What I Have Learned In 2022

 Hello Friends,

All images are mine

Well I don't know about you, but I cannot believe that today is the first day of 2023! This year has flown by so quickly, I can hardly believe it. I pray that you all will have a blessed 2023 and I thank you for reading my posts throughout this past year. Today, I just wanted to recap all that I have learned throughout year 2022. This past year has been a year of faith for me, I have seen so much growth in my spiritual life and trust me, there's a lot more growing to do. The Lord has truly blessed me this year with going to a new church and making new relationships. I have gone through some trials and tribulations this year that I know without a shadow of doubt that the Lord has sustained me and kept me through them all. 

   God has been ever so gracious and kind towards me and He has given me scriptures to hold to not only in 2022, but also in 2023. One of my favorite ones is, "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her." Luke 1:45 Also one of the new ones is, "He fills my life with good things." Psalm 103:5 Another one is 2 Corinthians 9:8, "And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good work." I have written these scriptures down as a reminder and to encourage me on bad days. Yesterday I was listening to a lady on YouTube talk about when things don't go as planned. What she had to say helped me and also made to realize that even though we make plans, it is God who orders our footsteps. 

     She said she had plans to do this and that on a particular day and she was very excited about it and then something came along and interrupted it. She said that she was upset and frustrated because she was really looking forward to doing what she had purposed in her heart and planned carefully to do, but what she said next helped me greatly. She said that even though she was upset and frustrated, she had to refocus herself again. She couldn't dwell on the fact that something popped up that interrupted her plans. She had to refocus her mind and say to herself, "It's okay because things like this are going to happen and maybe tomorrow I can do what I had planned to do today. So, what I had learned from this is interruptions are going to take place in our days and it's okay. That is the time to focus on whatever popped up in our day and then take some time to calm down and not get too upset over the interruptions that took place. 

    So, friends, you may be like me, a planner and have your days lined out how you want, but if an interruption comes along and throws a kink in everything, it's important not to stay upset and dwell on what happened, but to take time to refocus and plan for the next day. God may be trying to get our attention about something. Remember we are the ones who plan, but He is the One who orders our footsteps. What this means is we can plan and plan and plan, but it's God who says, "Okay, this is the steps I want you to take today." Does this mean we stop planning? No, we keep planning, but we make sure our plans are lined up with God's word and will for our lives. I like to plan because there's a lot of things that like to pop up in my life and I have to write them down so I don't forget those things. Also, I guess the reason I like to plan is because I have worked at a school for so long, I have naturally picked up the "teacher planner" attitude. 

    Everyday, we always have a plan in place and sometimes we have kinks in those plans too, but we make the best of it and keep moving forward, we don't stop. This is one of the things that I am learning right now. For my goals this year, I have set some practical goals in place and number one is to keep growing in my relationship with the Lord. For me this is so important and if you are a true believer in Jesus, this should be important to you too. I do not want to ever stop growing in Him because without Him, I can do nothing, I am nothing without Him. He is the One who keeps me moving forward and changes my mindset on different things. Number two goal is stick to my budget. Oh friends, I am still learning the value of a budget. A budget helps me not to overspend and to help me save money in different areas. I have also learned that it is so easy to just swipe a card. Oh how it is so easy to swipe it so my goal for this year is to stick to my budget and not to swipe my card so much. I have gotten back on my cash envelope system and if you do not know what this is, I encourage you to google Dave Ramsey budget. 

     It will change your life, he is a Christian man who helps people with their finances. Also the Bible has a lot to say about finances and money so I encourage you to look up scriptures that pertain to money and finances. God doesn't want us to be in debt, the Bible clearly says in Deuteronomy chapter 28 that you lend to many nations and not borrow. He doesn't want us in debt, he wants us to be free from debt so that we can give freely for His kingdom and those in need. Goal number three is to enjoy every day of my life that the Lord gives me. Life is a gift from God, He took the time to knit us together in our mother's womb and breathe life into us. Also it is the Holy Spirit who makes us come alive and the blood of Jesus that frees us from our sins. We are on a journey to go from this life to our eternal home in heaven and God wants us to enjoy the journey. 

       I think about Jesus' life, he had days where people tried to kill Him and mock Him, hurt Him, etc, but it didn't stop Him from living life. He made the best of everything. I am sure He had days where he smiled and laughed, but He had days where He was sad, angry, upset, and would go to the Lord in prayer for help. I have been watching The Chosen series and I have been enjoying it. The episode that I have been watching this week has been about Jesus' childhood and what He had to face when He told His hometown people that He was the Messiah. They tried to throw Him off the cliff, but even in that, He smiled afterwards knowing that God saved Him again from people trying to kill Him. I look at His life and see the example that is laid out before me that I am to walk in myself. Does this mean that every day will be easy? No, but on those days that aren't easy, we can always go to God and tell Him about it and He will make it right. He will turn those days around for us for our good. 

    So, friends, I know this is a long post, but I want you to be encouraged this year that God is always with us and will never leave us nor forsake us. He has been with us all through 2022 and He will continue to be with us in 2023! I pray that the Lord blesses you greatly in 2023 and that everything you put your hand, God will allow it to prosper according to His will and word. May the Lord bless you and keep you, Happy 2023! Shalom, until next time!