ONE WORD 2014

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Well, we're 8 days into 2014. Some of you may be right on track with your New Years Resolutions (proud of you dad for quitting smoking!!) and some of you may have thrown in the towel. No judgement from here if you're part of the latter.

As you know, I don't really set New Year resolutions. I'm a big fan of dreams and goal setting on a regular basis, NOT just the beginning of the year. BUT what I do like to do at the beginning of the year is pick one word for the year. This will be my third year doing this one word thang and I'm pretty pumped. (2012- here & here. 2013 here & here.) 

God dropped my word for 2014 into my heart on December 27th. I was praying for my husband and writing in my prayer journal and found myself writing out 1 Corinthians 13.

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." -1 Corinthians 13:4-7

As I wrote out those verses and read them aloud I realized how much I sucked at loving. I recognized how I can be incredibly selfish a lot of the time and in result, avoid loving people. In that moment, I knew my one word for 2014 was going to be love and the kind of love that God was calling me to was in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. And he wasn't just calling me to love my husband with this kind of love, he was calling me to love EVERYONE.

Loving this way is going to take a lot of stretching. It's going to take a lot of me stepping out of my safe bubble. It's going to take a lot of me getting over myself.

On January 1st, I wrote out this prayer "This year I'm ready to love deeper and wider and higher and greater than ever before. Help me Lord, to love like you love. To believe the best in others. To be selfless and not selfish. To love you Lord and love all those around me."

It may seem simple, but this my friends, is going to be the hardest one yet. But I'm ready (at least I'm telling myself that) to love.

Do you have a word for 2014? If so, I want to hear it (let me know in the comments)! And if you don't, I encourage you to seek one out! (Check out the original one word website for inspiration)

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

WALK IT OUT // REFLECTIONS ON MY ONE WORD 2013

Tomorrow at the stroke of midnight we’ll be entering into a new year…2014 is coming!!!

As I look towards the new year, new resolutions always try to creep into my mind..lose weight, spend more time with God, don’t eat sugar, write a book, run 5x per week… I start out with good intentions but when the months go by without having resolutions met, I become some crippled, shame-filled monster afraid to even try at any resolutions. Please tell me, I’m not alone here.

A couple years ago, I heard about picking ONE WORD to define your year. That sat well with me. (She Loves Magazine blogged about it here) The thing I like about this ONE WORD thing is, it’s not complicated. Have a word that you want to define your year? Go with it. Can’t think of a word? Pray for one. But when you get one, own it and work it gurrrl. Write it out and put it on your fridge. Blog about it. Tell your grandma, tell your boyfriend, tell your cat (uhhh maybe not, i don’t think cats are very good accountability partners..sorry coco.) Last year some friends and I gathered for a ONE WORD dinner. We ate some delicious food and spoke about our ONE WORD.

In 2012, God gave me the word BOLD. He called me to rise up like a lioness and be BOLD. (You can read more about my BOLD year here) 

And then 2013 came along where my ONE WORD was WALK. I have to be honest with you, when I first heard the word in the depths of my heart, I felt a little ripped off. My word the previous year was BOLD, (come on!) Give me SOAR or RUN or FLY or GLORY or even JOG but nope…WALK. (You can read about my mini argument with God here)

But oh, my Lord knew exactly what I needed for 2013. Here are a few treasures that I discovered this year.

1. WALK it out. Get off your butt and start walking.  James and I live less than a 20 minute walk from the church. In our first 9 months of being married and living where we lived, I didn’t walk to work once. INSANE hey? For some reason, in the spring I started making walking to work a priority and you know what? I actually enjoyed walking. I actually really, really, really enjoyed it. You might say, I fell in love with walking. Walking to work soon became not enough for me and soon enough, I found myself walking on my lunch break as well. On these walks I would find myself talking to God in a different way than I have experienced. We would walk and talk in a non-rushed manner. Sometimes there would be a lot of conversing and sometimes there would be a lot of silent smiles. Sometimes we’d walk quickly and sometimes we’d walk slowly, stopping to take a picture of freshly fallen leaves. These walks would clear my mind and often God would drop tidbits into my mind that I wouldn’t have been able to hear if it was filled with its usual busy-ness. If I was having a stressful day, I would go for a venting power walk. These walks would usually begin with me yelling at the devil then move to claiming Jesus’ victory and freedom over mine and my family’s life/whatever situation was stressing me out. Walking even caused me to become healthier and was a major companion in helping me lose 10lbs (running & healthier eating helped as well). I’m so thankful that God introduced me to walking this year. It’s been a great relationship and I feel it’s going to last a long time :)

2. Keep WALKING. Don’t stop. Can’t stop. Won’t stop. I learned that walking through life takes P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-A-N-C-E. Sometimes prayers remain unanswered. Sometimes (a lot of the time) life isn’t how you planned. This is a hard thing for type-A, control freak me. But I have learned this year that God is faithful and when you’re up to your thighs in the messiness and brokenness of life your only option is to keep walking. Keep going. Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep persevering.

3. WALK intentionally. So I’ve been doing some distance education through Summit Bible College and my most recent course had me complete a word study….you’ll never guess what word I had to study in greek and write a paper on…yep, you got it, WALK!! (amazing, hey?) So as I studied WALK as it appears in Ephesians 4:1, I discovered that how you walk determines how you live.

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to WALK in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” - Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV

Wow, just wow. I was challenged in that moment, and I am still being challenged. Humility, gentleness, patience and love. Christ has called me to live with these virtues, every single day as I walk through life. He’s still teaching me and always will be teaching me and I’m ever so thankful for His unending patience. 

2013, you’ve been a good one. Thank you Jesus for continually walking with me. Tomorrow I’ll be back with highlights of the year.

Thanks for reading :)

-s.s.♥.

SOME THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS

Christmas tends to bring a mixed bag of feelings to people. for some, Christmas is filled with high levels of anticipation and excitement as one looks forward to family dinners, church services, baking, decorations, lights, etc… for others Christmas time tends to be filled with anxiety, stress, and depression. the days are shorter. the weather is colder. the family is non-existent… 

i tend to relate more to the former. i get excited to bake and decorate and buy gifts for people. i get caught up in watching Christmas specials and eat way too many sweets. but i also have some not so fond Christmas memories…fights with siblings. that family member continually commenting on my second helping of dinner. the first Christmas after my parents separated…

if i’m not careful, i can either find myself being consumed with commercialistic Christmas or caught up in dark moments of Christmas past…

neither of these perspectives are healthy. i’m thankful for God’s truth that brings us into a clear perspective. i stumbled upon this beautiful verse a few summers ago. it sheds some serious light on the true meaning of Christmas.

it’s a prophetic word proclaimed by John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah. John the Baptist had just been born (which was a miracle in itself because his parents were old and had been trying for a looong time!) and Zechariah starts praising God and prophesying (by the way, he hadn’t been able to speak, so him speaking was a miracle as well… just go and read Luke 1!!) i can just picture Zechariah holding and smiling down at his long awaited son…

"And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

 Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

                              -Luke 1:78-79 

Jesus coming to earth is what Christmas is about. He came to give LIGHT to those who sit in darkness and guide us all to the path of PEACE. now that is what Christmas is about. hope and peace and JESUS. isn’t it wonderful that Jesus came for both those who are caught up in Christmas craziness and those who want to push it all away? He came to bring you peace. He came to bring light to your dark situation. 

my prayer is that for a few moments this Christmas season, you would push aside the eggnog lattes, the gifts, the baking, the dwelling on Christmases past, the negativity, the loneliness and grab your Bible and sit. read Luke 1 and let verses 78-79 sink into your soul. allow God’s truth to wash over you. let His light come into the darkest parts of your mind. let His peace fill every single part of you. and then read luke 2 and be in awe of God’s great gift for you.

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

MR. BRIGHTSIDE

i’m thankful for the sunshine we’ve been having. even though it’s flipping freezing and my legs are still frozen from my walk to work, i am thankful that it’s not rainy and grey. 

i’m a natural optimist. positivity is listed as my second highest strength according to the strengths finder test but as those rainy and grey days take over the calendar i find my sunny self slowly sinking… i am thankful for reminders that i don’t have to stay there.

earlier this year i started reading Jesus Calling…wow, just wow. i have never come across such a fresh and real devotional. a couple weeks ago this particular one tugged at my heart and i knew i had to share it…

This is the day that I have made! As you rejoice in this day of life, it will yield up to you precious gifts and beneficial training. Walk with Me along the high road of thanksgiving, and you will find all the delights I have made ready for you.

To protect your thankfulness, you must remember that you reside in a fallen world, where blessings and sorrows intermingle freely. A constant focus on adversity defeats many Christians. They walk through a day that is brimming with beauty and brightness, seeing only the grayness of their thoughts. Neglecting the practice of giving thanks has darkened their minds. How precious are My children who remember to thank Me at all times. They can walk through the darkest days with Joy in their hearts because they know that the Light of My Presence is still shining on them. Rejoice in this day that I made, for I am your steadfast Companion.

                                              -Jesus Calling (November 26th)

my prayer is that God would open your eyes to see the beauty and brightness of the day. no matter how grey your circumstance is, may He fill you with the Light of His Presence and bring you hope and peace.

xo,

s.s.♥.

JESUS FEMINIST

as you probably know, i became a christian when i was 18 years old. i was living in london, england and had stumbled upon hillsong church. i can’t remember who was speaking or what songs we sung (i strangely do remember what i was wearing, ha) but that night the Holy Spirit tugged at my heart and i knew it was time to surrender my life to Jesus and accept him as my Lord + Saviour. 

i went to colour conference two weeks later. there i saw women who were preaching boldly. they spoke with authority AND femininity. they all had different speaking styles yet it was so clear to me; they were being used by God to preach his word.

as i continued my journey there (11 months in all), i never thought about gender roles in the church. both men and women graced the platform speaking powerful messages. there were male pastors, there were female pastors. this was the norm. gender roles in the church seemed like they were a non-issue.

and then i moved to north america.

it makes my heart sad that it’s even an issue. it makes my heart sad that young girls believe they have to be a “pastor’s wife” to be in pastoral leadership. it makes my heart sad that we have to write books and blog posts about it. 

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons AND daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men AND women alike. -Joel 2:28-29 NLT

i cannot wait to get my hands on sarah bessey’s Jesus feminist. i’m thankful that she took up the challenge and tackled this issue straight on. i’m also thankful for kim moran who preached on this issue to bible college students (listen to it here). i’m thankful for churches and pastors who have let women do what God has called them to do. and i pray that one day, gender roles in the church will be a non-issue amongst all.

-s.s.♥.