2023 New Year’s Intentions
And just like that– another year has come and gone. If you are anything like me, the past few years have moved more slowly than I would have expected, while simultaneously I am surprised to yet again arrive to January 1st. The past two years have been filled with really deep valleys, but I would be remiss to say that they did not come with some really sweet mountaintops. Twenty-twenty-two was no exception.
Praise In the Storm
It is within my nature to want to focus on the negatives of the year (this is a personality trait that I need to work on surrendering to the Lord). There are aspects of my marriage and my family life that have been at times discouraging and it can be really easy for me to be overcome by the disappointments.
However, I am tired of being overcome by them and run dry by the fear that something bad is going to happen. Instead, I want to welcome this year with the focus on the positive. My husband and I have been attending a group at our church that supports people in their healing journeys – whether from addictions, personal traumas, or just trying to get through day to day life. One of the aspects of this group is to focus on gratitude in order to find healing through Christ. Just because I accepted Christ as my Savior, this alone does not always lead to the healing that I need. It is through journeying with Him and leaning on Him that we can understand just how great and mighty our God is which, in turn, can make the hard things in life seem so very small.
One of the practices I have come to love reading about in daily Scripture reading is the Israelites focus on remembering all that God had done for them. The Jewish culture is so steeped in the tradition of remembering – from laying stones in a place to remember the Lord’s promise, to writing Him songs that we still have copies of in His Holy Word, to the festivals that often have traditions requiring celebrants to remember exactly what it was God delivered them from. We would do well to learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters the importance of remembering all that God has done for us and delivered us from. It makes the valleys of the previous year seem pale in comparison to the blessings we receive.
And this year really was filled with blessings.
Lay the Stones
Here are a stones of remembrance I want to lay as I rejoice in what God did give us: :
This has been a year of healing – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
At the beginning of this year, I was just in the beginning stages of my Hashimotos diagnosis and the protocol I was following to treat the autoimmune condition with supplements and diet. I am incredibly thankful that I married a man who not only was willing to figure out a way to pay to see a functional doctor, but who also supported me as I navigated (and continue to navigate) a pretty restrictive diet. I am also incredibly blessed that the practitioner I am seeing is a man of God who wants to honor the Lord through his giftings and talents. It often feels like I am not working just on healing my body, but on healing it with the blessings of God.
I have also done a lot of emotional work this year. I have come to a place where I am accepting that my healing is my responsibility alone, and cannot and should not be reliant on the people around me and their behaviors. This year I have worked hard on treating my childhood traumas and insecurities, diving as deep as pursuing EMDR therapy to work through some pretty ingrained beliefs and attitudes so I could begin to view myself in a more biblically healthy sense. This work was incredibly difficult, and at times exhausting, and I still have a lot of work yet to do, but the relief I have gotten from anxiety, depression, and fear has been absolutely incredible. While I believe that God does and can heal people miraculously, that was not the plan He had for me. I am incredibly grateful for Christian therapists that have stepped up to provide routes of healing. I have benefited not only from personal counseling, but my husband and I have worked through some junk in marriage counseling. While I know it was God’s will to be in the profession I am in now, I pray that someday I might be able to enter into this type of work to continue to help others grow more healthy in their walks with God.
Finding God in new ways
I just completed my 3rd year reading the Bible, and my second journey through the entire Scriptures. I followed a 365 day plan this year instead of sectioning the books out. It has been incredible to read through the Scriptures a second time. While I grew up memorizing Bible Scripture and reading parts here and there, it is transformative to stick to a plan which requires you to engage in the Word of God every day. While it was not always easy, I got up early (and I am NOT a morning person) to make time for this. I am hoping that as I continue to invest in God’s Word that it would permeate more of my life and it would be unmistakable that I am steeped in God’s Words.
A New Home
After growing up in New York State, meeting my husband and getting married there, it was time for the two of us to go. We had been praying about going to Texas (which is still on our hearts), but God opened the doors for us to relocate to Florida. We had been praying about leaving New York State as we are beginning to plan our family, and the desire we have to raise them is not compatible with many of the restrictions that are continuing to tighten each and every year in that state. Along with some other doors closing, we heard God calling us elsewhere. We ended up relocating with a couple that have acted as mentors to both of us, which has been a tremendous blessing. We have been here for 7 months and are still trying to grow our roots. Continue to keep us in prayer as we begin to grow relationships down here– and that one day we can get to the Lone Star State, something my husband and I have yearned for separately and as a couple.
God’s provision through it all
There is so much that God just provided for us right when we needed it. From trying to figure out moving situations that were not financially crippling, to an apartment, to the people who showed up to help us move. While I had no desire to return to a job in the education field (I am growing more and more opposed to public, and increasingly, private education each year I work in the field), God blessed me with the ability to work at a private Christian school for the time being. He also provided us with the support systems and with the connections when we needed them. There are so many moments where I can see God’s hand in every moment. From friends that have supported in the deep valleys to doors that were unquestionably closed to peace in the times when we weren’t sure what was going to happen to jobs or with churches. He was evidently there every step of the way and He sustained us through it all.
Moving Forward
I also was able to begin this blog! While it has been dormant for the most part over the past few months (I am trying to learn a better balance still as an educator – we are notoriously bad for self imposing ourselves in overwork and burn out), there is so much I want to do with this platform, if God would will and allow.
I am a planner, which means that I do like to set New Year’s Resolutions. I am pretty good at keeping them for the most part, which keeps me coming back to create goals year after year. This year is no different. While I have several personal goals that I want to open the year with, there are a couple things I want to do with this platform over the next twelve months.
Here is what I am hoping to provide this year for my Not Yet 31 Readers:
2 blog posts a month: I would love to commit to a post a week, but I want to give you quality content and not just quantity. I also do not want to be incredibly sporadic. Thus, I believe two blog posts a month is doable with my schedule. Should the time allow, I can always bless you with a bonus here and there.
At least 3 more podcast interviews: I am having trouble getting people interested in interviewing for the podcast, but I am putting it in God’s hands to lead me to the next person whose wisdom and insight I can share. I was so incredibly blessed by the insight Kristina Hill, Angela Ruhlig, and Anna Vaughn shared this year; I would love to have at least three more voices! If you know someone you would love to hear about on this platform, please tell them about this ministry. If you would like to come on to share what God has been teaching you, I would love to host you.
Bible study curriculum: I know. I’m a teacher, this is a bit insane. But God has put in my heart the desire to design some bible study curriculum for ladies from my generation and younger for years. I want to design these as studies you can complete on your own, as well as podcasts you can listen along to. I realize that many of the women I will reach are moms of littles, and I want to provide a way for you to listen as you are fulfilling God’s call to be arrow raisers and sharpeners. I have a vision of what I want to complete, now with God’s direction and insight I hope to accomplish this.
Read through the Bible: I am planning to read through the Bible again this year. I am going to complete The Bible Recap this year with Tara-Leigh Cobble. If you would like to join me in completing this on the Bible App, you can do so by clicking this link: https://bible.com/p/55668639/3c6b073e1192da83a0efe6c6125d4fb6 . This will provide you with daily reading to complete. There is also a podcast you can listen to at the conclusion of the reading that will go over the themes and events of the reading for that day.
I would encourage you to find a reading plan this year to complete everyday, whether it is reading through just the Old Testament or the New Testament, or even the challenge of doing boh. There is no reason that time cannot be found to give to God– think of all the social media scrolling you could sacrifice to spend some time with Him!
I am looking forward to 2023. I am praying that this year brings big things in my own personal life, but also for this ministry.
I ask that if you are enjoying this content, that you would share this on your social media, as well as following me on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. I want to support women in a culture that does not want to pursue what it means to be a woman of valor and a woman of God. The internet can be used for so much harm, but I hope to redeem just a little part of this with a community that can lift up women seeking the Lord.
Will you join me in this quest? What goals do you have for the year ahead?