December is a month of expectation and preparation for me. One of my traditions I have cultivated as a single woman has been celebrating Advent. I started this tradition around 2010 and each year I build on the tradition, like I would if I had a husband, or children as well. When I first started celebrating Advent, for example, I would just read a devotional book. Now, in addition to the same devotional book I started with, I also have a Advent Candle Set (think wreath, minus the wreath, and add battery candles) plus journaling Bible art (new this year), and a playlist for the season (new this year). Right after Advent, which ends on Christmas Day, I start preparation for the year to come.
During my preparation period, which is 7 days from Dec 26-Jan 1, I will review the current year first. One of the things I do in my review is consider my Logos365, also known as a word for the year. (Logos in Greek means word, and 365 is the year.) I must give credit for a creative and biblically-sound group I was a part of many years that no longer exists, His Kingdom Come (HKC). HKC developed Logos365 and, in my opinion, brought much deeper meaning to having a word for the entire year than other things I have seen or read. One resource many refer to is a book called, "My One Word" by Michael Ashcraft & Rachel Olsen. I have read this book and find it to be biblical as well, but not as effective in goal-setting compared to the Logos365 method. In the end, it is all personal preference and we could all get hung up on the process all day and never end up with a word for the year to come at all. For others, this one word idea feels limiting and not exactly helpful, so some pick a phrase. Personally, the limiting of one word always me to take it into different areas, which makes it helpful for goal-setting later. Ultimately, it is up to you. You do you, I'm merely presenting my process humbly. You are free to take it, adapt it, or scratch it and do your own, or even say, "Ridiculous! I'm not doing this!" You're still just as much a Christian as the next person and, I believe, your year ahead could be just as impactful as mine if you have a word or not. I do this because it makes me more intentional in my year with regards to my focus, helps me say yes or no to church events that maybe could strengthen my spiritual growth, guides me in making sure I'm growing as a woman, and helps me testify to what God has done that specific year. I will go into the process on finding the Logo365 shortly. Since I review mine, I thought I'd start there first so you can see an example.
I have done a Logos365 since 2015. In 2015, my word was "complete." "Goals" was my word for 2016. And for 2017, my word has been "believe." I can see complete, goals, and believe in a list and immediately think of what happened those years in my personal growth. 2015 was the year I moved to Texas and started My Abraham Journey (and started this blog), it was a year God told me He would "complete" healing in me, but also struggles and curses would be "complete" and end. It was very progressive after 2015, for "goals" to be the word that followed for 2016. I was never one to set a goal and was never motivated by them. However, God gave me specific "next-step" directions in 2015 that felt impossible and daunting. When I prayed about the year as it was ending, I felt the need to have a guide for the following year and out of praying into that need, God spoke and said, "Let's make some goals together." In 2016, I didn't make resolutions, or hard-ended goals but more progressive, forward-moving goals. One goal was moving towards a full 10% tithe by the end of the year. Another goal was maintaining my weight while remaining in the relapse prevention phase of my eating disorder as well, not gaining more and not exactly striving to lose weight. I felt like I needed 3 solid years of recovery & relapse prevention phase before I would be mentally ready to attempt to lose weight again and I felt like maintaining where I was would be a reasonable sign of success. I was able to achieve both of these goals. By July 2016, I was at a full 10% tithe and when December 1 came around, I was actually slightly below my weight 12 months prior. I also had goals that were not measurable, but more broad such as, "Increase my intimacy with God by being intentional with my prayer life, Quiet Time, and Sabbath." I was in my prayer closet more, didn't just treat my Quiet Time as "Bible reading time" but actually a time to cultivate spiritual disciplines, and my Sabbath became a day of the week where I did what God said to do the ENTIRE day. This year, it felt like God was taking me to a different direction and highlighting the need to "believe." There were specific statements He gave me regarding this: "Believe who God is in His characteristics. Believe who God says I am. Believe what God will do in my life and through me." Within each of the areas, I had a couple goals as well. One goal about "believe who God says I am," was challenging my negative self-talk and slowly going through the book "Self-Talk, Soul Talk" by Jennifer Rothschild. As I review this year, I see many ways I was challenged to believe. The most significant was a job change that led to two months of no income, but somehow all my bills were paid each month! I was able to believe God would take care of me when I quit a job in August and brought myself back to that belief during those two months whenever my self-talk spoke otherwise. Believe was a perfect word for this past year!
Now, for 2018. I'll share my process for finding my Logos365 for the year here. Please don't let my process distract you from seeking the Lord for yourself. My ideas and words may not be ones for you. Additionally, I believe God speaks to us today through others (prophesy), and also directly with no other human intercessor (Jesus is the only intercessor for us now). I carry these beliefs with me while I process my word, so if someone has given me a specific message from the Lord in 2017, I will first take the time to see if there's anything God wants to highlight as a delayed-word that wasn't meant for the moment I received it. One word I received in the summer was "God will provide for you so that you will be able to go back to college soon." My goal I set with God in 2015 when God spoke to me about completing my college degree was "by Fall 2018 or Spring 2019 I will be a FT student (2018-2019 school year)." I will be keeping these in my mind while I go further in my search for the Logos365.
After you reviewed your previous year and looked at your messages given from God and others, you want to start with your own personal evaluation. Where are you lacking that the previous year left off? If you are a new believer, what's one area you could do better in or learn more about? For a seasoned Christian, perhaps you think of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control) and consider your weakest words. Maybe there's a word that feels daunting or you don't understand it? Perhaps there's a characteristic of God that you struggle with (mercy, compassion, etc)? Once something comes to mind, I will make a list of these words and usually pick 5 and include next to it the reason or thought behind it. My list is: Peace (2017 showed me I still get a bit anxious so cultivating peace could be good), Serve (I haven't done much in 2017 to serve as I felt God tell me not to for a year and with me possible going to college for ministry this could be a helpful word to guide the year), Thankful (I feel like I would like to cultivate this more than just in November with my 30 Days of thankfulness), Trust (moving again and going to college can be sorta big changes and I need to remember not to rely on myself), and Listen (I feel like I could listen to God more, and maybe talk less to others too LOL!). Now that you have your list of 5 words, spend time defining them, look at a thesaurus for similes, and then spend time in the Bible looking for verses pertaining to the word.
Prayer is my next step. I spend time with the words and information I collected and I pray. I specifically ask the Lord what He thinks about the list. I would also ask Him, "What word do I need to work on most?" Then, I would sit and quietly wait for His answer. Maybe I don't get an answer the first time, and if that happens I try again another day. This is why I do this from 12/26-1/1. I also have developed this spiritual discipline of listening to God, which is something not always taught clearly. You may wonder, what I hear when I do this. Sometimes it is a very clear, audible voice that is not in my head really but sounds like it is in the room around me. Sometimes it's a pull towards something in my thoughts. Other times, it is a Bible verse God brings to mind. God's brought a worship song to mind one time and at first I didn't understand why so I played it and looked up the lyrics and it made sense. Other times, a pastor preached on it on Christmas. I typically spend 1-3 days on this part, but you can spend longer if you need too. The point is I create space to process this with God and don't rush it.
At this point, I do my goals. I try to remember S-M-A-R-T, which is setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. I also tap into the verse, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30 NIV) This verse talks about a 4-sided person. I have heard it explained that your heart is your emotions and true feelings, your soul is of course your spiritual self or new creation in Jesus, your mind is your thought life and your personality, and your strength would be your physical body and your health. With these guides, I would make my goals underneath spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional categories. I limit myself to 4-8 goals total, 1 or 2 in each category. I feel like more than 2 in an area makes me stressed. I also don't like the goals unevenly spread. If I have 1 goal, I'll do 1 goal all across. This is so that I'm balanced in my focus. These are my own preferences, so I share them saying, "You do you." Once I have goals, I then take them to God in prayer. My goals are silly if God doesn't approve. For example, for 2015 and my word "Complete" I thought I wanted to lose weight. I had just completed eating disorder treatment and God gentle told me to give myself time to adjust to my recovery and maintain it for 3 years before I focused on losing weight again. This was a very clear guidance from Him and it freed me up to have a strong recovery and I believe I have not relapsed at all because of this.
Once I have completed all of these, I will create an art piece and journal the final word and the goals I have. Creating an art piece helps me add to the process because I am a creative person. One year I did a sketch of the word. Another year, I did a water color for a bible verse that the word came from inside my journaling bible. You don't have to do this step at all, but for me it finalizes the process and gives me an anchor visually to go back to all year long.
The point of a logos365 is that the word carries throughout each day. I make it a part of my year and a part of my decisions, my events, my bible studies, my devotions, and my life. For example, in 2016 my word was "goals." I decided to develop a bullet journal and used a traveling bullet journal by June because it was most effective. This has helped me look at each day, each month, and various goals I have. It was helpful since I never really set goals before and was a method that I fell in love with.
My final thoughts in this process is give yourself one year to try it. Really devout yourself to this word, this new way of focus for a year before you determine it is useless. I do not do resolutions because as soon as I say I will change or do something, I give up in 2 months. This process for a year has helped me grow as a person, as a Christian, and as a woman. I believe you could have the same experience I have if you are open to the process.
