2019 Word of The Year: Restoration

Restoration

noun            1. The act of returning something to a former owner, place or condition.

I will admit, I had never heard of having a "word of the year", until March, 2018. My "Surrogate Mother", Debbie and I went to The Cove to spend some time together, in the presence of the Heavenly Father and to listen to Jennifer Rothschild speak at a conference. We had a blast! Jennifer spoke about having a word of the year and Debbie and I quickly agreed that we had to do this for 2019.

2018 was such a challenging year. If I could choose a word to describe 2018, it would be "Wreck". 

Wreck

verb      1. Cause the destruction of (a ship) by sinking or breaking up.

My friend Debbie says that my word for 2018 should be "rescue", but I sort of disagree. It felt like a wreck!! 2018 definitely had its challenges, including leaving our church home, the death of my last living Grandparent, dealing with my husbands depression and not to mention Addison beginning Middle School and Finn starting Kindergarten. Whew! 

However, through all of this I know that God never left my side. He provided for me. He gave me a new sense of purpose. And he's reconstructing me. He pruned me. Took me under his wing and gave me new joy.

Maybe that does sound like a rescue after all....

Through the heartbreak of leaving our home church. We have since began a church plant with some dear friends. And it has been full of challenges...yes. But it is wonderful. It is like a fresh breath of air into my lungs.  And with our church plant, he is restoring our dreams. Our dreams that were given to us by God.  

We have witnessed in 6 months people calling out for Jesus, tenderly calling.. lives being changed for the glory of God. And I have witnessed my husband coming out of his shell to do weekly Facebook live devotions and I have heard him say things so passionately that they have brought me to tears. 

We know that God has great things in store for us and so many others during this season. So, I have to be thankful for God's rescue and his new promises.

"The Lord says, I will give you back what you lost..." Joel 2:25 NLT