my word & goals for 2013

My word for 2013.


"Rejoice always..."  (I Thessalonians 5:16)

"We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."  (II Corinthians 6:8-10)

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice."  (Philippians 4:4)

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the resurrection of Jesus Christ."  (I Peter 1:6-7) 

I want to be a woman who rejoices in all things.  Especially the little things. It's easy to get excited over big opportunities and changes, but it's much harder for me to rejoice in the mundane things of everyday life.  This, though, is what I'm learning:  There is beauty in mundane, just as there is beauty in big things; there is beauty in the ordinary, the simple, the daily just as there is in the opportunity, the occasion.  I want to be a woman who celebrates that beauty, rejoices in all aspects and seasons of life.  I will celebrate it through words and photos.  I will celebrate it over late-night Skype calls and across coffee- stained Starbucks' tables.  I will celebrate it with traditions, family squeezed around too-small tables, and sisters laughing loudly.  Days when I spend too many hours over school, and days when I laugh at 2am with friends.  Watching rain roll down windows, reading books in front of the fireplace, memorizing the drive to the lake, so I always know how long it will be until we arrive.  Friends I have here - who I talk and laugh with every week - and friends who live miles away - who I miss terribly.  Sibling laughter, wrestling with the boys (and losing), sting pong (it hurts, badly), and even the half hour it takes us to decide on a movie.  There is so much to rejoice in.

As well as rejoicing, there are a few simple things I want to do this year:
+ learn the difference between taking and making photographs
+ love more
+ overcome fears
+ be creative and create
+ do everything with as much passion as I do the things I love      

And I will rejoice in this:  that though I have nothing, I have it all, and though I am treated as an imposter, what I have is true (II Corinthians 6).  Because Jesus Christ, He came and took my life, making it into something much greater, much more beautiful, much more honest and real and alive than I ever could have made it on my own.  In that I will rejoice.  Though I will celebrate the little things of this life, I will rejoice in the biggest thing I ever could be given.  Redemption.  Grace.  Love.  Mercy.  Forgiveness.  Joy.  Life.  There is so much in this life to rejoice in.  I'm doing that this year.