Has the Lord ever given you a word or phrase that would guide you or become your focus through a period in your life or for a new year?


In 2015 I was challenged to ask the Lord for a specific word that would embrace my hopes, dreams, goals and focus for the 2016 new year. I prayed about it and the Lord spoke a word very loud and clear as I lay on the gurney in the ER on Christmas Day that year with a broken leg.

The word He gave me for 2016 was to "LEAN."

It has been a phenomenal year of learning to lean on the Lord as well as learning how to ask others for help, to let go of pride and accept the ministrations of others when I couldn't do things for myself. I learned to lean on the Lord for strength as I faced the numerous challenges of 2016 including depression related to the recovery process,  rigorous physical therapy and the disappointment of a failed surgery. I learned to lean on His wisdom as I watched Him orchestrate the events of my life over the year and bring people into my life at just the right time to encourage me. I learned that no matter how weak I felt, physically, emotionally or even spiritually, he could and would still use me as I leaned into Him. So many lessons and so much grace!

Now I've begun to seek the Lord for a new word for 2017. Only he knows what the year will bring - and he knows where I will need to focus with my goals and what lessons I will need to learn. When he reveals that word to me, I will share it.

In the meantime, I would like to challenge you to seek the Lord for your own word for this coming year and share if you want.

After I broke my leg on Christmas Day in 2015, I received all kinds of advice from friends and family that was meant to encourage me through the time of healing :
“Listen to your Doctor”
“You’ll be up and around before you know it”
“Just have faith - God will heal you”
 
But the best encouragement I received  came from a friend who had suffered a severely broken ankle several years before. She visited me and honestly shared her experiences through the healing process, even her struggles  - the mood swings, the depression, the frustrations  - all of which were a  part of the process.
 
You might wonder why that was so encouraging? 
 

•  She helped me to know what to expect and how to cope with it.
  

Breaking my femur and requiring major surgery with rehab was a traumatic experience. I had to go through an emotional healing as well as physical healing of the bone. At first I was numb,  not feeling  much of the physical or emotional pain.  But after the first week, the emotions and reality of the situation came crashing in on me. I found myself crying buckets of tears and not coping well. Hearing about her experiences gave me hope.  It helped me to know things were progressing as they should and I had not lost my mind or my faith when I had a bad day. I definitely wasn’t alone - I had a trusted friend’s example to show me how to cope.
 

• She was safe to talk to.
  

Because she had “been there,” she didn’t judge me when I shared my frustrations or negative emotions.  She didn’t judge me when I had a “melt-down”  because things were hard and I just couldn’t paste on the smile. Instead she encouraged me by listening  and responding with honesty and truth, rather than clichés.  At one point, she looked at me and smiled. “I would worry about you if you didn’t have those emotions,” she said. And then she proceeded to show me how to work through them by describing her experiences and sharing the wise counsel others had given her.
 

•  She cared.
  

Though we didn’t talk often, I knew I could call her at any time. Her words were always seasoned with love and grace. She took the time to pray with me when I needed it, rather than just leaving me with the promise of prayer. We walked through  the stages of healing together - the numbness of the first days, the return of the feelings, the learning to cope with my new “normal” and the learning how this traumatic experience has  and will shape my life in the future.
 

•  Her support encouraged me to “pay it forward” by encouraging others.
  

Though my mobility might be limited for a time,  God can and still does use me as a listener, to share my experiences, to pray and to care for others who might be going through difficult situations. And I’ve found by doing that, my focus extends beyond myself rather than inward on my own sufferings. God is redeeming my traumatic injury and bringing good things from it.  
 
Have you ever been encouraged by a friend? What was the most encouraging thing they have done for you? I’d love to hear your experiences.

 
 
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children
Ephesians 5:1 NIV
 
Do you know Janie Tinklenberg?
 
She was a Christian youth group leader from Holland, MI,  in the 1990s. Her concern for her group members led her to create fun bracelets for them to wear bearing the letters WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?).
 
Long before Face Book or Instagram, her idea “went viral” as the slogan began to appear everywhere  including  gummy bracelets, tee shirts, posters, etc., challenging Christians, young and old, all over the world to ask themselves the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” before acting in whatever circumstance they found themselves. 
 
Not only is it a great reminder about how to treat others, it also challenges us to consider how we will react to the trials of life in which we find ourselves. Think about what’s going on in your life today. If you’re going through a difficult time, WWJD if he were in your shoes?
 
Our first reaction might be to think, Jesus wouldn’t be going through this same kind of trial. He would immediately heal or fix it because He’s God! However, the Bible tells us he did go through trials. He was personally acquainted with grief and suffering here on this earth.  We can trust him to be a divine role model as we go through our own times of pain and suffering in this life.
 
Check it out!
 
1.  After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, he was famished and bone-weary. Yet that’s the time he went through his greatest temptation.He never once felt sorry for himself or gave in to Satan’s suggestions that he turn his back on God to receive instant relief or gratification from his physical ordeal. (Matthew 4)
 
2. Jesus was honest in his feelings with his heavenly Father. When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he knew what was coming - pain, torture, and ultimately death. He poured out his heart to his Father, even to the point of asking if he really had to endure it all.  But he ultimately chose to rest in his Father’s will  in spite of the pain and suffering it would bring him. (Matthew 26:36-46)
 
3. On the cross, Jesus didn’t lash out at those around him because he was in pain, even though he had all the power of God at his disposal to kill his enemies on the spot. Instead he chose to forgive them!  (Luke 23:26-43)
 
4. He brought  beauty out of the ashes of the very worst situation of his life when  He died and rose again on the third day. (Luke 24) His death and resurrection gave us life!
 
Rather than allowing our own pain to keep us down, we can choose to allow the power of God to work in us, to enable us to rise above the difficult situations where we find ourselves.   We can pour out our true feelings to the One who also suffered in this life and we can choose to allow him to comfort and work in us.  We can make the choice to love and forgive instead of lashing out against those who hurt us. In addition to helping us rise out of our own painful circumstances, God CAN and DOES use those situations to help others.
 
 The lessons we learn and the wisdom we gain from our experiences goes a long way toward being able to minister with love and empathy to others on life’s road.
 
Think about what you're going through today - how will you answer the big WWJD question?

“Be strong and Courageous for the Lord will be with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9

 I was three days post surgery and hadn’t been able to get out of bed yet. The first day, I stood with the help of two physical therapists and almost passed out so they allowed me to lay back down. The second day they tried again and I was still too lightheaded to stand for more than a moment so once again, they allowed me to get back in bed.  Finally they determined that I had lost too much blood with the injury and I needed a transfusion. Thankfully that helped because they needed the bed in the surgical ward and they planned to  send me home or to a rehab facility the next day day.
 
I didn’t feel very strong or courageous at that point at all.  Home wasn’t a safe option, but rehab didn’t seem to be an option either - at least not until the next afternoon when a bed became available at a skilled nursing facility with a good rehab department in a community near our home. That evening, the med van driver arrived to transport me to the nursing home where I would regain my strength and stability. But in God’s providence, he arrived with a special message for me.
 
We exchanged pleasantries and he asked me about my injury.  When he learned the story of my broken leg, he began to share his testimony of how he had suffered two broken hips as a young adult. He wasn’t supposed to walk again, but through prayer and stubborn willpower,  he did walk again. He  fought hard against his circumstances, and won, amazing his doctors and the medical support staff in rehab. His story encouraged me to listen to my therapists, to work hard and to push myself to the limits of my ability so I could get well.

The Lord knew I needed that pep talk. I was fearful and weak, though thankfully I didn’t have much pain.   I arrived at the nursing home, my faith bolstered and determined to fight hard  to be able to go home as soon as possible. That first night I was weak and almost helpless, yet each day as I woke up, my strength returned and with God’s help and a determined spirit the improvements became evident each day. At the end of three weeks, I still was not allowed to put weight on my recovering leg. But I had made amazing progress and was ready to go home.
 
Being home has its own unique challenges, but through prayer and the strength of the Lord, those challenges are being met, one at a time and conquered. I’m not standing  unsupported on my feet yet, but I refuse to just lay abed, waiting for the leg to heal or to have others wait on me when I can do many things myself. I am doing most of the normal things I used to do around the house, like cooking, dishes and laundry, even if those things take more ingenuity,  time and energy  than they used to. The message God sent me through my med van driver friend was clear – be strong and very courageous - and fight toward recovery each day in His strength.
 
When you face a seemingly insurmountable task, what message of encouragement has the Lord sent you? I’d love to hear your stories!