Invested.

Happy 2017!

Another new year means...
>> Another turn of the page on my Peanuts desk calendar at work.
>> Another 365 days of opportunity.
>> Another 6 months of me writing the wrong year on, well....everything.
>> Another season of people making resolutions.
>> Also...another year of me getting older. 😅

But, I don't subscribe to the idea of a resolution....at least not in the way they often present themselves around the New Year. So many of them are built on good intention and let's be honest, life happens. Many of you have kids, we have jobs, homes, friends....typical demands that dictate our attention. A lot of them fall by the wayside and we shrug with disappointment when we realize how distant the finish line seems to be on the ones we didn't give up doing.

So every year, in thinking about what resolutions I would like to make, I subscribe to the one word challenge. I try to come up with one word that fits many of my goals and that gives purpose and promise to all 365 days. That way, at the end of the year, I can feel good about the ways in which I successfully lived out my one word.

The first year, my word was passion.

In 2015, I was still pretty lost. Even though it had been about two years since my life fell apart (which is not a dramatization, at least not to me), I was still sort of wandering through life with no purpose. After leaving mission work in Missouri, taking a break from graduate school and going through a pretty rough breakup, I was living at my parents house and the only saving grace was transferring to my current department at work.  For the first time in my life, I wasn't in school and didn't have academic success to give me purpose. I wrestled with why God called me into ministry given the difficult circumstances with which I decided to come home. If I wasn't working with college kids...what was my calling? I also wasn't sure how to be just me again after I spent time being half of a couple....which now I understand was very unhealthy. Honestly, I felt pretty hollow and lost.

That year, I just wanted to fall in love with Jesus again. Really, I would have done anything just to feel alive and full of excitement no matter what it was. So in all I did, I wanted to find passion in what I did. It was a rough year, and I can't say I feel like I did that great of a job feeling passionate about people or work or Jesus. There were probably equal days of success and failure.

The second year, my word was pursuit.

Last year, I wanted to be relentless in pursuit of everything. I wanted to be Jim Carey in Yes man...and basically, say yes to anything exciting. So I did. I said yes to life groups at church and to doing the hard work of looking inside myself to figure out why the previous year was so difficult. The Floods encouraged me to circle my life in prayer and to find my purpose through a study by Craig Groeschel. It worked. I'm so thankful for the time I spent with them and will forever be grateful for the way they helped me pursue people, my own heart and a renewed relationship with God. In addition, I pursued my dream of owning a home and paying off my vehicle. I joined another life group when I transferred campuses and pursued meaningful friendships. I finally, with a little (okay, really big 😁)  nudge from my favorite guitar player, joined the worship team and got promoted at work.  At the end of last year...I can honestly say I was happier then I have been in a long time.

This year....my word is.....Invest!

I want to invest in my dreams.
In entrepreneurship and multiple streams of income to be debt free.
In my health.
In the mission and vision of Jesus. (People)!
In reading the Bible cover to cover.
In learning and knowledge.
In travel experiences.

So in all things, I will measure this year in minutes used wisely and investments that pay mostly non-monetary dividends.

What's your word?