Direction for the New Year

Do you take time at the beginning of each New Year to reassess your life? Do you set goals? Make plans for the coming year? Or do you just slip into the New Year hoping it all will be better this time around?  Wondering which direction to take?

 

Would you tell me, please, which direction I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. 

~ Lewis Carroll

For me...some years I have spent a 'day of regret'. Looking back at all I have not accomplished from that list of goals from the previous year. Other years I have just slipped into the New Year with high hopes.

I'm not a New Year's resolution setter. Are you? I do think it's important to have goals. But the older I get the more I realize that my most important goal for the year needs to be focused on where God has me at the moment and where He is directing my path. 

In Lewis Carroll's book, Alice asked the cat which direction to go. He replies, "that depends a good deal on where you want to get to."  

So, where do you want to get to? I want to get to the place where my heart is in sync with God's will and I am walking out His purpose and calling on my life. Because when I'm not, I miss His peace. I miss His rest. I miss His assurance in the trials.

I've written my first article of 2022 for the Pretty & Wise website. (I hope you'll go over and check it out here: Don't Look Back). In the article, I talk a bit about some things I've learned in the story of Lot's wife. (You can find her story in the 19th chapter of Genesis). In short, Lot's wife has taught me to watch the direction of my longing heart. To pay attention to those things that have held my heart captive. And to turn back to God when the path has led me away from His Word and His will.

While we can refocus our attention and intentions anytime throughout the year, the New Year is the perfect time to reassess where we are in relation to the call of God on our lives. I decided a few years back that instead of a New Year's resolution, I would pray each year sometime in December for God to show me the One Word He wanted me to focus on for the upcoming year. I wanted to know what He was calling me to in the New Year. Was it a new concept? Something to focus on that would lead me closer to Him? 

I know that many people choose a word or a phrase for the year, but I wanted this to be from God and not my own choice. I don't want to pick a word as a goal or an aspiration to achieve. I want to hear from the Holy Spirit and keep in step with Him through this year-long One Word journey. 

This year I had not even thought to pray about my One Word, but God just dropped a word on me. MOVE. Wow . . . I'm expecting the unpacking of this word to be quite a ride! Pun intended. I'm hoping I'll be able to share insights as to where this word leads as the year progresses. I do so love an adventure. Don't you?

I'm extremely thankful that we get to look at each new year as a fresh canvas. White as the newly fallen snow outside my window. God gives us a fresh canvas each and every morning. Each and every time we come to Him in repentance. No matter how bad we may have messed up, He is there waiting for us to turn around and walk back into His loving embrace.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23).

 

I know that God has called me to write . . . and so this year I pray He continues to give me clarity so that my writing will continue to call others to the very heart of God. Will you keep me in your prayers as I refocus on my call to write this year?

Where has God called you? Whether you choose new goals or one word, I want to encourage you as you plan for the new year ahead. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to direct your paths. Don't leave God behind. If you do, you'll find yourself exhausted. Wait for Him and follow His lead. It's in Him you will find the strength to walk out His purposes for you in the year ahead. There are good works that God has specifically planned for you. We are assured of this in Ephesians;

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2:10.

Whether you take a day, a half-day, or even an hour to think about the year ahead, let me encourage you from God's Word.

Wait on Him.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. ~ Isaiah 40:31

Let God show you the way.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. ~Psalm 32:8

Acknowledge that His ways lead to the right path.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ~Proverbs 3:6

Know that it's okay when God's plan trumps ours.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. ~Proverbs 19:21

Be assured that when your delight is in God, He will take your hand and lead you forward.

The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;

 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. ~Psalm 37:23-24

It is my prayer that you will trust that the plan God has in store for you in the year ahead will be for your good and His glory!

  

Don't forget to head over and check out my latest post at Pretty & Wise. Just click on the pic below to get there.  

 

Poise… and Other Time Tested Beauty Tips

Poise…I think that this word is not used much in our vocabulary these days. Perhaps it is because so few reflect on the importance of the word in our lives.  Since I wanted to create a picture for my friend who had chosen this word as her One Word Challenge for this year, I looked at dictionary.com to give me a bit more of an idea of just what this word was about.

Here is what I found:

Noun

1.  a dignified, self-confident manner or bearing; composure; self-possession: to show poise in company.

2.  Steadiness; stability: intellectual poise.

Verb

To rest in equilibrium; be balanced.

Synonyms:  aplomb, balance, bearing, diplomacy, confidence, cool, serenity, tact, tranquility, grace, elegance.

Those last two words, grace and elegance, bring to me the picture of Audrey Hepburn, after the transformation as Eliza Doolittle, in My Fair Lady (the film version of George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, 1912).  She was transformed from a crude and brash Cockney flower girl into a beautiful woman who spoke with dignity and held herself with a dignified poise...there is that word…poise. 

Because of that mental picture, I chose to include in my One Word picture a quote that is often attributed to Audrey Hepburn, whom many women uphold as the ideal to true beauty in a woman…not only because of her physical beauty but also mainly for her inward beauty which showed itself in the way she interacted with her world.  She was known for her involvement in many charitable causes, in fact, in her later years, her acting became secondary to her work on behalf of children as she traveled the world making known the plight of children in need. Her beauty showed itself in the very way she carried herself. It is more like an aura of grace, elegance, and dignity…with a touch of playfulness. 

The quote that I used in my picture is actually just a part of a much longer quote; many parts of which I see posted online all the time quotes coming directly from Miss. Hepburn.  As I am a bit of a stickler for giving credit where credit is due, I will include the entire poem written by Humorist Sam Levenson. He was also the one who said, “Insanity is hereditary: You can get it from your children.”  Hmmm…wise man.

Soon after becoming a UNICEF Ambassador, Audrey Hepburn went on a
    mission trip to Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife had caused
terrible famine.
A.A. ©Derek Hudson/Sygma/Corbis

The following was written by the late educator-humorist Sam Levenson for his grandchild and read by Audrey Hepburn on Christmas Eve, 1992; Ms. Hepburn also used it on occasion when she was asked for beauty tips. [From Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris, 1996, Putnam].

                      Time Tested Beauty Tips

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his, or fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives and the passion that she shows.

The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years. 

As I read this, I cannot but think of the words in scripture:

Let not your adornment be merely external but let it be the hidden person of the heart,  with a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. ~1 Peter 3:3-4

We as women are bombarded daily with the message that our beauty is merely external. Don’t believe me?  Just spend some time watching commercials aimed at women. While God’s word does not forbid us to care about our external appearance…it does point out the fact that our outward beauty should reflect our inner person.

Just recently I shared with the girls in my Bible study that when I look in the mirror I am almost surprised at what I see.  That reflection is not quite the beautiful woman of God that I ‘feel’ and carry with me every day. You see…it’s not anything I have done to create that beauty. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, in my inner self, my heart, and soul. He has made me beautiful! Oh sure…there are times when I have marred that beauty with my own selfish desires and walked in disobedience to His Word and to be the woman I know God has called me to be. In those times, I am just…well…ugh...UGLY!  I can’t cover that up with makeup or beautiful clothes and shoes that ROCK! No…only by acknowledging that ugliness and repenting of my selfish choices…by turning and walking, yet again, in obedience to His Word does that mantle of beauty fall on me once again.  And I have to say…all the beauty treatments in the world cannot give you the inner peace, poise, and confidence that walking in obedience does. 

Poise...after reflecting on the meaning and related scriptures, I realized it is an excellent word...it says so much. There are depths of this word that pertain to how we are to be as God's women...I pray that God opens up doors of opportunity for you to plumb the depths and apply them to your life...as you are poised on the edge of all that God has for you in the journey!!!

Do you do the One Word Challenge each year? You can find out more here: One Word Challenge.

P.S.   From Amber (my friend for whom I created the One Word Picture, Poise)…

“My word for the year is Poise…and I have definitely been in circumstances that have required me to present. It was certainly the right word for me. And I smile and think of God's provision in this area”.