WORD OF THE YEAR : 2021 - The Perfectly Imperfect Mama

WORD OF THE YEAR : 2021

by - Monday, January 04, 2021

HAPPY HAPPY New Year, friends!

What a sweet couple of weeks it has been spending all my time with my family.  Much, MUCH needed.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  I can't wait to share ours with you!

In 2018, I decided to start having a word of the year.  2018's word was MORE & 2019's word was ENOUGH.  You can read all about what those two words meant for me HERE!  If you're anything like I was, you're wondering how the heck those words go together.  Totally a God thing!

So, what was my word for 2020??

Surrender.

And boy was it a doozy.

I knew going into 2020, when God laid the word surrender on my heart, that it was going to be a hard one.  I mean, your girl likes to have control over things!  Goodness gracious though, I didn't have a clue when 2020 started just how much this word would play apart of our lives.

Surrender.

In early March, the United States of America went under a nationwide shut down.  Businesses were forced to close, churches were closed, & schools were closed.  As a mama to two school age children & a toddler, I went into panic mode.  How on earth was I going to teach my children plus care for a two year old?  I may be many things but homeschool teacher is NOT my jam.  I had to surrender the plans I had for my children to go to school, full time for in person learning, over to God.  And here I was, a full time teacher.

Along with this pandemic we continue to be dealing with, months ago, I surrendered the worry I had that one of us may get it, over to God.

In April, Dan & I started talking more seriously about building our home.  It's something we have always wanted to do & y'all, to say we were excited would be an understatement.  We met with a builder & fast forward to May, we bought the house plans we wanted.  Due to the pandemic, things were just going really slow.  The county was taking forever to approve our plans, figuring out the septic was an issue ... it was just one thing after another.  Looking back, I don't think it had anything to do with the pandemic, I truly believe that it was God interfering because that was not His plan for us.  

July came around & I had that feeling in my gut that something just wasn't right with us building.  Dan had the same feeling & neither of us said it out loud because honestly, building is our dream.  We were doing an amazing job with our savings account & out of nowhere, random things started coming up that caused us to get into our savings.  My car ended up needing new tires along with some other maintenance issues & then the end of July, Ellie Joy started complaining of her top lip hurting.  Sure enough, after looking at it, I noticed that I couldn't even pull her top lip up due to it being lip tied.  She was a wonderful baby when it came to nursing, so I really didn't even expect this .. especially at age 2!  I did know that she was a late talker, but I just thought it was because she had two older siblings talking for her.  And wouldn't you know it, insurance doesn't cover a lip tie procedure, so guess who had to pay out of pocket?? FYI, it ain't cheap!  Our savings just kept taking hit after hit.    

In August, Dan & I both agreed that the door to building needed to be closed at that time.  Even though, we couldn't wait to build, we surrendered our plans to Jesus ... literally ... because He had made it very clear that it wasn't His will.

The peace we had after shutting that door, was a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Surrender.

Gosh, I knew it was a tough word, but I didn't realize that my house plans with my big ol' kitchen island would be a part of it.

My family has been in such a season of waiting & honestly, we continue to be.  We're waiting to see where God puts us.  Will we build a house?  Will we buy a house?  We just don't know.  He has continued to open and close doors to get us to where He wants us & even though some days are tough & I just want to cry out "Please show us already, God!" I will continue to trust Him & surrender the plans that I have for my family to Him & wait for His timing.  I can't even lie to you, this waiting game is no joke.  And while it seems like it is taking F O R E V E R, it's taking the exact time for Him.

It's not IF He puts us in a home, it's WHEN.

Looking back on this past year, I can't help but see and be so grateful for how much my faith in Jesus has grown.  I pray for the faith like Mary had when Gabriel came to her & told her that she was going to birth the Son of God.  

I want to be in God's will. 

I want my family to be in God's will.

So, all this brings us to my word for 2021.  I start praying in December for my word & this year, when God put it on my heart during one of my prayer times, I knew without a doubt that it was my word for 2021.  It seems like a pretty simple word, but I can't wait to dig in deeper to it throughout the year.

Good.

On the good days, God is good.  On the bad days, He is still good.

I want to focus on His goodness.  I want to look for it each & every day, in all circumstances.

I want to start each day and end each day saying this, "Jesus, You are good."

He is a good, good Father.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
1 Chronicles 16:34

I am seriously so glad that y'all are here.  I love this little community so much!  Will you join me in focusing
 on God's goodness in 2021!








 

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2 comments

  1. So sorry to hear about your house plans falling through but I love how you were able to surrender... so many unexpected ways to see your word of the year manifesting. I love the word you "picked" for the coming year and hope it will be a real good year for you!

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  2. I loved reading how your word for 2020 played out in your life. Wow! So cool to see God work, right?!?! And I look forward to seeing how this word for 2021 plays out in your life. Happy NY!

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