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The confetti of a new year has settled a bit by now. We’re back to our ordinary lives and work after the chaos of the holidays. Resolutions have already been made and broken. Which makes it seem like the perfect time for really thinking about what’s most important to us in 2015.
Maybe it’s just me but I get distracted by the shiny possibilities of a new year. I make lofty, unrealistic goals. I dream of far-fetched things. I chase squirrel-like ideas that lead me away from what needs to be my true focus. But I missed all of that this year because midnight on the 31st found me in bed with a cold that lasted over a week. The only party I participated in was a pity party.
And I never thought I’d say this but I’m glad. I needed to slow down. I needed to really pause and reflect. I needed some time to stare at the ceiling and reevaluate.
When my husband and I finally got to go out to breakfast to talk about 2015 I asked him, “What’s our word for the year going to be?” We ended up with two and neither of them are super-exciting. He said “contentment” and I said “faithfulness.”
Last year I picked the word “love” and it made me feel all lit up inside. I wore jewelry that reminded me of it. I hung art in my house that reflect it. I gushed about it on social media.
Following that, faithfulness felt like a step down. Wasn’t it a bit…boring?
But then I pulled out my Bible and discovered something totally unexpected: Love and faithfulness are sisters.
Love and faithfulness meet together. Ps. 85:10
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Prov. 3:3
God sends forth His love and faithfulness. Ps. 57:3
Over twenty times love and faithfulness appear together in Scripture. And many of those verses describe God’s character.
I define faithfulness as this: doing what’s needed to take good care of what’s entrusted to you. As a word girl, it’s easy to say I love someone or that I’m passionate about a project. But without faithfulness, those words are empty. I still need to get up every day and take action that proves my words are true.
For me, faithfulness in 2015 means…
Spending time with God each day
Investing time and energy into my marriage
Being there for my friends and family
Completing creative work even on the days I don’t feel like it
Resting, exercising and eating well
None of these are going to make the news or become a trending topic on social media. They’re quiet, unseen, daily things. Faithfulness is difficult because it means choosing a proactive rather than reactive life. It requires saying “no” to the good so we can guard the best. It means resisting the urgent so we can embrace what’s truly important.
And faithfulness in today’s distracted, busy=worth, be-seen-and-known world is more than hard: it’s terrifying. Because it means we must stop trying to prove we have significance and simply do what matters most every day regardless of whether anyone else knows or not.
But isn’t that what love really means? To do what’s best for the beloved regardless of what it does for us?
I want to find out one small, ordinary day at a time in 2015. And I pray those little, invisible choices lead to the words that matter more than any others: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!” {Matt. 25:23}
I imagine God has been whispering to your heart about this year too. {Or maybe it’s time to set aside a few quiet moments and ask Him what He wants to share with you. You may not hear anything right away and that’s okay. It’s more about your heart being open and willing. The desire to listen pleases Him and He’ll answer in His perfect timing.}
I’d love to hear…what’s your word for this year?
XOXO
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Fun Giveaway!
Giveway: If you share your word for the year on Facebook and then leave a comment saying you did you’ll be entered to win a one-word necklace! Kashoan from KraftyKash makes beautiful jewelry from vintage dictionary pages and she’s providing these for you. I already have several pieces of her jewelry and I love them! {Three winners will be randomly selected on 1/16.}
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Welcome to the Coffee for Your Heart weekly link-up! You’re an encourager so I’m asking you to pour out a little love with your words every Wednesday {link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post and then share it here. Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.
Pretty please use this button in your blog post so others can easily join in with us {html code in right sidebar}. And when you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!
I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth
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