I am not really a pick a word of the year kind of person, but this year was different. Over the months a theme was rising up in my life and when I started praying and writing the last 2 weeks this phrase kept coming up over again.

STRIP OFF

It’s the year to strip off, throw off, take off the weight that slows me down, the baggage that hinders, the sin that entangles, everything that stands in the way of this race of endurance.

In being introspective and reflecting it all made sense. The past years were about survival, praying for miracles, wrestling in sorrows. I always approached the new year with hope that we’d survive through the year. And by Gods grace I did.

2016 was hard and had its difficult challenges, but it was a also a year of getting settled, finding a rhythm as a family of 4 in Spokane, and reorienting myself.

And God has given me much grace through the years and met me in some dark seasons. Yet I feel him prodding me to a season of stripping off so I can keep running this race with endurance.

Hello 2017.

Each day this year is a gift, each breath I don’t deserve. I’m thankful for a fresh start, a new year to see all that God will do, far more than I’ll ever dream. (Eph 3:20).

“Strip down, start running—and never quit!

No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—” – Hebrews 12