I wonder, how was the past year for you? I thought life seem to be moving faster than normal. The year was full of growth, but honestly felt like an uphill climb with each week presenting new challenges. I found myself gasping for a deep breath. Has the past year, like me, landed you in a new place of question, wonder and longing for balance? Did the year present the desire for change, healing, and guidance. Perhaps there was uncertainty and that led you to take on new opportunities or roles that made some dreams and passions come alive again. Maybe this year wasn’t hard but rather an experience of wellness, restoration, and miracles. Regardless of what kind of year you had, I wanted to share a couple practical things I do that can be helpful as you prepare for the New Year.

I reflect on the past year. I ask myself questions about how the challenges I went through shaped me. I evaluate where I need to grow in my faith and my attitude. Who and what should I spend more time on and what should I let go of? How can I live more intentional, loving, and thrive? I purposely look for God’s love, direction, and presence threaded throughout everyday life.

” So faith comes from hearing, and the hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 ESV

I create a prayer list. You can have fun with this by creating a spreadsheet, use different high lighters or make a story out of your prayers to God. I tend to pray God’s word back to him and declare his truths over those I am praying for. I find it helpful to have a special place in my Bible and make side notes of what is on my heart. You can use a binder to journal and put a prayer tab in it for your list of prayers. Leaving post-it notes around the house and on the mirror can create purposeful prayerful time as well. The Bible says to pray and that God hears our prayers. We can boldly go before God. Oh, how he loves when his children talk to him.

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will recieve his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it the most.” Hebrews 4:16 NIV

I spend some time writing down my goals. I enjoy making goals. It is something I have always done, but over the years I have gotten better at defining them. You may be like me and goal setting is something you do but if you are like many others, then this could be a challenge. I would encourage you to look at setting goals in a positive way. Take the time to research effective goal setting and have fun with it! Let me know if you need some ideas as I would love to encourage you.

I like to break my goals down into different categories like spiritual, personal, family, financial, and so on. My husband and I are intentional each year to sit down and talk to our children about their goals and dreams. Afterwards, we will place the goals on a pushpin board in their rooms to look at thoughout the year. Some goals the past year were small but made a huge impact in our lives that inspired us. Setting goals is a great way to think about who you are in Christ, where you are headed and that is powerful!

” Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you”. Psalm 37:5 NLT

Each new year I write a letter to God and listen for Him to write back. After I write my letter to God, then during my prayer time I have a pen and paper ready as I ask him to speak to me. I begin to write down what I hear him say in my heart. It is a special quiet time I set aside to listen. I am always blown away by God’s letter to me. His words echo certain things that keep coming up in my life. God reminds me of dreams, importance to reflect on things that matter, and he always expresses his great love. I am amazed to see Gods presence throughout the last year, and I look forward to the Lords direction for the upcoming year. The letter keeps me grounded in moments of confusion, fear, or even joyful events because I already know in my heart that God is with me. Giving me peace to move forward. Those that believe in God recognize his voice and follow him.

“My sheep know my voice; I know them and they follow me. ” John 10:27 NIV

I always ask God for a scripture to focus on and a word for the year. This is such a fun way to communicate with God. All year long I watch for God to show up and illuminate his presence in my life. I ask God for a scripture and a word, then pray for confirmation. There is no rhyme or reason yet, I have noticed that the scripture and word keeps coming up during a devotional reading, conversation with family and friends, or it really burns in my heart so much that I just want to understand deeper. I research my word, writing down the definition and look for the word in scripture. The Blue letter Bible is a helpful resource. I study the words origin to gain a better understanding of what this word could be telling me. I research the scripture and look at different commentaries. Then I apply what I learn to my life. For example, New Year’s 2020 my word was Begin. The word means to proceed, to perform the first or earliest part of some action, start, to create, establish, actualize, launch. This was such a meaningful word for me that particular year as I needed to just begin many things in my life. Having that word remined me to take the steps I needed each day to begin. Begin writing on the blog, begin the college classes I had to take, begin the exercises that would help my neck and back issues, and begin to try new things. I wanted to begin to read my whole Bible in one year and the Bible starts off by saying ” In the Beginning God created the heavens and earth. ” Genesis 1:1

Genesis means “beginning or origins,”. Friends, It is good to begin growing closer to God and walking purposefully with Him this year!

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”. Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

This year I pray we draw nearer to God and enjoy His presence!