PERSEVERANCE – My Word for 2018

     Perseverance, that is my word for this year, 2018. As I reflect on this word that is to be my word for this year, I look back at this crazy year.  Yes, there are a few more weeks left in the year, but most of it is gone.  

    A lot has happened this year.  I will be honest, there have been many times this year when I questioned things.  If I am honest with myself, there have been times that I have questioned God and shut down instead of persevering through the difficulties.  

    When I read back in the blog from January of this year, I was so full of hope and confidence.  As I write these words, hope and confidence are waning a bit.  Yet, I can’t lose my focus on God.  I refuse to lose focus on God.

      He must be my strength because I feel so weak.  He is holding me up right now because I feel like just falling over.  There is power in His name. 

     I think a lot of times, I know I do this, we try to be brave and stand on our own when we really need to have the support.  It is amazing that I can show a happy face to the world, but inside I am so tired.  I know that I can’t do this on my own.

     This year has taught me that we can have perseverance. I wrote these words in January of this year, “This year will be, for me to be steadfast in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.”

    This year has had highs and lows.  My journey through this year is to persevere through it.  It has not always been pretty. In fact, there has been some ugly, but God is bringing beauty out of the ashes.

    The mission, that God has me on is God-sized, and it sometimes seems insurmountable.  When I try and do it on my own, it doesn’t work.  Yes, it is crazy, but, sometimes we do things on our own.  How is that working for us?

    If our focus is on God, we will persevere.  When life or circumstances knock us down, we will be able to get back up. Yes, bad things happen, but when we focus on God, and not the bad, we will persevere.

   I can’t change this last year when I shut down instead of pushing through.  When the crazy of the world got to me, and I focused on the crazy instead of God.  These things that happened whether to me or to my friends and family, I can’t change my response to it.

   Yes, I can mourn, and it is okay to mourn.  However, shutting down, and turning my focus off of God is not what I need to do.  I can’t change the past, but I can change what I do today.

   What I can do is live today, and each day, with the same perseverance and reliance.  My God does not abandon me.  He is always there for me, and He is always there for you too.

    Today, December 5, 2018, I was going through what I had written above to see if it made sense, I really wasn’t feeling the words.  The words made sense to me, but they didn’t read real.  As I read them, the parts about God being there for me, they didn’t ring true to me.  

   I was doubting the words that I wrote and kind of feeling like a phony for writing something I wasn’t feeling.  Then God communicated with me. I received this verse from a friend in an e-mail.  “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36.  I burst into happy tears.

    Here I am writing about my confidence waning and feeling like a phony for writing these words that I wasn’t truly feeling.  God knew the words that I wrote were true, and He sends His words to help me persevere through.  In the moment when I need Him, and my confidence is waning, God shows up to remind me He is STILL here.

    He never left me.  My focus was on something else.  Actually, my focus was on me, and the circumstances I was finding myself.  I lost my true focus.  God reminded me of what my focus needed to be.

   “God can do anything, you know- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams?  He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.” Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)

    I am grateful that when I feel like giving up or stagnate, God shows up, and waves something in front of my face to remind me that He is still with me and never left me.  He is the EVERPRESENT reminder that with Him, I can preserve and push through.  With Him, ALL things are possible.

    In that same e-mail from my friend, the author of the article that I continued to read, Sharon Jaynes, wrote, “Sometimes it can feel that our promises are tightly shut up. That doesn’t mean that we give up. That means that we suit up, step up, and keep moving forward.” It was perfect, and it was God’s perfect timing that I needed to hear those words.

    There is POWER in the name of Jesus.  There is wonder-working power.  He continues to show me and show up.  So, I will preserve through the doubts, because my God is bigger and more powerful than any of my doubts or lack of confidence.

    That means, that I am “suiting up, and stepping up.” I ask prayers from each one of you that are reading this.  Because, the project, the mission, the will of God for me to do is God-sized.  I am very aware that it is something that I can’t do on my own.  So, that is what I am asking of you, prayers.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash 

Dear Poppa God,

Thank you for showing up today, and always being with me.  It is amazing that when I feel like I have lost the confidence and faith, You remind me that You are always with me.  Thank you.  I also need you always.  This mission, this project, this will of yours for me to do, it is Your size, God-size, and I can’t do this on my own.  You always show up. I have faith that You are always with me. With you, I can persevere.

In Jesus name, Amen

Written by Laura Maxson

Perseverance

Hebrews 10:36

Hi Friends,

 Today let’s take a few moments to venture into the concept of perseverance.  What exactly is perseverance?  The dictionary defines perseverance this way:

Perseverance (noun)

steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc.,

especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Wow, hard right? Ugh, who wants to persevere? That takes work, discipline, and tireless effort.  “There’s so much going on,” you say, “I can’t possible spend copious amounts of time on something, I already don’t have enough time in my day.”  If you are thinking this, you are not the only one.  But how, sad.  This thought process only hinders us from achieving huge accomplishment and satisfaction.  

I like to think of accomplishment and satisfaction as exercise for the inner self.  I don’t have any scientific proof of this, but I like to think that accomplishment and satisfaction produce endorphins.  Endorphins make us feel good, just like when we exercise.  Endorphins change our mental state from blah, to awe!

I find myself easily sucked into the “do the minimum, get it done, get all the items on my list check off, move on, accomplish more” mind set.  But when we do this we are robbing ourselves of awesomeness. 

Artwork by Honali Marin

   Recently I went to a Bible journaling workshop put on by Amber Bolton, Wow! It was amazing. I am not an artist in the traditional sense, and I find that I inhibit my creativity because of my mindset.  There is a freedom in just letting your inner creativity out.  No judgements, no comparing to someone else, just letting it flow.  I came away from this workshop truly inspired.  One inspiration led to the next, until I was swimming in possibilities. 

One of the things I came away with from this workshop was hand lettering.  We had many tools at our disposal during our Bible journaling time.  There were these awesome markers; the Tombow dual brush tip pens.  Who knew there were special markers for hand lettering! (I certainly didn’t). During the next few weeks I started doing research, watching YouTube tutorials, amassing supplies and practicing.  I won’t go into details about paper quality, brush tip sizes etc. as that is not the point of writing this, but I want to allude to the fact that there is a lot of information that goes into any endeavor.

I found that hand lettering, for me, is therapeutic.  It’s something I can do while my family is in the living room playing games or reading books out loud.  It’s something that I can do to keep my hands and mind busy but still be a part of what’s going on around me.  In short, a relaxing multitasking effort.

Hand lettering is not something that I was good at when I started… the middle of April… but over the past couple months I have improved.  I’ve kept my scratch paper practice sheets, and it’s very rewarding to see the progress and improvement.  It makes me feel good about my effort and motivates me to keep practicing to get even better.  I cannot say I have mastered hand lettering but I’m enjoying the process.

Artwork by Honali Marin

In the process of watching tutorials, I found yet another fun, creative way to organize myself.  Bullet journaling.  One of the YouTube videos mentioned their bullet journal and explained how they use hand lettering in that creative process.  I thought, “what is bullet journaling?”  That question led to more research and more awesome discovery.  I do not bullet journal my whole month, but I’ve found that there are certain aspects I love.  Getting thoughts on paper in a creative way, helps me clear the overflowing boxes in my head.  When I write it down I tend to remember it.  When I write it down it’s concrete and holds me more accountable. When I write it down in color and use creativity doing it I unwind and have a place to look back on whatever I want to remember.  

Watching bullet journaling tutorials and ideas led to another discovery.  Traveler’s notebooks.  Again, I asked myself, “What in the world is a traveler’s notebook (TN)?”.  Wow! Mind blown.  Now I have a place to keep all my creativity.  I couldn’t find papers I wanted for different processes, so I bought paper that would suit my purposes, cut them down to size, folded the paper in half, created a cardstock cover and sewed it all together and voila, I had a custom-made place to keep my birthday lists, motivational sayings, Exercise logs, food logs, and much more.  I know all the information and ideas I’ve taken out of my head are not bouncing around on scratch paper, or post-its, I can find them easily and my mind is not swimming in so much “noise”.  I can put my finger on whatever it is I need easily. 

Why did I go into all this detail about my newest hobby? To illustrate that perseverance makes your life better.  Back to the beginning, Bible journaling, the whole activity that started this journey.  I find myself excited to spend time in the Word.  My devotional time has become fun “I want to” time, instead of “I should” time.  Instead of just glazing over words, most of which I’ve heard or ready many times in my life, I use the process to bring the Bible to life.  

1.    Pray - Ask the Holy Spirit to be present in your time in God’s Word.

2.     

3.    Read - Read a portion of scripture.

4.     

5.    Ask - What stands out in the passage?

6.     

  - What does this passage say about God?

  - How does this passage inform how I live?

4.             Respond - Use the margin of your Bible to create an image as a response to what you learned through these three questions:

5.     

a.             What images come to mind?

b.     

c.              What phrase or verse will you highlight?

d.     

e.             What colors come to mind?

f.       

 

Artwork by Honali Marin

This process helps the Bible come alive.  I’m energized to find new ways to see old teachings.  As I respond, I’m leaving a lasting memory of what I took out of a particular passage.  Not only do I continue to think about what I’ve read throughout the day, I am also reminded of what I took out of the passage each time I see the page.  It’s like reading it all over again, but at a glance.  If you haven’t experienced Bible journaling do some research, learning, and just start. Your first pages will probably not be what you had in mind, but they are grace filled. Give yourself a break, embrace the process.  Growth is in the process, and when we grow we better ourselves, and who doesn’t want a better version of themselves?

 From finding your inspiration, getting into shape, or finding peace in the chaos, your journey awaits. And remember to persevere, it will take you from blah to awe and ahhh!

- Honali Marin

Our Word for 2018

           At the beginning of each year, we prayed about the word that will help to define the year.  This year is no exception.  What word will God give you to help you define 2018? 

            For me, the word came early in December.  Then it popped back up in a God way the other day while I was listening to music.  My word for my 2018 is perseverance.  In looking at the definition, I realized how appropriate this word is for me during this time.

The definition in Google is the following.  This year will be, for me to be steadfast in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. This is something I need in a lot of areas in my life, personally and professionally.  How it will manifest itself in my life, I am going to enjoy finding out.

Each year, I have an expectation of what the word will mean for my life.  Yet, I am sure that God is shaking His head at me and just saying, “Laura, you have no idea what I will show you, but soon, you will see.”

            This year, I have made resolutions, and goals, like most of us do.  I don’t want to just sit back and watch my life not happen in front of my eyes.  Yet, there are areas that I do need to be steadfast, because I see the difficulties.  Sometimes they seem insurmountable.

            God will teach me to persevere with Him.  At least, that is what I need for Him to do.  I am not patient, and if something doesn’t go according to how I plan, I give up, or blame God, myself, whoever for it not going how I thought it would go.

            This year, it appears, that God wants me to remember that nothing is impossible for him.  His love is steadfast.  His is perseverance.  Especially, when it comes to me.  I know that I can be difficult at times, but I am so grateful that He is perseverance.

            I get in my own way sometimes.  There are times that I try and move ahead of God, and then I wonder why things are difficult or there are “delays” in achieving success.  When, actually, it is not delayed by God’s timing, and I cause it to be more difficult.

            I pray that all of you find your word for the year.  Pray this month that God will reveal it to you.  It will come, and you will know that it is for you.  Find your word.

            This is year four that we have been doing this.  Every January, we pray for our word for the year.  I wrote my down, and I see a pattern of growth in God, and in my self.

Photo by alexander milo on Unsplash

My words by year:

2015 – Trust

2016 – Confidence

2017 – Openness

2018 - Perseverance

Dear Lord, I pray for each person reading this blog.  May they find their word for the year.  You want to walk beside each one of us, if only we will let you.  No matter what has happened or what we have done. You have never stopped loving us.  As this new year begins, I pray a revival in our hearts. 

In Your name, Amen

Laura Maxson