Not everyone likes them, but we have a few that we will carry with us always.
This year we decided to continue some of our old traditions, embrace one of our favorite experiences as a tradition and start a brand new family tradition.
Since having children, we haven't been big into "celebrating" the New Year outside our home. Sure, we go visit friends and family but we always try to be home by 10 p.m.
The last few years we have been trying something new... getting out of the house. Actually, to be more accurate, we have been leaving town. One year we spent the holidays at the beach and last year we celebrated New Year's Eve by staying over with some very dear family. That is where we had the incredible experience that left us all wanting to incorporate as a tradition going forward.
We had never thought of starting the New Year, at 12:01 a.m., with a communion celebration. We have always taken the time to thank God for all that He has done for us over the past year and prayed for His will in the coming year. We even have a jar with slips of paper that recount all of the incredible ways, big and small, that we saw God at work in our lives over the past year. But set aside those first moments to stop, focus on His loving sacrifice, give thanks, sing His praise, and pray for His direction in the coming year... we never thought of taking that extra step.
We were so touched and blessed by that beautiful experience we had, beginning the New Year with those we love giving thanks to our Father, that we decided we would forever begin it that way going forward.
So, after an evening of watching neighborhood fireworks in the freshly falling snow, at 12:01 a.m., gathered in our living room, having stayed home this year to enjoy what might be our last New Year in our home, we broke bread together, and gave thanks to our Father in Heaven for His unfailing love. We thanked Him for our salvation, for the grace, mercy and forgiveness given freely to all through Jesus' great sacrifice. We prayed, together, for wisdom, guidance, provision, and His will for our family in the coming year.
Then...
We went to sleep! (I don't know about you, but the older I get, the less I desire to stay up and "party" all night. Morning is coming. hahaha)
We decided to spend part of New Year's day creating a new tradition. We have been in a season of uncertainty, particularly regarding what direction we are supposed to moving with our house situation for months. We have been seeking God, His guidance and direction, in all areas of our lives and we wanted to really spend some time starting our New Year with HIS vision.
I'm sure many of you have heard of "Dream Boards" or "Vision Boards". They are a fantastic way of sort of mapping out where we would like go in the year(s) ahead. A dear, and very wise, friend of mine introduced me to "Prophetic Boards".
What is a "Prophetic Board"?
Well, it is the same as a "Dream/Vision Board" except... You ask God to show you HIS plan for your year.
How does He show you His plan using a bunch of old magazines?
In the most incredibly awesome ways! I know, it sounds silly and maybe even a little suspect. I mean, we could totally be just "picking out what we want" right? Yeah, we could do that, but what would we gain from plotting our own will? Which, is why we pray first.
We set our will and plans aside and we ask God to show us His will and His plan for our lives. We ask Him to show us what words, phrases, or images to tear out. We ask Him to show us how to arrange them on our boards. We trust Him to reveal their meaning to us at the time of His choosing.
Some of it makes perfect sense when it all comes together. Some of it is the answer to prayer. Some of it makes no sense at all, but if we really let Him show us what to choose, if we set our own plans aside, if we put our trust in Him and believe that He has a plan for us and He wants to share with us all that He wants to do with, through and for us, then we get to experience something incredible!
So, we prayed and let the tearing commence. We set a timer for 45 minutes. The only rule was that whatever "caught our eye" or we "felt we were supposed to tear out", no matter how crazy, we would tear out. No thinking and trying to decided if we should or shouldn't, if we we felt drawn to something or like we were supposed to include it, we did.
When we had our precious bits of soon-to-be-recycled magazines all torn out, and had cleaned up the edges, we prayed again for God to show us where each piece of His puzzle should go. Then the Mod Podge insanity began.
When we were all done, we took turns sharing our boards. We shared the meaning of the things God spoke to us about throughout the process. We giggled at the things that seemed too silly to be real and embraced whatever meaning God had for them.
We were so encouraged by the unity of some of the messages across all of our boards. God spoke to each one of us about our home. He gave each of us a picture of a cabin in the woods, some covered in and surrounded by snow. He told us that we would have a "new beginning" this year.
He spoke to us about missions, vacations and adventures to come. He specifically gave us England and Ireland!!! That is so exciting to us because, as many of you know, we are preparing to one day go on a long-term mission to Ireland and a short-term mission to England.
Provision and Breakthrough were also constant threads among our boards.
There was such incredible encouragement and hope for the year to come.
Much of what the Lord was speaking to us was confirmation of words He has given us through other people. In fact, at our New Year's day church service, a dear friend had a word for us that breakthrough was coming. God had provision planned for us and that He wanted to encourage us in our faith.
So we begin 2017, a year tossing about storms of questions and uncertainty, with renewed joy, excitement to see the Lord's plan for our lives play out in His time, peace knowing we are safely in His loving hands, and hope in the certainty that God is good and He is faithful to keep His promises.
Be blessed, y'all!
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