MY NEW YEAR WORD 

IN A YEAR WITHOUT RESOLUTIONS

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I stopped making resolutions years ago. Instead, I select one word. I also select a healthy habit to add to my life. But, up to this point, I haven’t told many people my ONE WORD of the YEAR” for 2020. It wasn’t because I was unsure of my word, but rather because I didn’t want to have to explain what I meant by it. Limitless is defined as “without end, limit, or boundary.” I know that I will get push back on my word. I know that people will try to put limits on my word. 

How do I know this? You see, when I hear God speak to me, I tend to say things like, “But not everything will be able to be accomplished,” or “How do you expect me to do that?” And if I am saying these things to God who is without limits, how do I expect my friends and family to react?

HOW DID I SELECT MY WORD?

Each and every year for the last 5-6 years, I have selected one word to define my year. I select my new year word through carefully praying and asking God for direction, and each and every year, God guides me into a word that directs my steps that year. Some years, I have balked at my word, but God lets me know that my word is given for a reason. Sometimes he does this through other people, and sometimes he does it through the Bible, but I am always certain before the New Year begins that my word is the correct one.

Now sometimes, I am working on that word through the year, and I don’t see progress, but as I read back over the previous year’s words, I can definitely see defining moments that cemented those words and helped shape me into the person I am today.

HOW I WILL USE MY ONE WORD FOR THE YEAR

Throughout 2020, I am on an adventure to try to walk closer with God. I am allowing myself to not be fooled by a silly little stop sign that is probably of my own making. How many times do you think you hear the voice of God, and then you see a Stop Sign? Sometimes that stop sign isn’t even there, but you are certain it is because your mind has placed it there. You are stopped in your tracks by your own fears and insecurities. You forget to fully rely on God.

In an effort to following God more closely and allow Him to guide my steps, I am surrendering my will to His.  You see, when God tells me to walk on a certain path, I don’t see the 3 steps in front of me, Instead, I look ahead to the 500 steps that are not clearly lit, and begin to question – “But God…” Or worse yet, I look at God and say, “But you haven’t made the path completely smooth.” 

Compare the two photos above. If God tells you to climb the first mountain, it is overwhelming. You may even begin to say that you can’t possibly do what God is asking you to do. However, instead of looking at the mountain, you looked at the path clearly laid out for you and the beautiful flowers around that path instead of looking at the entire mountain, the task seems easier.

God asked me to do something two years ago, and I looked at all that was involved in accomplishing it. I saw the entire mountain and became scared. But God gave me one simple task to start. He said, “Make a phone call.” I knew that the phone call would lead me up the mountain. I put limits on myself and God. I never started because of the mountain.

Others who put Limits on God:

Join me on my journey in this new year to select One Word and follow a Limitless God. He has led me to Psalm 78. Do not be like the Israelites that Psalm 78:11-16 talks about: 

They forgot what he had done,
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
¹He divided the sea and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.
He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.
He split the rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

HOW TO EMBRACE A LIMITLESS LIFE:

As I walk a limitless life fueled by the voice of God, I commit Psalm 78:40 to memory.

They did not remember his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor

I am called to live a limitless life in Christ. Not by my power, but by His.

LIMITLESS – MY ONE WORD FOR THE NEW YEAR

While I am not out working in foreign countries or saving sick people, I am walking in the path that my God has set before me. And sometimes that is scary and overwhelming. Therefore, as I follow Christ in this journey, I will remember my God is without limits, and I will stop putting limits on what He wants me to do.

Colossians 1:10-11 “so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you might patiently endure everything with joy.”

Do you need help selecting your One Word? READ How to Pick Your One Word HERE!

MY ONE WORD FOR The Year 2019 was Courage!

In 2019, I drove to Washington, D.C. with Marcus, Jack-Jack, and my 90-year-old mother. I learned to get outside of my own comfort zone and do some things I didn’t even think I was capable of. I mustered up the courage and did things.

MY ONE WORD FOR 2018 was Focus!

It was a year to refocus my blog, get back on track and figure out where I was going.

MY ONE WORD FOR 2017 WAS CHANGE.

This was the year I changed my blog from Blogger to WordPress. I made some other changes in my life – nothing major, but it was a year to do things differently. And some of the difference was changing my mindset – getting out of my own way to let God work.

MY ONE WORD FOR 2016 WAS STRENGTH

It was a year to find my voice. I was growing weary, and I used my one word for the year to find a strength that can only be found in Christ.

If you are looking to make some “Resolutions” involving your One Word – Download Vera’s Resolution Checklist HERE to help keep you on track.