Look at every moment through that lense and let’s not so easily throw away a year in one small phrase.
