I hope each of you had the chance to have a restful and glorious holiday season and you find yourself ready to tackle another year!
I am one of the people who loves to start each new year with goals in mind and a new fervor to tackle them, full steam ahead.
There is something about the turn of the clock from 11:59 to midnight, just as a clock does every night, but on December 31 I get all kinds of nostalgic and feel ready to conquer the New Year.
Last year, I remember telling myself that 2017 would be the year that I say yes to doing things that I would otherwise hesitate to do. I started saying yes to some of those things that “scared” me or seemed foreign to me in 2016, and the Lord showed me how He takes care of His children, if only we’ll listen and obey Him.
There have been many times in my life when I’ve felt an urging to try something, but it’s been scary and out of my comfort zone. For example, applying for the job I now have. I hadn’t been job searching, and it scared me to take a leap and apply for a job where I knew no one. But I listened, and He rewarded me.
A hobby I fell in love with in 2016 was photography. I hoped and dreamed that eventually I could get the courage, along with my husband, to turn photography into a small family business. Since 2017 was the year of doing and saying “Yes” to the things that scared me, we took the leap in early Spring and began having some of our first paid photo shoots.
It was amazing how before each shoot I would inevitably feel inadequate and hope that I could capture the moments our clients were expecting. But each time when the voices of doubt from the devil crept into my mind, there was a still small voice, the Lord’s voice, offering reassurance and reminding me to trust in Him.
It seems silly that as a Christian I would ever need reminding to trust in Him, the one who is all-knowing and placed the stars and the moon in the sky.
Here we are, now at the beginning of another year, and Casey, my husband, and I had the busiest fall and beginning of winter ever, all thanks to our photography business that kept us busy almost all weekends and a lot of weeknights. I have so enjoyed exploring this world of photography and taking photos in which people will truly find delight.
Now, I can’t help but ask, what is one thing that you have always thought, “It would be cool to do this” or “I bet I could do that”? I’m here to tell you that you can, and you should. Make 2018 be the year that on January 8, 2019, you look back and can’t believe where the year took you once you said “Yes” to your dream and “Get out of here” to the voices of doubt that mean nothing.
They mean nothing because you are a conqueror and coheir of Christ, as Romans 8:17 reminds us, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”
Make 2018 the year that you look back on and say a year from now that you began your journey to your best and most fearless self!