I shared at the end of December that my theme or one little
word for 2016 will be “new life” and my verse for the year is John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and
to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may
have it more abundantly.” Therefore, I wanted to be very purposeful in
my resolutions and/or goals for this year. Every year before now, I have accomplished
a few of my goals and while I truly meant well with my focus for them they
always fell flat midway through the year.
My goals for this year could easily be summed up as focusing on my
relationship with the Lord, doing well in grad school and becoming healthy in all
areas of my life. While these would certainly work, I wanted to be more specific
but struggled to put everything into words until I found a worksheet that Ann
Voskamp had on her website. (Ann Voskamp - 2016 Worksheet)
Last Thursday night, I sat down at my dining room table with the worksheet, a notepad, my prayer journal, my Bible and cup of coffee. After some time in prayer, I really worked out my goals for the year and am quite happy to share them with you (I added one more category to Mrs. Voskamp’s list).
Without further ado …
This is the year I purpose to …
Embrace … grace. This is a repeat from last year as I am
still struggling to truly receive and rest in the grace He daily bestows on me.
Engage … others sincerely. I want to host more people in my
home this year for meals and take the time to really listen to them.
Be … intentional in my prayer life. One way I am implementing
this is by writing down the prayer requests of others in my journal that I keep
with me constantly and by offering via my social media accounts to pray for
those who have a need. I am committing to pray for these requests at least once
a week.
Believe … wholeheartedly and without reservation. I know the
Lord has the best plan for my life even if it takes me through great sorrow. I
want to walk in His plan with confidence, not doubt.
Break … up with my pride and other strongholds in my life,
as the Lord reveals them to me. I’ll be honest breaking up with my pride may
take me all year long as it is ugly and doesn’t want to give up.
Daily … spend time in the Word and working on me. I am following
a “reading through the Bible” in a year plan on my phone that I am attempting to add to my daily quiet time. As far as working on
me, this will be accomplished by getting enough rest, eating healthy and
through exercise. With the exercise, I have some videos that I can work out to
in the privacy of my home as well as a friend who is going to come over and
show me a few other things I can be doing!
Do … what I can and leave the rest to the Lord. I expect way
too much of myself to the point that it is unrealistic and almost makes me
godlike, in my own eyes. Then when I fail it’s a huge disappointment … see the
first one and the other one about pride. LOL.
Let go … of comparing myself to others. I’m just going to
work on being the best Melody Faith that the Lord has made me to be and let everyone else worrying about themselves.
Learn … what it means to have a gentle and quiet spirit. I
so crave this in my life.
Give … freely and without hesitation. I want to be sensitive
to His prompting in my life and be ready to give of His resources that He has entrusted to me.
Grow … in love … towards the Lord, others and yes, myself.
Go … wherever He leads. I have never been on a foreign
mission trip and I am feeling called to go this year. I have asked the Lord to
write the name of the place on my heart and prepare the way. I don’t want this
to be a sightseeing trip disguised as a missions trip or my first stamp in my yet-to-be acquired passport. I want to truly serve.
This is what I am purposing to do for 2016. Please hold me
accountable. Please let me know if there is a way that I can pray for you. I promise to keep it just between you, the
Lord and myself.
Here’s to a new,
abundant life for 2016.
I love you all!
Blessings …
- Melody Faith
I love it. :)
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