{Happy New Year and My WORD for 2021}

 I sure hope that your New Year has started out with "sweet moments" of life happening all around you. I have been busy taking my Christmas down and putting it away for another season. I love my Christmas so much and I always dread taking it down. But, It's a New Season of life, a New Beginning, and a New Reason to have JOY!

For New Year's Eve we spent some time with our children and fried some good old venison back strap and potatoes. We enjoyed a fire pit and S'mores and of course a few fireworks added to the fun. 

On New Year's Day we spent a quiet day at home "piddling" as we like to call it. I've learned something about myself this past year. I'm real quick to start several projects at one time but I am easily distracted by other things. So I just sorta "Piddle". Oh well....

I went out to eat and done a little shopping with this crew over the New Year Holidays. YEP, picked up a few new items for next Christmas that had been marked down. My kind of buy! Now, If I just don't forget where I put those things.......

 But now it's time to begin a fresh new journey with this brand new year of 2021. Like so many of you I am ready to see some "Good" and "Better" changes. 2020 surely was a year that we will never forget. 2020 brought about lot's of changes and "Change" is something I struggle with at times. Just keeping it real. 2020 brought fear of the unknown's of life and uncertainty.  2020 brought about some sadness as we lost people in our community due to COVID and so many sick and still are struggling. 2020 changed the way we do life in a lot of ways. I am sure we all could write a book. But, 2020 brought blessings to me too. I never once had to refrain from my immediate family. Our household nor those of my children never missed a meal and we never missed paying a bill. My husband never lost a day of work. We continued worship either by Zoom, Live Steaming,  and finally meeting in person once again though we are still under CDC guidelines. The Lord has kept us for the most part, healthy. I am very thankful and grateful. Oh we've had some ups and downs but who hasn't? Learning to EMBRACE 2020 was surely a very hard thing for this type personality that wants to be in control and for things to be right and on time and work like clockwork as they say. Fear crept his ugly head in my life for about 3 months and it was a battle nonetheless. So thankful for praying friends and the Word of God is all I can say. And speaking of EMBRACE, that was my word for 2020 to focus on. Little did I know on 12/31/2019 when I truly felt the Lord give me that WORD what I was about to embrace for 2020! 2020 surely turned into "A Whole New World" it seemed. EMBRACE was a huge challenge for me. Maybe that is why the Lord doesn't give us a WORD that we want as He knows it would not challenge us enough....... But then came a New Year, 2021 and hands down I knew what my WORD was to be.

"The Joy of the Lord is our strength". 

Here's the thing though, for the most part I am a very joyous person and I try to find joy in all things and all situations. But.....I need to bathe more in the JOY that comes from GOD! Not people, not things, not situations, but from GOD. There is a difference between being happy and choosing joy. 

{Happiness happens to us. Even though we may seek it, desire it, pursue it, etc., feeling happiness is not a choice we make. Joy, on the other hand, is a choice purposefully made. Joy is an attitude of the heart and spirit}.

 

I truly do want to seek to CHOOSE JOY no matter what. The JOY that comes from the Lord. 

 Happy New Year to all my blogging friends. May God give you the desires of your heart.  May He prosper you in ways that are beyond your beyond. May He give you good health and help you to make wise decisions in 2021. And.....May you be filled with the JOY that can only come from Him. THE JOY OF THE LORD....Because His JOY will be Your STRENGTH.  

Hugs and blessings, Cindy