This word kind of has a back story. I didn't realize it at the time, but after landing on that word I realized how perfect it was and how I knew this was where God was calling me. Trevor and I lead a young marrieds lifegroup and twice during the past year this word had been super prevalent in my mind. We had a worship night and through one song in particular I just heard God saying over and over in my mind, "stay connected to the vine." I didn't really know why I kept hearing that, but I kept it in the forefront of my mind often. Another time we met with this lifegroup we did a really interesting exercise where we were writing a note or word to someone else in the group. We didn't know who we were writing to, we were just supposed to write what God was telling us. We then had a way to choose a letter from the pile and you guessed it...I got my own letter which was all about staying connected and clinging to the vine through the good and the bad.
Both of those things happened mid way through 2020, so it had been awhile! So when connected came to mind to be my word of the year, I knew that's where God was leading me.
My ultimate goal with this word is to DAILY have a connection with God, to have daily connection with Trevor, to connect with my kids on a new level, to be present and connect with my friends and family members and be really intentional with that time, to connect through my business with my team, hostesses and customers in a deeper way. It was truly all encompassing!
I usually write about my word in January but I'm kind of glad life has been a little hectic and I'm just now getting to put my thoughts down because I can also share how prevalent this word has been in my life just in the first 4 months. It's always a little scary when God picks a word for you because it means that there will be growning pains and that you will be challenged through this word...and I certainly have already!
Here are some areas that I have already been challenged!
My Connection with HIM
In January and then again in March I was experiencing some really intense anxiety over a couple things. I don't really stuggle with anxiety, so this was something new to me. I had a few things going on that seemed to be triggering it, but I would say the root cause of it was not being truly connected to the vine and understanding what that meant. So, I tried my hardest to embrace it and cling to him while feeling this way. I know that God cares even about the small things and I knew this period of anxiety was giving me the opportunity to press in, dig deep and get to know God even more! I wanted to cling to him during this time and make sure I stayed more connected than ever before! I knew that if I was intentional about staying in the word, really praying through these emotions and feelings, this time wouldn't be wasted. And it certainly wasn't! I feel more connected Him than I have in a long time, I know that there will probably be more anxiety or other undesireable things happen in live and even this year, but I also know where my trust is and I know where to turn when it does happen. I'm thankful for that daily connection with him! I don't want this to sound like it happened overnight. It didn't. I had a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of really early mornings fighting these feelings and I also took some advice from some trusted people and set up a plan to combat this!
My Connection with Trevor
Trevor and I used to have weekly date nights and the last couple years they have been a little more scattered. It was really important to me to make sure that I'm connecting with Trevor daily and to make sure that our date nights and quality time are often! We've definitely had a few fun date nights this year but we've also implememted a new thing called, let's meet at the bar. Haha! We just head to our bar/counter and just like we would if we were at a bar or restaurant, we sit and talk! No distractions, just talk! It's one of my favorite things that we do now! Instead of heading to the couch to watch a tv show or pick up our phones, we head to the bar and connect.
My Connection with my kids
Toward the beginning of the year I really felt like Brooks and I had been butting heads a lot. I ran across a book recommendation for Mothers and Sons, the Respect Effect and it has seriously changed mine and Brooks' relationship! No it's not perfect and we certainly have our days that we still butt heads, but the overall communication between us is 100x better and I think we understand each other a little better. I love that my connection with him has deepened!
I'm now going to have to figure out Rhett! Year 3 is hard in our house. We never really experienced the terrible twos, but we definitely have experienced the THREE-nager! Rhett is 3 right now and definitely testing my patience a lot! Haha! He is my next one to be super intentional with on connecting in a different way!
My Connection with Friends and Family
I recently finished a really good book called How to Break Up With Your Phone. I didn't really think I needed it, but I thought it would be helpful for me to really seperate business from personal since most of my work is done through my phone. WOW! It was insightful! It has really sparked in me the need for true connection with people without any disruptions! It's definitely brought awareness to this issue and I'm really amazed at how often we are all distracted by the ding of our phone or the vibration of our watches. How someone (including myself) will be mid story or mid sentence and with the ding of a phone, we've lost all concentration. It's making our attention spans shorter and robbing us of true connection and communication! It's something that I have really been working on changing because it could affect every area of my life.
My Connection with my Team/Hostesses/Clients/all things business
I was CRAZY BUSY last year! It was so exciting, it was the perfect year for it to be that way, but wowzers! I couldn't keep going the way I was. I really prayed about this area and what was revealed to me was that I need to slow it down just a little and focus more time on the relationships weather it's with my team or the ladies I get to work with for parties and things like that. I love getting to know so many ladies through my business, but when you are scrambling and overly busy, it's hard to enjoy the true connection that can come from that! So this is also very included in my word this year!
It's already been a year that I have seen God show up in so many ways! I'm so thankful for that even though it's been challenging at times too!
Here are some verses I'm clinging to:
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
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