2013 theme: siempre fiel (always faithful)

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3

Image: Zenia via Flickr

If you are a faithful reader of this blog, then you know that I gave up New Year's resolutions many moons ago. However, I do use the start of a new year as a time of reflection. In the place of a resolution, I create a personal development plan. There are various sections: physical, relational, intellectual, and spiritual. I write it down and check back in multiple times throughout the year. This approach has produced far superior results to a single resolution. 

I borrowed the idea from a Pastor I once heard at an inner-city church in Kansas City; I made it my own by giving each development plan a theme, usually centered around a fruit of the spirit. This "fruit" is a character quality I want to grow in my life.

This year's theme: faithfulness in small things

There was a time when I had a BIG dream. Then I was afforded the opportunity to live my calling. For some reason unknown to me, these things were stripped away - leaving me with questions about identity and the future. I made a choice to press on, but the struggle with contentment and a lack of a defined purpose remained.

I have begged and pleaded for a renewed sense of purpose, for some kind of instruction about what is next. I have received the same answer for an extended period of time:

I Peter 4:2 From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires.

For this period of time I have been trying to rise each day to receive my marching orders, then carry them out. However, I don't rise each day anticipating or listening for marching orders. Even when I receive them, I don't always carry them out.

Enter the theme of faithfulness...It is my aim to listen, anticipate, and act. No task is too small. Negotiating is unproductive. Delaying reduces the potential impact. Act immediately. When I have done this, the results have been staggering. I have been used as a tool of encouragement or provision to meet needs I was not told about directly. While I may not have know, God knew. As a result of my obedience, these folks felt loved by our Heavenly Father because He was the one they were crying out to for direction or relief.

This year, I am making a conscious effort to be faithful in the small things...things that could be interpreted as insignificant, but matter a LOT to those who are discouraged or hurting.

just Sheri, hoping to be transformed in to a faithful servant