HOPE

It's a new year and to be honest, I love new beginnings.  I love finishing off things - like the cereal box or a notebook.. - anyone else get some satisfaction over using something up?  But I also love the start of things...  beginning of the school year, the starting of a new program, the first page of a new book - there is something so Hopeful about new beginnings.  And this new year is not without that Hope. 

Last year I joined the movement (per se) of choosing a word of the year.  That word was Believe.  This year I have wondered if I'd have a word again.  Tossing around lots in my head - but nothing seemed to settle with me.  Then..  it came.  Written at the end of a talk I'm doing for a MOP's group next week.  I talk about Surrendering.  And no - that's not my word, although it's a good one!  I end my talk by saying that Surrendering brings HOPE.  And I read it again, and it resonated with me.  Not just because it's my talk and my words, but because Hope is a new beginning. 

So there it is.  My word of the year. .  Hope  - for me - is a Certainty that God is going to show up.  It's an expectancy of what I know God can do and will do in my life.  So this year ..  I'm focusing on the Hope of Christ. 

The Hope of how he will bring me closer to Him. 

The Hope of what he will do in my marriage. 

The Hope that my children will grow in their understanding of Him. 

The Hope that God has a new something for me this year. 
 

Do you have a word for the year?  What is it?