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Usually, when it comes to ushering in a new year I’m filled with a sense of excitement and anticipation. I’m eager to “box up” the last year with a pretty bow and stick it on the shelf to consult later. The feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning gives me a little boost of motivation to try harder, make that change, and start anew. But 2020-2021 felt different. In a way, it felt like a lot of the “baggage” was never put away. It was impossible to box it up with a bow…We were still in the middle of it with no real end in sight. And that in-and-of-itself was hard to swallow.
2020’s theme was “The Glorious Unfolding”. I have never felt that a particular theme or song that I have picked was SO appropriate for the year!
God knew exactly what the year would bring and what I would need to get through it. 2020 was the year that SO MUCH unfolded in ways that I NEVER SAW coming. Both in our Nation and the world as well as personally. I said multiple times throughout the year that I felt a little like an onion being peeled back a layer at a time. It was draining, exhausting, overwhelming, immensely frustrating, and humbling all at the same time.
Before Christmas, I began working on my theme for this year. I had planned to expand on 2020’s theme. Choosing a phrase and idea that was repeated many times throughout the year. Something along the lines of living in the moment and taking life a day at a time. I had the lyrics for the songs printed out I just couldn’t get the wording right. The pieces didn’t fit. I’ve sat down a couple of times and tried to write it out thinking that maybe once I began to write the wording would just come to me. But it never did. I felt as if I didn’t have the words. I couldn’t make it work–no matter how hard I tried.
And then it dawned on me after a lot of thinking, twisting, and talking that I chose the wrong theme!
SO much had been unfolded or unveiled in 2020 that I needed to spend the next year building on what was unfolded instead of expanding on it.
My theme or goal for 2021 is to “listen to and believe the Voice of truth” and to “trust and obey”; developing “faith like Daniel, hope like Moses, and a heart like David” resulting in “peace like a river”
In order to build on what was unfolded last year, I have to take a step back so to speak, and go back to the basics of what I believe and what I know deep down to be true. Usually, I pick a song that’s a little newer or new-to-me, something that I listen to often. You’ll notice that many of the songs listed are older, a couple of them are songs I grew up Singing at Vacation Bible School. And when I think about what it is I want to gain Spiritually from this year it’s making sure that I’m rooted and grounded in Christ. Having faith in Him, building my trust, seeing and living in His love, and embracing His plan for my life. And in order to do that, I have to go back to move forward…
“And then I grew up
And then I got older
Then my life got tough
And we grew apart
Oooh, I wanna go back
To “Jesus loves me, this I know”
“For the Bible tells me
“For the Bible tells me so”
I wanna go back
To “This little light
“Gonna let it shine”
“Gonna let it shine”
I wanna go back”
~David Dunn “I Wanna Go Back”
Until next time,
Bailey Sue
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