Five years ago a dear friend of mine let me in on a tradition that she and her family do every year. That tradition is picking a word for the year to help guide them to complete goals and to grow in their relationship to God. I fell in love with the idea and so since she told be about this, I have done this challenge. last year my word was "more". I chose it because I wanted to do more than what I was doing before. I wanted to be more of a friend, more outgoing, and more of what God has called me to be. Because of that I have built incredible friendships, grown closer to God, and have had opportunities that I never would have had had I continued to keep to myself like I had in the past.
As this New year approached I found myself dumbfounded as to what word I should do for 2015. As you remember in my last update, I was given many opportunities on campus to be a leader. One of those was traveling on the summer recruitment team. I had my whole summer planned out already. I even had my packing list ready and revised. However sometimes life doesn't work out the way you planned. In a whirlwind of events, which were no one persons particular fault, my summer plans were thwarted and I was removed from said team. It was one of those crazy circumstances where I did nothing wrong, but by a series of clerical errors, I was given a job that I shouldn't have had in the first place. It was devastating nonetheless. It was a tough transition going back to not having summer plans or one of my dream jobs. I was left again wondering what I would do for the summer. Thoughts of the future kept creeping up and choking me. I was freaking out not knowing what I was going to do. God gently reminded me however that I don't need to know everything I am going to do, but that I need to trust Him. Through that reminder, I was given the idea for my word this year. That word is Trust.
I need to trust in God's plan for me for the future whether that is ten minutes from now or ten years. I need to trust that He understands the desires of my heart and has a plan far better than my own. I need to trust in him being unfailing. But most of all, I need to trust in whatever God has in store for me is being made perfect, and that takes time. So I must be patient with that. Adding to the theme for the year, my friend decided she was going to add a symbol as well. So, for my symbol of the year, I chose an anchor. I picked that because just like how an anchor refuses to let a ship drift, God has given me anchors in my life to help keep me on my toes in relationship with Him. The verse that I chose is found in Psalms. It is in the ninth chapter and it says:
"Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."
(Psalm 9:10 NIV, 1984)
The future is terrifying. That is especially true for myself as I like to have every detail planned out a head of time. But trust in the God who made you to not let you down. You may not see what the future holds, but you have a creator who does, and He will steer you in the right direction. You only have to let him. Allow me to encourage you in finding a word this year, or even a verse. Write it down, pin it somewhere where you will see it often. If you are using a symbol to help you remember it, make that symbol your background on your phone or computer so you are reminded. Memorize a verse to go with it. if you do decide to do a word/verse/ symbol for the year, I would love to hear about it. Comment down below.
Until next time,
Natalie
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