Reflecting
The New Year is here… again…
Did anyone else feel like the year ZOOMED by?
I blinked and BOOM, December was here and gone. It is so hard to believe that another year has come and gone. As I come to terms with this, I am left with reflecting on how my year was.
I can choose between focusing on the hard times or the good times. I am choosing to look back at both, as they both contribute to my growth as a Christian and human in general.
At the end of 2023, I took a quiz to help me determine what my word for the year was going to be. After answering the questions, my word shown was “Imagine.”
I was looking at this word like “God, what am I supposed to do with Imagine?” while my friends had words like: rest, thrive, simplify, growth, etc. All I could think of was the episode of Sponge Bob and he did the hands in the air like a rainbow and would say “imagination”. I had to really sit with God and hear from Him on what he wanted me to do with this word for the year, because my word for the year before was change. Change was much easier to work with.
I began to look up verses in the Bible on how I could imagine what God wanted from me with this word. One thing that was prominent is that my mind needed to be in the right space. God placed three important verses in front of me:
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep the mind that is dependent on the you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.”
Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed of this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is good, pleasing, and the perfect will of God.”
Proverbs 29:18 “Without revelation, people run wild, but one who follows divine instruction will be happy.” This one was TOUGH for me, because I was not following instructions. I was hesitant.
I had to be in the right head space to receive and understand what God had lined up for me.
I began to notice worship songs that spoke about waiting and imagining what God had for me.
Then, there was one verse that was showing up EVERYWHERE, Isaiah 60:22 “The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.” God is letting us know that it will happen in HIS time, and He will do the impossible. Could you imagine?
Oh, and let me add that God was also throwing a lot of “take up your cross” my way.
These are verses I had never studied or even really read, and they started to be part of my daily life, whether it be in a bible study or show up on my social media reels.
Let me just throw in here – the more time you spend with God, the more you will hear from Him.
I knew that God was talking to me, and it was time for me to listen. I sat with Kevin and told him that we needed to write down our prayers for 2024, and we needed to pray over them and watch how God will bless us. So, we wrote down 5 major prayers.
As the year continued, God started answering those prayers. A few of those prayers involved much faithfulness on our part and fully relying on His promises. That was scary, and I was hard-headed for a bit of it.
I can definitely say that you won’t win in an argument with God.
At first, I didn’t even realize that prayers on our prayer list were being answered. One day, I was sitting down talking to Kevin, and I happened to look at the hot pink paper we had wrote them on. I yelled. Kevin looked at me like I was insane. I grabbed the paper off the wall and told him to look at it. His eyes got wide too, and he was like, “Oh wait 2 of those prayers have been answered!”
We were being obedient and trusting in God’s work and timing so much that we hadn’t even realized just how much at work He had been. We moved into a home with a yard in the country (a dream of mine), I was able to stay home with Karcen for most of the year, my community was growing and solid, and Planning to Thrive began. To be honest, I didn’t even know that Planning to Thrive was a prayer I needed to be praying until God placed Christina in my life with this beautiful idea. I have always wanted to help people near and far, and P2T is making that possible.
As 2024 comes to an end, God answered 4 out of 5 of our BIG prayers! *insert praise break*
This year had some very high highs and some dangerously low lows. The enemy was very busy trying to block all of our blessings. He was also very busy trying to distract us so that it would take even longer to receive our blessings.
Through it all, I learned a very important lesson: to IMAGINE the impossible and to watch God work. He took care of me and my family in ways I didn’t think were lined up for us.
Pastor Tim of The Point Church preached a simple yet POWERFUL message Sunday with three main points: Celebrate, Consider, and Rest from Psalm 46. As I read through the scripture and look over my life in 2024, I can truly celebrate all of the victories, consider what God has for me, and rest in knowing that God is in control of my life.
Now, entering 2025, I am still praying over what God wants from me. I keep seeing courage pop up in my mind. I am a little nervous about this one too. I can only “imagine” what God wants me to be courageous about in 2025. However, I know that no matter what it is: His hand is over it and I will be just fine.
I pray the new year brings prosperity, love, peace, and joy to each of you.
God’s Love and Mine,
Carrie
