Reflections on HOPE + Updates On My Goals For 2025

It was the word I didn't want and I can't help but wonder if I fought it a bit because honestly, hope scares me. I shared about this a bit on Instagram and found out that I'm not alone in this. (We never are but we can feel like we are). I wanted to flesh it out more in a blog post. 

At the end of 2024 I felt like the Lord was leading me to the word "HOPE" for 2025 and I did NOT like that. I talked about it with some close friends and they all encouraged me that, yes, that was supposed to be my word so I reluctantly said, "okay". 

I know that one problem I had was that HOPE is hard to get your hands around. Past words of mine have had an easy focus. When my word was PROVISION, I was actively seeking to see evidence of God's provision. For EMBRACE, I was working daily to embrace where I was at. Past words allowed active participation. But HOPE? The only thing I could think of was to try and see how hope could impact my daily life. Because up to now, hope as been "one day Jesus will come back and make all things new and I'll spend eternity with Him" OR it's been about things I want to see and experience. Neither of which help me when things are hard. 

This is the second year in a row that I felt like I "failed" at my word. Which is silly, I know, but all the years before I could look back at the year and see how I grew in that word or some lesson I learned from/about it. But not this year or last year. It's honestly a bit discouraging. Am I hearing the wrong word? Well, since HOPE is coming up a lot this month as the year, including one of the verses I was memorizing, I think it's safe to say that it was the word I was supposed to focus on. Still, I don't see it making a visible impact on my life. In fact, if one could objectively measure the amount of hope I had at the beginning of the year vs. now, I would have less hope. (Please don't worry about me. I'm not in any danger.)

I got to visit with a dear friend this month, whose wisdom and advice I deeply value, and I got to talk to her about this topic. She said something about hope that my heart just soaked up. Essentially she said that, for her, what hope looks like in our daily lives is the promise and knowledge that this won't last. All the hard, the hurt, the suffering, the evil... none of it will last forever. There is a day when it ends. So yes, it's still eternity based, but somehow it feels more tangible and meaningful than just "one day we'll be with Jesus". I guess maybe because it seems to address the stuff we are going through in the here and now? I'm not sure but I know it was very impactful to me and I'm very thankful to her for sharing it!

The thing about words of the year is that they aren't "one and done" things. I still need to abide, think about being whole and complete, look for God's redemption and renewal, etc. But they aren't my main focus after that year. So maybe God did something in my heart and life that I can't see yet. Or maybe this was just to introduce the idea of hope and now it will quietly grow in the background. I certainly don't know but God does. 

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2025 Goals Update
This seems like as good a place as any to update you on my goals for this year too! I did end up memorizing verses. Only time will tell how many of them actually take. And this is a habit that I want to continue in some form. 

I didn't finish writing out even one book of the Bible and I did not listen to the whole Bible. I also had a devotional about hope that I intended to do and didn't even start. So a lot of unfinished things for this year, which kind of makes me sad, but there's grace. I'll finish Luke when I finish it. I'll get to the end of the Bible. And when both are done, I'll start the next book and start the Bible over again.