The year of Love

For the last several years I've prayed for a word of the year. It's not a limit on God to teach me one thing but a challenge for me to see what He is teaching me in one area. I pick an area I need to grow in,  He has taught me so much each time I've done this. I could sum up what He taught me in a million words as He is so faithful to grow us if we ask Him too... but in 2014 I wanted to grow in Love. 

It's not that I didn't love, or I didn't want to love. It's that I knew that so much of my heart wasn't filled with a love that I wanted it to be filled with, a love like Christ. 

In 2014 God challenged what I thought love was. 

He challenged me to love my patients in a radical way. To love them the way Christ would, but also challenged me to see Christ in each of them so that I could see that as I serve and love my patient I am serving our Lord. This didn't hit me at once, but slowly permeated me. I found myself holding the hand of many, having them bear their souls to me, and being challenged to look past whatever they were saying and just love them. Just encourage them. At times that was challenging as not all our charitable, and at times I argued with God "are you sure you want me to say that... do that?" And yet He was faithful to reassure me. It was amazing and as I did I found that that He produced such joy in my heart. 

He challenged me to love my husband more. To trust him more and to grow in my patience. Patience doesn't come easy for me, and all sorts of circumstances have challenged me to make that harder but I consistently prayed for my heart and for my husband in 2014 and I found He did grow me so much. I know that part of this growth has been because of the physical encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, but I will explained that more in a bit. 

He challenged me to love people that at times felt unlovable. I find it is hardest to do this with people I know well, but I know that no one is unlovable, all are God's handy work and beautiful even if I struggle to see the beauty. I felt convicted when I knew my heart wasn't what it should be toward a given person or situation and yet I know that that feeling of conviction was God loving me enough to grow me. Such a report is challenging but so helpful. 

He's shown me that He loves me in so many ways. It's not only in the ways where He works out something in some miraculous way, or does what I want, but sometimes putting me somewhere challenging is His way of loving me to grow my faith, and help me grow my dependence on Him. I never wanted to look at it that way because it seemed difficult.

Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist has been amazing. Seeing Him love me to sacrifice His life for me, and then loves me enough to never leave me is an incredible miracle that is the ultimate example of love. I was confirmed in 2014 and got to partake for the first time. It's amazing and definitely a huge testament of love. I'm so thankful for it.

For 2015 I'm letting God continue to teach me and help me to TRANSCEND or : Go beyond the limits. Beyond the limits of what I think I know or can do, and beyond the barriers that I've set for myself. 

What is your word of the year friends?

<3

Anita

2014: New Year, New Word.

In 2012 I had a word: Discipleship.
In 2013 I had a word: Thankfulness.

In both years God grew me in these places. Did He grow me in other places?  absolutely -100%  But when I took time to notice him growing me in these particular areas in the last year it was amazing.

This year was a big year for us.  We grew a lot. We questioned a ton. We learned about the church and about God. We grew together. My husband got a new car, I graduated PA school, passed my boards and started my first job. We traveled together to New Hampshire, Delaware, Washington DC, Baltimore, MD, Tampa, St. Augustine and I went to Texas to help my best friend move and get situated. We moved into a house. We bought a washer/dryer and we have a big table to gather family and friends around. We learned to budget better. We completed Dave Ramsey and are running like gazelles. We loved each other more. We grew closer to friends. We studied the bible harder. We were blessed with a year of no skin cancer for me and a year of good health for Paul. We changed our diet cutting out GMO foods slowly but surely as much as we can. We were blessed enough to give more in 2013 than ever before. We trusted God with more and more and He blessed us more and more. I am excited and prayerful for 2014. Excited to see what God has planned. Excited to grow and learn and see what is in store for our family. I'm sure 2014 will have trials as did 2013, but I know that God has a plan and I have my husband by my side.

For me specifically this year not only blessed me with accomplishments and paychecks but I learned a lot. Specifically I learned to be thankful. I wish I could you I have mastered thankfulness: but what I've mastered is learning how often I'm not thankful. I have learned more about what the bible says about thankfulness and I have learned to make a habit of being thankful that is greatly improved form previous years.

In the last day of 2013 I was challenged. My work had applied for a specific type of loan repayment program that would really help us financially. It's something we prayed about a lot asking God to provide. Yesterday I found out the office was declined. We did not get loan repayment. In that moment was I thankful: No. I was sad. I trust God has a plan. God is helping me to see that plan, helping me to trust Him. And as I sit and ponder and pray about what word God wants to grow me in this year I'm met with so many words that mostly could be summed up in the following:

the fruits of the spirit : love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self control.

I could be more loving. God is love and that is what He asks of us.
I could be more joyful (I learned that in my year of thanks) having my thankfulness overflow into joy.
I could use peace that surpasses all understanding.
I could definitely use more patience.
I could grow in kindness.
I could have more goodness flow out of me and learn more about God's goodness
I could be more gentle, and compassionate.
I could be more faithful, trust that God is faithful and trust Him.
I could have more self control and give more control to God.

so I asked my husband  and he suggested love because you can become more joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, general faithful and controlled. The greatest of these is Love. A word that as I had prayed about this so far had come up often.

So there we have it folks. Love.

Happy 2014.
What's your word of the year? What word are you seeking that God can teach you about in 2014. Friends know that even though I focused on 1 word, God used that word to grow me in so many other words and it helped make me more aware. It's not limiting God to one word but opening my heart to see how that 1 word God uses in so many ways.

<3