No Grand Plan for 2023 — Just Rising Above it ALL by way of Vulnerability

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No Grand Plan for 2023 — Just Rising Above it ALL by way of Vulnerability

I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not going into 2023 with some grand plan. Five days in, and I haven’t chosen my “one word,” nor do I feel confident right now with any of my words. As a writer and a wordy girl, it’s an uncomfortable place to be, but it’s where God has me now.

Wrestling. Wondering why. Why is life so hard? Why is pain so deep?

So, here’s to a little vulnerability in 2023.

I’m struggling.

Struggling to focus.

Struggling to fix my eyes on Jesus.

Struggling to find the right words.

Struggling to find any words.

Not just for this post,

but in response to people’s pain,

in response to lots of change,

and in response to a myriad of things.

2023 is a BIG year for our family. It’s a year I’ve been excited about — joyful and expectant in regards to ALL it holds, but now I’m ALL tied up in the tension of the expectation of it ALL coupled with the guilt of even having the expectation in the midst of ALL the pain and suffering and loss for so many so close to me.

This year, we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and we’ll celebrate two graduations — one from college, one from high school. The high school grad will be moving 200 miles away to attend college in the fall in another state, so we’ll have three in college at some point this year in three different states. The youngest turns 16 which means ALL will be on the road, and the oldest, who has already been “on his own” for quite some time, will be officially a full time mechanical engineer.

It’s ALL a bit much for the momma heart, and yet, I’m holding the excitement and expectation of it ALL with some sadness, grief, and pain knowing what some so dear to me are experiencing.

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Surrendered and Reawakened

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Surrendered and Reawakened

As I SURRENDER to what

I don’t fully understand,

I can REAWAKEN to His glory

as He reveals what only He can.


Stuck. It may not be a word we’d choose to live by, but it sure is one (especially for the past couple years), with which many of us can identify.


Stuck by the crippling grip of fear.

Stuck under the weight of unforgiveness.

Stuck in the loneliness of isolation.

Stuck on the pedestal of pride.


No matter how you spin the kinda stuck you’re in, only God can truly set you free to begin again.


As I ponder and pray through the two words God’s placed on my heart for 2022, I was struck by (and ironically stuck in) two passages of scripture this morning — two passages about one church, two descriptions praising these people while at the same time pointing out the one thing that had them stuck, and that’s when those two words for 2022 hit a little different.


They stuck out to me in to get me unstuck.


As I SURRENDER to what

I don’t fully understand,

I can REAWAKEN to His glory

as He reveals what only He can.


Those two passages of scripture are Ephesians 1:3-21 and Revelation 2:2-5. I encourage you to go read the first one, a greeting by Paul to the beloved church of Ephesus as a reminder of all the blessings they have in Christ — blessings, We as children of God have inherited, too.


The second passage, I’ll include below — an encouragement from Jesus Himself, through the words of John in the book of Revelation to the church of Ephesus...


“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” ~ Revelation 2:2-7 ESV


There’s ALOT I don’t understand about God, about this world He created, about the people He placed in power, and about His perfect plan and the purpose He has in all of it.

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Instead of this year being a CATCH 22, Let God, in Christ, by His Word, catch, capture, and keep you!

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Instead of this year being a CATCH 22, Let God, in Christ, by His Word, catch, capture, and keep you!

Catch 22 — a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions;


a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule;


the circumstance or rule that denies a solution; an illogical, unreasonable, or senseless situation;


a measure or policy whose effect is the opposite of what was intended;


a situation presenting two equally undesirable alternatives;


a hidden difficulty or means of entrapment


Well, we are almost a full week into the new year, and in year’s past, by now, I’ve chosen and shared my “one word for the year” complete with why I chose it and the how I plan on living it.


But this year’s word had been a bugaboo. You could say, it’s been a CATCH 22...


(I’ll interject here, my husband knows me and my love for words well. He knows my word in 2020 was vision, for obvious reasons, so as 2022 has rolled around, he’s been hinting that my word should be “catch,” and while that’s not my word, the whole concept and meaning behind “catch 22” has got me thinking about the significance of choosing a word for the year...)


So even with it being a bugaboo and a bit of a catch 22, with God’s help, I narrowed it down to a few, but in the search, He impressed this upon my heart:


ONLY ONE WORD CAN TRANSFORM YOU.


It’s not a man-made word found in the pages of a dictionary, It’s the very Word of God found in the pages of The Holy Bible — breathed by Him, penned by men — our daily bread given to us by the Bread of Life — sustainable, unchangeable, infallible.


Instead of this year

being a CATCH 22,

Let God, in Christ, by His Word,

catch, capture, and keep you!

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abide.

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abide.

abide. My one word for 2021. I’ve been studying it closely for the past two years, but it only took me a couple days to decide that in 2021 (and beyond) this is where I want to stay. Safe and secure in Him.

abide. Honestly, the mere thought of focusing on this one word throughout this new year brings peace to my troubled heart. There’s no magic formula in picking one word for the year, and believe me there is no power in the word itself, but oh is there power in the Word of God to help us live it out no matter what this year brings about!

{a little aside, and then back to abide... vision was my one word for 2020. Seemed appropriate, right?!? Well, I can tell you now, on the other side of 2020, hindsight truly is 20/20. In a year of so much chaos and confusion, God’s Word, His Truth, His Way has never been clearer. Life Giving Gospel Truth calling me to be brave as I simply stay and abide...}

abide. A small word that silently screams “be still,” yet harnesses so much power and potential. I want abiding to be more than a topic of study, I long for it to be a new rhythm — a pace I’ll learn to embrace as God continues to embrace me. He holds me fast. I stay. He leads. I follow. He speaks. I listen. He prompts. I obey.

abide. The very structure of the word personifies its meaning — symmetrical and seeming to flow rhythmically through the ups and downs of vowel, consonant, vowel, consonant, and vowel. The long “i” — longing to stay planted, rooted, and established in the very center of the word (much like I long to stay planted, rooted, and established in the very center of God’s will. That little letter — safe and secure in that little word — cushioned by the “b” and “d,” as if God is whispering, “I’ve got you. I’m holding you there.”

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