Word for this Year is Trust

Each year over the last eight, I have chosen a word/words for the upcoming year. For me, the way that I determined what my word would be was by an inner voice or feeling that had been rumbling around in my soul over the last few months of that year. I believe that is God prompting me in a direction that He wants me to go. He is showing me something and I’m sure to see it if I open my eyes and heart to HIM.

I love to go back each year to words past and reflect on what God was doing during that year and how that particular word played out for me.

Why Trust? The closer I get to my Father, the more I learn. And that learning is not always easy. Through this past year of Quiet, Wait and Listen, he has lead me to some harsh realities. There has been much growth spiritually for me over the last 8 years. That growth has caused me to take long hard looks at my relationships with others and who I surround myself with. It has also caused me to look within to find out why I seek certain types of relationships. It has also drew me in closer to my relationship with Him. In my Quiet, Wait and Listen, I’m hearing Him louder, I’ve fought with Him, not wanting to face certain realities. I’ve found myself putting my hope and dreams in the hands of others instead of putting them in His hands. Much pain has come from that knowledge. So now I hear and feel Him drawing me in more. And I feel Him saying “You can Trust me.”. As I step into 2024, I feel that He is going to show me just how much and why my Trust should be on Him. I’m looking forward to seeing what He has to show me.

Here is a glimpse into those years.

2016 Restore – So was acknowledged and faced throughout the last few year. And this years was a year of restoration. Restoring of lost relationships and restoring of a spirit within that had been broken. Putting the cracked vase back together, accepting the broken lines for the beauty that they have created. Restoration is the beginning of something new. I know that the Lord has so much for me in this new.

2017 Finding Me – After some restoring of self in 2016, in 2017 I realized that I wasn’t who I thought I was and some of who I needed to be. God was working on me. He was seeking me in a way that lead me to allowing Him to find me. I am learning to lean into Him more. Asking Him to help me be the me that He created. Showing me in little ways who He was asking me to be. This was and still is a journey that I’m sure will continue.

2018 Brave – This was a big year for me. God had me on a journey that required much bravery. Confronting things of my past was the theme for this year. God was right there, without a doubt! Walking with me, giving me grace, showing me mercy and providing strength. Opening the door wide to let the light in my darkness and removing the weight I so long had carried. It was time for healing within my immediate family. And being brave was necessary for that healing.

2019 Change & Joy – After the year of bravery, God called me to Change and Joy. God showed me grace and mercy during a year of change.  Change that I really didn’t want or understand but was necessary. Change that also released stressors from my life that were way over due. And with this change there was much Joy. Sometimes it’s hard to have joy in painful change but if we have faith in what God is doing that Joy comes oh so much easier. The change and joy became interchangeable. Most of the time it’s hard to have joy without the change. In God I trust.

2020 Empower – Yes, the word was Empower.  I really didn’t know what God meant when He gave me that word. I’ve never been a woman of power. I usually shied away from that type of thing unless I really felt equipped for the job. But what I didn’t know is that He was going to empower me in things that I couldn’t have had the power on my own to do. He was empowering me with a sense of humility but determination. I still shake my head. The year of change jump started that empowerment. And oh how He shined. He empowered me to step out into the uncomfortable. He empowered me to release the need to have others affirm me. He empowered me to be more of what He molded me to be.

2021 Simplicity – With the new soul settling sense of Empowerment there came the need to simplify my world. God showed me that simplifying my world would bring peace to it. Learning to be content was part of that simplification. I’m still working on that because there are many layers to contentment. I think this year was about simplifying my life so that my internal would be peaceful. Giving me the courage to say “NO” to my internal urge to fix, please, prove, you name it was His intent for me this particular year. And Oh did He show me that simplifying the internal has proven to be peace filled. There probably will be another year of Simplicity for yet another layer of my life. For now, “peace be still” is my motto.

2022 Discover – Discover was definitely the word of this year. Discovering so much about myself. Some of that discovery has been done in self reflection. Learning about me, the real me.  Not the one that I thought I was supposed to be but the one He wanted me to be. Not the one that was hiding behind masks but the one that He said “Go” and gave me the courage to do it. Not the one that was fearful of the “what if’s” but faithful and trusting in His “what if nots”. He helped me discover that He has redeemed me, made me resilient and strong. I can now not be afraid of new discoveries because I know he travels with me.

2023 – Quiet, Wait, Listen – 2023 has been a year of New. New friends, new job responsibilities, new losses, new awakening and realizations, new ministry directions and a new, more enhanced relationship with my Father God. Oh, how it has been enhanced! A lot of Quiet, Waiting and Listening opens up a world of how He is working in and around me. I like it here, in this place of new with Him. Although the direction that He leads me will have more new added, I believe that I will hold on to where He has landed me this year. A more peace filled place with Him. There has been quite a bit of hard in this time of solitude with Him because He has lead me to open my eyes to some hard realities but it has also opened my eyes to how He is working in my life.

By the time you are reading this, God has embarked me on my journey and I look forward to seeing what He has for me.

My word for 2024

Words of the past years.

Oh Lord, what are you doing in my life? How are you helping me, Reflect,  Refine, and Reframe? Walk with me!

Have you ever chosen a word for the year? How did you choose it? And when looking back over the year past, what role did that word play in your life?

What word has the Lord laid on your heart?

Rhonda Gould, ACC Life Coach, Author; www.rhondagouldonline.com; book “The Journey: Finding Healing through Scripture from Life’s Hard Questions”