{One Little Word - Twenty-Sixteen}

I can't believe that we are already five days into this new year. Just like 2015, this year is already proving to be moving by fast. At any rate, I am excited about this new year. A clean state. A refresh. New direction. New ideas. New, new, new. My brain is a foggy mess right now with all of the ideas I have running through my head. Not a bad thing, just makes it hard to concentrate. Not to mention all of the catching up I have to do.

Anyhow, I've learned that me & resolutions just do not work. Like at all. I make them and have the best of intentions, but then life happens. So, instead of setting myself up for failure making any resolutions I chose a word. A word to think about, pray about and reflect upon throughout the year.

I started thinking about my word on the way home from our camping trip on New Years Eve. I really thought my word this year was going to be present. Especially after a trip that forced most of us to be present (hello no cell/internet signal). I loved the quality time with the family and just being present and it reminded me that I need to carry that on throughout the rest of my days.  But, recently God keeps laying a different word on my heart.

And that word is hope. 

Hope is a feeling of trust, a security, and a reason to keep going. It is a passionate desire of our heart. It is a feeling of expectation and longing for a certain thing to happen.

Something I haven't shared much on the blog before is our infertility struggles. It took us over two years to get pregnant with Mason. And this month marks a year since we started trying for baby #2. Being in the waiting is draining and depressing and frustrating and just plain hard. I pray for strength and patience during those hard times and to always put my hope in the Lord and not that of the world. I want to remember always that my prayers do not land upon deaf ears and that His timing is always perfect. It's so easy to focus only on our present situation and forget about His faithfulness. I will have hope.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

 . . . we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:2-5) 

What is your one little word for the New Year?