Life on PURPOSE

And just like that… it is a new year, a new decade even!  In some ways it feels like 2019 just began and in others it seems like last January was a million years ago.  The year 2019 made us a family of 4 and brought more feelings of being settled and at “home” in our new life in Illinois.  It brought new ministry opportunities, new friends, a new brother in law, and took my Grandma to live with Jesus.  Though there were some hard pieces, overall it was definitely a year of joy for me.

I say it every year, and I mean it, I am not really one for making New Year’s resolutions.  I’m not good at keeping them, then I deal with guilt, frustration, and feel like I end up taking more steps backward than forward.  Instead, for the past few years I have taken a word of the year.  It really was never something I sat out to do, however it was something God very clearly asked me to do- like so clearly I was not about to tell him “no.”  When I take on a word, I begin by praying about it and very specifically asking God to show me what He would like to focus on for the year.  I then intentionally spend my personal Bible study time focused on that word, look specifically for ways to live that word, and silly as it may be, I even have a hashtag to keep it “in front of me.”  For me, the discipline of a word has been a game changer for my life. BRAVE was incredibly hard, but that word and what I learned in that year was one of the greatest gifts God ever gave to me.  The year of JOY kept me focused on the true Giver of my joy and how, through Him, it could be found in every situation. 

Several weeks ago, I began praying about what my word would be for 2020, and in time God gave to me the word PURPOSE.  The year 2020 I am going to focus on purpose.  There are many verses about purpose in the Bible, and I look forward to taking a closer look at them this year.  Just taking a quick concordance look at the word “purpose” left me realizing that I have no idea what this year of learning is going to hold for me! But I do know this, God has a plan and a “purpose” for it (and I promise to share with you what He is teaching me along the way!)

Here is what I have realized so far… I have spent the last couple years in survival mode.  Sometimes there is nothing wrong with that, it is what we have to do.  There were major changes in our life in 2018 and it was a year of just learning how to navigate the day to day.  In 2019, there was a lot of survival mode that came with pregnancy and adapting to life with a newborn.  And while survival mode is fine and totally necessary for a season, I believe it is not a great way to live an entire life. 

In listening to the words of my almost-four-year-old, “I didn’t do it on purpose!” I have also come to realize that often negative things happen simply because I lack purpose.  From minor issues like gaining a few pounds because I wasn’t on purpose with my eating, to big-time missed opportunities because I wasn’t on purpose with my thoughts or actions.  

In 2020, I pray that I will live life on purpose.  I want to choose my thoughts, and words, and actions with purpose.  I want to parent on purpose, love my husband on purpose, teach and interact with my students and co-workers with purpose, write, speak, and encourage others with purpose.  I want my life to follow the purpose that God has for me.  I want to be willing to let Him use me according to His purpose, in whatever that might be.  I’m truthfully a little nervous to admit that- because I don’t fully know what that is going to look like, or what comfort zones that is going to draw me out of.  But I do know this- when I purposefully put my life in the hands of the one who created it, He will work in ways immeasurably more than what I could ask or imagine.

So here we go 2020… this is life on PURPOSE.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28