Happy new year friends! It is truly a blessing to see another year and have the time to reflect on the hills and valleys of 2021. Looking back, A LOT happened in 2021. I went back to high school in-person for the first time in nine months, got accepted to nine colleges, chose to attend UGA (go dawgs!), graduated from high school, started college, met some sweet new friends, became a new creation in Christ, and got baptized (woo!). I also suffered from loneliness and anxiety like never before and ended my first semester of college with COVID-19 and was unable to take my final exams, not to mention the chaos and pain that is overwhelming this broken world.
But the thing is, 2021 was needed in so many ways. It was a year of growth and a year of transformation. A year where I look back and realize I am not the person I used to be. I like the new me. She is confident. She is unashamed. She is unapologetically herself. She knows where her worth comes from–it comes from the Lord.
All the time I spent crying in my dorm, or suffering from anxiety attacks, or eating meals alone, or watching everyone make memories with “their people,” or struggling with high school FOMO, or seeing the fruits of my labor go unnoticed–it was not in vain. I now understand that all of that pain has made me stronger. My tears have been wiped away by my Father who has shaped me into the person I am today in a labor of love. My one constant this year has been Jesus. My one hope in my hours of darkness has been my faith and knowledge that He has not and will not abandon me. Everything you go through in this life has a purpose. You are in the circumstances and season you are in for a reason. Use your situation as an opportunity to learn a lesson and walk away from it stronger than before. For me, I needed the separation that came from going to college. I needed the isolation from my hometown and the people I relied on to truly find myself and who I am in Christ.
Something that my church encourages us to do is pick a word of the year instead of resolutions that unfortunately never last. This is a word that brings you focus through the ebb and flow of the year. A word that breathes life into your day when the world tries to get the best of you. A word that points you home and puts everything into perspective. A word that challenges you to shift your heart and mind posture to allow for growth.
2021 taught me a lot of things. But one thing in particular always brought me home and helped me through my most difficult moments. There was a scientific study that shows that gratitude significantly decreases anxiety. When I was at my lowest, I would try to think of all I had to be thankful for. But the funny thing is, once you start listing all you have to be thankful for, you realize that it quickly becomes too much to count. When anxiety is coursing through you, your gratitude can extinguish those very flames. You realize that there is so much good in your life to be thankful for and so much to live for. You realize that even though you are struggling right now, there is so much more that can help carry you through this moment and that something greater is on the horizon.
For me, being in a spirit of thanksgiving allows me to see God’s hand in my life. It allows me to see Him moving in the big ways but especially in the small. I am able to see His goodness and faithfulness in a whole new light. It gives me a reckless hope that it will all work out and come together for good.
So, my word for 2022 is gratitude. It won’t be easy, but it is a bold choice to be grateful. A choice that puts you in control and gives you power over the forces that threaten your peace. I am letting gratitude be my anchor this year. I challenge you to pick a word of the year too and use it to bring focus and perspective to your life this year.
I am so thankful if you have read this far, it truly means so much to me. I pray that this year will bear good fruit for you. That you will find who you were meant to be and unapologetically pursue being that person. I pray that you choose to live in a spirit of joy and thanksgiving despite your circumstances and will look for the good in our world and be the good you wish to see within it— that you will savor every moment and take nothing for granted. I pray for emotional, relational, and physical healing for you and your loved ones. And if nothing else, I pray that you will learn. That you will take every opportunity, setback, triumph, and failure as a growth opportunity. That by December 31, 2022 you will be proud of the person you are.
Psalms 63:3 “My lips will glorify you because your faithful love is better than life.”
