A Year of Surrender

As we step into another new year, I always like to take some time to reflect on what God has done in the year and what I am looking forward to God doing in the next year. This has always been a value of my Dads and something our family looks forward to every New Years Day: Chinese food and sharing what God is doing. This year, I have met a gal named Lauryn - she is my BSF leader and I am so thankful God put me in her group. She was sharing with us that her family does something like this every year. They each pick a word they want to grow in that year and they pray about it, seek it in the Word and learn as much as possible about that one characteristic. She challenged us to do the same starting this fall. I LOVED the idea and decided to pick a word for my 2015. 

After much prayer, thought and journaling, I decided that God was putting on my heart the idea of SURRENDER. For me, I LOVE stories. I love reading stories, listening to stories but even more telling stories - I even themed my whole dorm section in college around the idea of stories! I love the art in this form of communication and I believe that stories are one of Gods greatest ways of communicating truth to His people. However, because I have such a love for stories, I find myself striving to create and craft my own stories for my future. What I think should happen and how I think it should happen and sometimes worse...when it should happen. I recognize that I am failing to surrender myself and my future to our perfect Savior who is a FAR better story teller than I will ever be. 

We live in a goal-oriented world. Goals in and of themselves aren't bad, it is important to set a target and have something to look to.  However, for myself, I have sensed my goals slipping to expectations for myself. I had expectations of where I would be at this point in my life. What I would be doing for a job and where I would be living. The life I have now is no where near what I ever thought I would be doing (at least at this point) ha! I never would have imagined God would be putting me in full time Children's ministry at this age. I never would have imagined I would have my own place and would be living on my own and paying my own bills. What a surprise God gave me - and huge blessing!

For 2015, I am asking God to help me surrender my future and my desire to write my own story. God is a far better author than me - he has already proved that in more ways than one in my life. I hope for this year to more regularly be living in my today. To stop crafting what tomorrow will hold and surrender my hopes, expectations, dreams and desires to Him - because they are all a gift from Him to begin with!! 

I am so looking forward to this year and all that God will do in my heart, mind and life. AND this year I FINALLY get a brother - I am looking forward to that quite a bit too! I challenge you to think of what God is wanting to teach each of you this year and dive into the Word to discover what God has for you in that. So far, my favorite passage on surrender is found in Matthew 16:

'Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.'

 Join me as I seek to surrender my story and my future to the perfect Author. Blessings on your 2015!!