2022 Word... or Message... of the Year
2021 Reflections
In December, I usually get a bit of angst thinking about what my next word will be from God. I’ve recognized that I do not choose these words. They definitely come from him. I know this because each year when I reflect back on the previous 12 months, I identify how aptly timed God’s message was for me during that particular season.
Last year, the message God shared with me was Life. After losing both my father and my mother-in-law, leaving our life of 10+ years in Illinois to go to a place we didn’t know anyone, and the global grief our world was feeling with COVID and political division, I was ready to embrace life again!
I thought all about the different ways I would walk into the year to celebrate life. I thought about sending birthday cards for family’s birthdays. I thought about going on Facebook every day to wish people a happy birthday. I was brainstorming all different kinds of ways that I would celebrate each day - from taking pictures every day to getting together with potential new friends. I was really going to embrace it!
What I encountered instead was the hardest year of my life. I cried more days than I didn’t. I felt all the grief that had welled up for 4 years hit me like a wave all at once. I learned to be alone, not necessarily because I wanted to, but because this was now my life. Most days, darkness enveloped me and I didn’t see a way out.
One quiet morning in December, God gave me a message. It was a message so clear, hit my soul so deep, and almost seemed audible, there was no denying it was from him. Here is the interaction between God and me.
I was gifted this plaque as a going away gift from my team in 2020 as I packed up to move away. They wrote sweet words of affirmation on the back that I cherish.
"My child, I gave you the word Life for 2021 not for your attention to be on others. I gave you this word so you would cling tightly to it. I knew this would be one of your hardest years yet as I pulled you from everything you were comfortable in. I was reminding you to cling only to me, for I am your Source of Life. Don't you remember? I am the Vine and you are the branch. Apart from me, you cannot live. I reminded you too when I gifted you that plaque. I gifted you with words for your life from others to remind you that I have gifted you in many ways but you must stay connected to me. The Life I bring to you will bring you joy and hope as you've never known."
Why is it already December and I cannot keep this word to grow into? Is that what you have for me, Lord? How will I find this Joy and Hope you speak of? How can I have a new word before I feel like I'm done with this word?
"Right now, at this moment, I do not want you to be concerned with what lies in the future. You still have 21 days to lean into life before I reveal what’s next."
Ok God. I get the message.
Is It A Word Or Message?
Recently I was asked how I prepared for the new year. What planning did I do? What goals do I have? The normal new year conversation. This year, my response was different. I’ve learned to release my expectations of what each year will bring, mostly because I just couldn’t keep up physically or emotionally.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Each year when God reveals His message for me, I get all kinds of ideas in my head. These ideas lead to self-imposed expectations, often met with disappointment. What if it’s not my word of the year, but a one-word message from God for me to keep at the front of my mind throughout the next 365 days? It’s a way for Him to remind me the only expectation I should hold for the year is the expectation of how He will show up to move in and through my life.
2022
Being still physically reminds me to still my spirit before God.
This year, God has put the word Progress heavy on my mind and heart. I am amazed that God trusts me with such a potent word, full of self-imposed goal-setting and plan-making. How timely that he has reminded me once again, that it’s not about how I show up, but it’s about how He shows up through me. I am but a vessel.
Now reflecting over the last year, and how God gifted me a word to remind me of how I was going to survive the most difficult year of my life, I look forward with expectation at how God will be glorified as he shows up in the progress that will happen over 2022.
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