As the calendar turned to January 1, I felt the gentle nudge of God’s Spirit encouraging me to choose, ‘Hope,’ as my word for 2014. It was no coincidence, that while ringing in the new year, hope was something I desperately needed myself, since I was battling depression resulting from a health crisis. Circumstances, which I initially had no intention of sharing with others. However, our Heavenly Father’s plans for us are often very different from our own.
This was the first time, I had ever participated in selecting a word for the year. Picking it was easy though, as it seemed like God had chosen it for me. I tell the story of how this came about in my blog titled, “A Postcard’s Reminder of Hope.” Here’s the link if you’d like to read the post: http://christinaryanclaypool.com/blog1/2013/12/31/a-postcards-reminder-of-hope-for-the-future-by-christina-ryan-claypool/
It was this Godwink of a postcard with a rainbow and the verse, “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 NIV), that began to restore my own expectancy in God’s good plan. Since then, it seems like I see the word, ‘hope’ everywhere.
It almost jumps off the page, sometimes, when I’m reading the Bible. At other moments, I hear the promise of hope coming through song lyrics. An example would be for King & Country’s tune, “Crave.” One line of the song says, “Hope is what we crave, that will never change.” What has changed for me, has been the renewed vision in our Creator’s desire to do good on our behalf, along with His ability to bless our lives and to use us despite physical limitations, aging, or our own inadequacies. This was a catalyst for the depression I was experiencing, falsely believing that I was no longer of any value to God’s dynamic kingdom.
There was another gentle nudge of the Spirit, which resulted in me finding the book, One Perfect Word by Debbie Macomber in a thrift store recently. Out of the thousands of books there, it just stood out as something I needed to purchase. When I got home and began to read it, I found out that Mrs. Macomber had chosen ‘hope’ for her word of the year in 2006. It was such a joy to glean wisdom from this talented writer’s insights, not only about hope, but also about the importance of selecting a word for each new year. Something she has been doing for a very long time.
I’m just starting my own journey of finding significance through a word for the year. It’s only April, and already, I’ve learned more about ‘hope’ than I could have believed possible. I’m optimistic about the future again, and busy finishing a new book. For now, I would like to close with another line from ‘Crave,’ “It’s written on my soul hopes what we crave.”
Here’s the complete song: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GrXLXVL_0AE
Christina Ryan Claypool is the 2011 First place national Amy award winning freelance journalist and a Christian speaker. She has been featured on Joyce Meyer’s Enjoying Everyday Life TV show, and on CBN’s 700 Club. Her website is www.christinaryanclaypool.com.
***************************************************************
Circles of Faith, Founder and Executive Editor, Elise Daly Parker, posted “My One Word for the New Year Update and LinkUp”. Go to their website at www.CirclesOfFaith.org to read Elise’s blog post and to hear an update from other women about their inspiring One Word journeys including: Kimberly Amici, http://kimberlyamici.com/ who is the Circles of Faith Co-Founder and Managing Editor, Holly Barrett whose Website is http://hollybarrett.org/, and Laura Roth who blogs at: http://www.laurarath.blogspot.com/ This Circles of Faith post encouraged me to write my own update.
