New Year's word

Do you have a word for the New Year? I had never even heard of the idea of having a theme word for the year until the end of 2014 was nearing. It had been the most difficult year in my life and I was glad to see it go, although not really looking forward to the new year either.

I felt the Lord placing the word “hope” on my heart. It was popping up everywhere and was just what I needed. Hope that God was in control and that things truly would get better. So that became my theme word for 2015. As I pressed into God as the only source of my hope, He came through. Hope showed up everywhere, all year long. I found it in so many verses I was reading in the Bible, in songs, and in inspirational sayings. Hope was the common thread woven throughout the entire year. I truly learned over the course of the year how to place my hope in God and not people or circumstances, both of which had been sorely disappointing. Over the course of the year, God had done amazing things in me and had truly restored my hope for the future. I was excited about 2016 and the prospect of a new “word of the year.”

As 2016 neared, I prayerfully considered a new word for the new year. However, two kept coming up and I found it too hard to choose. So I had both “future” and “grace” for the next year. Once again, I was amazed at how often they came up and how God has woven both of them so beautifully together throughout the year. I sat down the other day to write down all of the milestones of 2016 and I couldn’t believe it! I never dreamed so much could happen in just one year and sometimes in the course of one month. I love how God brought so many beautiful surprises into my life this past year. It has me truly excited for the future because I know and have seen that He will do abundantly more than I could ever ask or imagine.

So for the past few weeks, I have been praying about my new word for 2017. I can’t believe it is already here!!! I have my new word and am eagerly anticipating the new year and seeing how it unfolds. If you haven’t ever had a theme word for the year, I encourage you to consider it. It has been a blessing to me! I look forward to sharing my word for 2017 with you in just twelve short months.