Every year Joe and I come up with a word for the year; something that resonates with us individually that we feel we need to focus on to better ourselves. My word for 2024 is SURRENDER.
I'm a very analytical person, a perfectionist, a little obsessive and it doesn't always serve me well. In fact, MOST of the time it doesn't serve me well! So I realized my need to surrender:
To Christ, to help me deepen my faith. Being analytical, I have a hard time having faith in the unseen even though in my heart I'm fully convicted. Surrendering to Christ and giving it all to Him is SO HARD but it's something I realize I need to do to strengthen my faith and live freely. So I'm learning to Ask so will be given to me; to seek and I will find; to knock and the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7).
To Joe, my husband. Not in a way that makes me inferior to him, but as the Bible states for wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord and to respect their husbands. And in turn for husbands to love their wives. Surrendering to my husband means to be more free to go places and do things together without questioning everything he says or does. I'm learning to LET GO and go with the flow, not easy for someone who has to know every detail of every little thing. I saw a meme once that said, "I'm not a RIDE OR DIE chick. I have questions: Where are we riding to? Why do we have to die? Can we get food on the way?" That's ME!!! So you can see my need to surrender.
To my thoughts. I wouldn't call myself a control freak, I just like to have control. Over everything! I analyze just about everything- what's the risk vs reward in it. What will happen if I do the thing? Or if I don't? Sometimes I think so much about something that I never actually ACT to DO the thing. To the point that I wonder if I've missed opportunities for something great with my indecisiveness. So part of my surrendering is learning to not think so much about things, to count to 5 and make the decision. Because right or wrong, at least I took the matter in my own hands and decided for myself.
Change is never easy
As you know, change is not always easy. There are actions that need to be taken for things to change, because if nothing changes... nothing changes. So I'll share my actions with the hope that they help you take action, too if that's what you're looking to do.
In my quest to surrender to Christ, I can only do this by getting to know Him better. That means not only going to church on Sunday but reading my Bible and devotionals regularly, usually daily. Joe and I started to read the Bible in a year together, but if you don't have someone to read with, read on your own. We like to read chronologically, not cover to cover because it makes more sense to us to read it in the order of the way things happened. And as I read and learn Bible verses, I'm constantly finding opportunities to apply them in my life, to better myself and help me surrender to Christ.
To surrender to my husband, I'm learning to not think so hard about things, to just go with it. If you know Joe, you know he's the complete opposite of me! He is the RIDE OR DIE guy! Fly by the seat of your pants. Me? Not so much! I'm working on just saying YES more often, because hey, what's the worst that could happen? And ya know, I'll probably have a lot more fun letting go of control and going with the flow!
Surrendering to my thoughts is an inside job. Again, if I count to 5 and make a decision- what's the worst that could happen? Part of surrendering is awareness- to stop as soon as I notice that I'm trying to control a situation and just let it go. To realize when I'm taking too long to make a decision and just GO!
Writing in my gratitude journal daily really helps me recognize all the important things, big and small, and to not put a lot of thought into the things I can't control or the things that just don't matter that much. (This is my gratitude journal)
I also take time daily to meditate, for 10 minutes or for 30, depending on time. I save guided meditations and self-hypnosis youtube videos to my favorites on my phone, find a quiet place and go within to better myself. And I always come out of it more relaxed and open to whatever the day brings. Here's one I'm listening to now to help me let go >> CLICK HERE
Working on myself to SURRENDER isn't easy but it's worth it! Because I know that if I change nothing, nothing will change. And I WANT change in my life, to experience new and exciting things with my hubby, to know how to calm my mind and just let go into the best version of myself. And if you know me at all, you know that writing all my thoughts here is not easy for me! I’m a very private person, but this is just another step on my path to surrendering to all things and enjoying the ride.
