My One Word 2018

I love a brand-spankin' new New Year that moseys out of the gate and gives me the opportunity to reflect on the past and look toward the future. For me, setting New Year’s resolutions fell by the wayside years ago. In 2000, I selected a focal verse for the year and have continued to choose one annually. In 2013, I jumped on the my-one-word bandwagon and now consolidate my chosen verse into one word for a more precise focus. 

My One Word 2018--PERSEVERE

Focal Verses: "Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Message)

My prayer for 2018 is that I’ll step into the purpose God calls me to and never quit. That I'll cut the fat (in more ways than one) and release everything that threatens or hinders my progress. That when I become weary I'll continue to put one foot in front of the other and not lose sight of my goal. That when my faith flags I'll pull myself up by my bootstraps and fix my eyes on Jesus--the one who blazed the trail before me and will continue to make a way where there seems to be none. I pray not only to finish strong this year but also in life as well, and that I’ll leave a godly legacy with my family, the people I meet, and the places I go. And finally, I pray when I cross the finish line accompanied by a great cloud of witnesses that I’ll reap the reward of my labor and above the applause I'll hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." And for that...

I’ll persevere.

Now it's your turn.  Please join me in my tradition and select a verse and a word for your life as well. If you already have, please encourage us all and share it here.

I always welcome your comments. 

Happy New Year!

Starr

H'art and Soul

"There is in every artist's studio a scrap heap of discarded works in which the artist's discipline prevailed against his imagination." 

~Robert Brault~

  

 "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

—Philippians 1:6, NIV

As an artist, I often approach the canvas with a preconceived idea of how I want my finished painting to look. I begin,  hopeful that this will be my greatest work. But with each deliberate brushstroke, I become increasingly discouraged. Sometimes I set the unfinished piece aside never to pick it up again.  The result is just not what I had in mind. What is in my mind's eye is always far greater. More times than not, my painting ends up tucked away in a dark corner of the attic never to grace the walls of a gallery or a home.

 

In view of my perpetual inner struggle, I am reminded of a quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression." 

 

Knowing I am not alone in my struggle brings some consolation, but I must ask myself: "Is there a chasm between the Master Creator's inner vision for my life and my life's ultimate expression?"

 

I am grateful the Master Creator never gives up on me.

 

Photo taken in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada 

Face the Wind

A bird facing the wind doesn't get its feathers ruffled. The wind simply flows over the contour of its body. But if a bird is turned in the opposite direction with its tail facing the wind, the wind ruffles its feathers and the bird is thrown off balance.

 

"And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up,
he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem."  

―Luke 9:51, KJV

 

 

Don't let life ruffle your feathers. Set your face like flint and ride on the wings of the wind.

Photo taken at Beaufort, NC and Cape Lookout