Happy New Year!
I hope your new year was amazing and safe! I really enjoyed spending time with my family and just relaxing. As I said in my last post this year is going to be so exciting! I am going on 3 or 4 trips and potentially staying in the city over the summer. I have so many goals for personal and spiritual growth etc so this post will be a bit lengthy. Please bear with me theres just so much I have to say!
This year my top goal is to further explore God’s word and get even better with my devotionals. I really improved in the regularity of my devotions in 2016 and I want to continue on that path in 2017. I have really enjoyed the stregnthening of my relationship with God and how through that I have been able to develop better relationships with others. I want to read the book: Celebration of discipline by Richard Foster, it explores different topics that I am interested in and I want to delve into one chapter a month. I also plan to read the bible this year all the way through. I am doing a plan on YouVersion and I am actually sticking to it! My other goal is to pray about every decision I make. I often make decisions without really praying about it beforehand. It has worked out thus far but it is not a habit I would like to continue. I want to focus my eyes on God more, so one big way I plan to do so is pray (and fast in some cases) before deciding and truly seeking God’s will in everything.
In January my home church has a month of consecration, and my Chi Alpha (XA; the ministry I am a part of at school) church does Lent (which is the 40 days leading up to Easter). I have never done Lent (since my home church does January consecration) but I plan to do both this year! For each I plan to incorporate fasting, I have been really interested in it and I would like to see how God can work further in my life through fasting. Last year I gave up meals before 11am, but his year I think I will give a specific day a week to fasting.
So finally the “exciting things” I hinted at in my last blog! I am going to Houston, Texas, and Mexico this year! Every 4 years Chi Alpha has a national conference about missions and it is happening in Houston, Texas this time! I will be flying out and attending the 3 day conference. I am so excited, there will be missionaries from all over the world and seminars and we will get to hear several missionaries stories. I have been feeling a pull towards missions (especially this semester since that was one of the big focus’ at XA) I have always had that in the back of my mind but it just became much more real this year. Mexico is happening over spring break and I can not be more excited to help the people there. We will be working with young adults there and also helping a church with whatever they need. I am still fundraising for it but I trust that God will provide the funds I need to get there:) The other trips I will be taking are much shorter, one will be our XA Winter Retreat (a weekend trip), and then hopefully I will be able to do SICM (a week long trip) a leadership retreat that happens every summer for XA leaders/potential leaders. I am praying about whether God wants me to apply to be a leader in XA for next year, I would really like to but I want to make sure it is something God truly wants me to do.
So that is going to be my jam packed 2017!! And that is just spiritual goals! I will make a separate post about other goals but the main priorities are here.
I hope you have considered how you want to grow closer to God this coming year, I would love to hear about it! Please comment below and tell me about your spiritual and other goals!
God Bless, and Happy New Year!
Jewelle