Happy New Year friends! I don't know about you but I love choosing a word of the year. I started doing this back in 2019. Before that I was following the goal setting trends but like most, those goals and lifestyle changes fizzled out by February. Although there is nothing magical about January 1st I always view the new year as a clean slate. Each year will inevitably bring its own set of challenges, celebrations, and changes. Setting a word of the year is kind of like setting a focus for the year. During the last few months of each year I pray specifically that God will guide me and show me where my focus should be. This word came up several times in the past few months, and honestly I struggled with it because I was trying to find a word that made more sense, but God kept putting that word on my heart and literally in front of my eyes.
Steadfast. That is the word that I kept seeing. I kept reading and God kept whispering to my heart. My word for 2023 for brave. That word kept coming up and I had no idea that IVF would be the focal point of 2023. I just thought I needed to be brave for all the new things on the farm. Our first kidding and calving seasons were the scariest task I thought we would face in 2023. But God knew. God knew that Jordan would encourage me to visit a fertility doctor. God knew the excitement we would feel when seeing our little embryo before implantation. God knew we would grieve the devastating loss our little embaby boy. God also knew we wouldn't give up. He knew I would need to focus on being brave when I absolutely felt like crawling in a hole and not facing reality.
2023 was a wild ride and if I'm honest it's hard to say that I'm thankful for what we went through, but I am thankful for what we have learned. I'm thankful for all amazing women that I have met through this whole process. I'm thankful for growing in faith. As we look ahead to 2024 I want my focus to be on remaining steadfast. Continuing to be brave. Continuing to persevere. Continuing to be intentional. Continuing to trust. (All of these are previous words of the year)
My prayer for 2024 is taken right from James 1:2-12 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
I honestly do not know what 2024 may hold for us or for our farm but no matter what, I pray that I will remain steadfast and know that God is always with us.
I'd love to hear what your Word of the Year is! Please share in the comments below.
How can I pray for you this week?