Heri ya Mwaka Mpya! Err, Happy New Year! 🙂 2017 has gotten off to a great start, and I’m looking forward to what this year will bring. I have lots to share with you about my recent adventures, and lots of teaching ideas, but seeing as this is my first post of 2017, I thought I’d share more from my heart.
Since 2013, I’ve chosen ONE WORD for the year. This has become a popular tradition in the past couple of years, and I really love it. It changes your mindset from having a laundry list of resolutions to fixating on one word- and letting God speak to you and move you in that direction. Here’s a recap from years past:
2013 – STRETCH
2014 – FOCUS (This year was HUGE! God brought my dreams of teaching and missions into focus and reality as I moved to Tanzania!!)
2015 – ABIDE
2016 – HOPE
And my word this year is IMMERSE. I want to be immersed in the Lord- and deepen my relationship with Him. I want to be immersed in what I’m doing – teaching, the culture of Tanzania, relationships with others, learning Swahili, etc. I don’t want to be satisfied with floating on the surface. I want to be submerged in the things of God!
As I’ve prayed into this year, and had some pretty amazing times with Jesus, He’s revealed to me another aspect of IMMERSE. I found this segment from the International House of Prayer’s prayer room, with Jon Thurlow. The beginning song captured my heart so deeply, and I’ve had the lyrics running through my mind and heart the past week or so:
When a cup is immersed in water, most of the time, what happens?! It gets filled up as well!! Unless it is totally flipped upside down (not where I want to be), it fills with water. God revealed to me that as I immerse myself in His waters, His purposes, He will fill me up so I can pour out His love.
I decided to start this year out by doing a 21-Day Daniel Fast. A friend was going to do it, and I really felt God say that I should do it too. It’s been an awesome way to connect deeper with God as I say NO to my flesh, and YES to my spirit. It’s been refreshing, though hard. Such a great way to start the year. I’m going to be writing another post all about it once I finish!
Along with my word for the year, I do like to come up with some GOALS as well. I try to set goals that I can measure, and achieve.
– HEALTH: I’ve always been up and down when it comes to taking care of me, and my goal this year is consistency. I have a goal weight I’ve set for myself, as well as a goal to work out 4x a week.
– BLOG/TPT: I have made “office hours” for myself during the week to dedicate to my blog and to TpT, social media, etc. I want to be more consistent in blogging, on social media, and as a TpT author. Having a set hour two evenings a week will help me stay on top of things! I also want to get back to posting at least 4 blog posts a month!
So this is how I’m starting the year!! I look forward to what’s in store, as I immerse myself in the moment! Life flies by too fast; I want to relish each moment!!
