One Little Word …. a look back at 2016

I have attempted to have ‘one little word’ for the year for a few years now… I think I started in 2014. But, my walk was very different then… I didn’t let God lead me to a word, I led myself, or even perhaps let society, trends, or even my desires for me lead me to a word! But, last December (in 2015) I started praying and listening and letting God give me a word (and I think He had intended this word for me for years… especially as I look back over journals and such from years before).  The word for 2016 was in front of me, like a flashing neon light, and as much as that word scared me, I embraced it… I pinned verses, I pinned word art, I doodled it, I journaled about it, I posted it on social media… and I challenged my family to find their one little word (only they can tell you if that word was the one God intended for them). By encouraging this in my little tribe, I was able to open the dialogue about my word and why it was my word.

My word was hard, it forced me to look at me, to ask myself why I struggled with my feelings of inadequacies, why I doubted myself. (And, yes, I know there are some of you out there reading this who are shaking your head, thinking really, you have improved… ha ha ha… trust me, I have!)

My word for this past year was enough… and often, I would tell myself, I am enough… but more important than that, when I opened the dialogue with my hubby, he was able to tell me I was enough… and God put lots of opportunities in our world for me to be told I was enough! And, eventually, I heard him and Him! And once I started hearing that I was enough, I started believing it…and that belief allowed me to flourish. One of the things that I struggled with in my belief that I wasn’t enough, was doubting my creative gifts… but being the amazing God that He is, He brought people in my life that confirmed all the things I had started off the year chanting  in my head in an attempt to believe that I was truly enough. And one of these people, well, she believed in me enough to let me see one of my dreams come true… to see one of my images turned into a stamp! And how fitting that the word that was chosen, the stamp, it’s my one little word!

I still struggle with believing I am enough, I am not through growing in this word, but the year is ending and God has laid another word on my heart. And as soon as I heard Him and believe me, that word scared me too so I did like the two year old and put my fingers in my ears and said nah, nah, nah to avoid hearing it! But, like any parent does with a two year old, as soon as I pulled my fingers out, my Father would repeat that word… and as soon as I accepted it, He gave me opportunities to embrace it, to accept it and even to start relying on Him to grow in that word. What’s my word for twenty seventeen… well, it’s still twenty sixteen (at least it is here for a few more hours), so you will have to check back next year to find out! 🙂 Until then, I challenge you to be still and listen, to hear the word that God is pressing in on you.