My Verse for 2017

Each January, the internet is filled with chatter about people’s #oneword for the year. I’m sure you’ve noticed it as you scroll through your Facebook newsfeed or read New Years blogs.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon this concept of choosing a word or verse to claim for a new year and I’ve loved seeing how the Lord used each new theme to work in the life of our family.

Last year my word was joy, and with Peter deployed, I certainly needed some joy in my life. My verse was from Acts 13:52:

“And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

The year before that, my word was more like a phrase: mercy, peace, and grace. Jude 2 was my verse:

“May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

This year, as I’ve been prayerfully considering what our family’s theme will be, I have been hearing a couple of words from the Lord.

Those words are obedience and trust. 

As I prayed about those words, I came across several scriptures that coincided with them. I narrowed the list down to 3 verses but I  couldn’t decide which one to use. 

I wrote all three verses down to meditate on, but one verse kept coming up everywhere I looked – in podcasts and websites, blogs and emails. I couldn’t deny that the Lord was leading me to this particular scripture. Don’t you just love how He is faithful to remind us of things until we get it?

So my verse for 2017 is this:

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

Y’all, our family is about to undergo a multitude of changes over the next few months:

• Peter will be retiring in April
• We will be buying a house in Tennessee and moving in May/June
• Peter starts Physical Therapy school this summer
• The children will start new schools in August
• I will go back to work full time as a speech/language pathologist in August after 7 years of being a stay-at-home mom
• On top of all this, we are in the midst of paperwork for our adoption

Just one of these things is enough to send me over the edge. But combined? Well, let’s just say stress is my new best friend.

This year is going to require a lot of trust from our family. 

• Trust that the Lord has a plan
• Trust that He will lead us to the right house and neighborhood in our new city
• Trust that He will provide friendships for all our children
• Trust that His timing in bringing a child into our family is perfect
• Trust that our family can handle one parent being in school full time and the other working full time

And this year is also going to require a lot of obedience.

• Obedience in being persistent with our adoption. (Because, let me tell you, the paperwork alone is about to do me in and there are times I just want to quit.)
• Obedience for our kids, particularly for Brienne because she is older and it will be more difficult for her to make the move to Tennessee
• Obedience for me and Peter as we listen to what the Lord tells us to do

I’m honestly not sure what the next year will bring.

I worry about the transition back to Tennessee. We loved it when we lived there before but will it continue to feel like home this time?

I must choose to trust that God has led us back to Tennessee for a reason and that it will once again feel like home, like family, to us.

I become anxious when I think about our adoption timeline and in fact, we have been toying with the idea of waiting until we move to Tennessee to continue the paperwork. (Our home study agency isn’t being as proactive as we would like and we fear that they won’t be finished with our home study in time for us to be matched with a child before we move.)

But today I am choosing to trust that God has a specific child in India already chosen for our family. I am reminded that, because the Lord is in control, it isn’t possible for us to miss the child He has chosen. 

I recently read a quote that I can’t stop thinking about:

“How quickly we forget the miracles of our past as we step into an uncertain future…”     -Jay Wolf

Do you see the truth in this statement? We so often forget what God has done for us in the past which leads us to a place of mistrust over our future.

But today, I am choosing to trust that the Lord is in control.

Today I am choosing to actually give Him control of my worries and fears, concerns and frustrations.

And today I am choosing to obey and follow Him wherever He leads.

And I will meditate on Psalm 143:8 this year.

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

 

Do you choose a verse or #oneword each year? If so, I would love to hear about it!