A New Era | Year 27 Reflections and Year 28 Intentions
Hey Friend!
Currently, I’m writing this fresh off of vacation. 8 days of sun, white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, delicious food, & family time. I’ll stop there before I make you jealous, y’all know envy is a sin right!?
Lol, jk.
But honestly, it was incredible. Also within that time, I turned 28. I want to express my gratitude to my Lord and Savior, because reaching any birthday is nothing short of a miracle. So thank you, Jesus!
Over the last month I’ve been internally processing this “new era” and what I wanted it to mean to me. However, before we can get into what’s new, let’s reflect on what’s passed.
I’d say, the biggest thing that happened to me in year 27 was that I married my beautiful hubby, Daniel. We’re coming up on one year in September (whoooo!), and we recently just moved to a new town hours away from our family. I became a dog-mom, a youth pastor’s wife, and a full-time content creator - the latter is still a work in progress.
Here’s 3 things I learned (or am still in the process of learning) in the last year:
Nothing is more important than prioritizing a relationship with Jesus. Absolutely nothing. We made a lot of adjustments in a short amount of time, and being rooted in Jesus took on an entirely new meaning. I am by no means perfect at this. I don’t wake up at 4am and grab 3 different translations with my bible highlighters and pray for 3 hours straight before I start my day, yet I’ve learned what it truly means to be anchored in the Word. Ensuring that I’m writing the Word on my heart and meditating on it day and night is what I hope to inspire you to do.
Next, being one with my husband. Now this, I’m definitely still learning. My hubby and I had kinda a whirlwind year, with dating, getting engaged and getting married all within a span of 9 months (& don’t worry, I’ll elaborate more on this later). But from being so independent before meeting him and always sticking to my family like glue, it’s again, been an adjustment but one I’ve been willing to continue to learn to adapt to. People sometimes think when you get married a light switch goes off, and you automatically know what to think, say and do with your spouse, and I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but those people are certainly mistaken.
Lastly, I’ve learned that nothing just “happens” to us. We are tasked with making things happen, at least the things that were in control of. You ever heard “Faith without works is dead”? James 2:26 ought to change your entire perspective on life. I’ve always had so many big goals and desires for my life, my family, my friends, ministry, personal brand, etc., and I would get overwhelmed a lot. What I learned that worked for me in year 27 is knowing I need to set clear goals and implement a strategy to reach them. Then, eating my elephant one bite at a time, which, is a kinda sad metaphor because elephants are my favorite animal.
With all of that said, here are my 3 intentions for year 28:
Keep my marriage as my first ministry.
Encourage others in their faith.
Show up and keep the promises I made to myself.
I promise to elaborate on these as the year goes on, but for now, I’m sure you’re ready to wrap this up (as am I, lol).
Anyways, I’m glad you’re here friend. I appreciate you being apart of my treasured community and I pray you stick along for the ride. If this newsletter blessed you in some way, leave a comment or share it with a friend to encourage them also! Until next time.
Stay inspired,
KO