2018: The Year of Surrender

For the last year, I have followed Ali Edwards on social media. This last year I had the pleasure of seeing her speak at the Create and Cultivate conference on the Microsoft campus, and it was incredible. In this weird way, she inspires me to think differently about my current habits, goal setting, creating, and building my dreams. Ali’s business is based on scrap booking and commemorating everyday life, but scrap booking is not a skill that I have been great at over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I try… but I have been far from perfect. Definitely one of the things that proved I wasn’t cut out for that sorority life. This December, Ali started promoting her One Little Word project, and I thought… huh, I could probably do THAT!

The concept was easy in theory. Pick one word to live by for one year. But then I got to thinking about it and dang, that was hard. I found myself leaning towards words like strong, resilient, brave, etc.… but when I would look up the definitions so that I had something to work towards, I felt exhausted. I do those things a lot. My life has been a lot of “you’re so strong” or “be brave through this”. As I enter my 30th year, I am thinking that maybe I take that strength and bravery and live a little more simply. So I pondered and prayed about it. What word would support easing into a new decade with grace, strength, bravery, independence, and love? Things I value and want to be a part of my daily life.

And then I sat down on the third Sunday of Advent to read that week’s scripture with Ainsley. As we finished, I asked Ainsley what she thought about the story of Jesus’ birth. And she simply said, “My favorite part was that Mary trusted God”😍. That smart little six year old, simple and observant. Mary’s surrender to her circumstances IS one of the best parts of the story.

That next morning, I knew for sure that surrender was my word for 2018. The idea that the plan for me intersects with real life stinks sometimes, but sometimes it is the most rewarding and glorious thing. My counselor tells me that sometimes I have this form of PTSD where I relive things that have happened to me based on dates or environments, but assures me that I can overcome it through intentional practice. The more I have written in my journal and prayed about how I would welcome the concept of surrender into my new year, I have realized that it fits perfectly into what I already believe. That God uses real people, in hard places or situations, to work out His plan. And through all of it, we fail, struggle, cry, but we also rejoice, celebrate, and overcome.

The concept of focusing on surrendering hurt, power, love, and sometimes even opinion, is exciting. There is a lot to say for believing in putting your faith into something, like I do with my Almighty Father. But to practice that surrender is not always easy. This world we live in encourages us to build our lives and desire things, but what are His desires, and how do we surrender ourselves in His glory?

I look forward to finding out more in 2018 about just that.