I believe when you go through a major difficulty, it’s not hard to let it define you. Consume your thoughts and control your actions. Every move, whether big or small, can be based on the issue. Anxiety can loom. Friends and family members are careful. To not say something hurtful. Or to warn you of a possible traumatic situation. Which means, of course, they care. They want you to overcome. And you want to overcome too, but it’s so easy to hide. Avoid. Play it safe.

Frankly, I’m tired of writing blog posts about my struggles of 2014. I can’t promise I won’t, in the future, mention them or expound upon them. They are a very real, and still in some ways new, part of me and those dearest to me. Yet with the ushering in of a new year, I find myself so ready to move on.

I have, in the past, picked a word of the year. This year I decided to choose a verse, or in actuality, a scripture passage. It’s one I hear often at my workplace, because it’s the key bible passage for our youth initiatives. Towards the end of 2014, I came across it in multiple places. My sister emailed it to me; unbeknownst to her I was already focused on it. Yes, I know the suspense is driving you crazy……  It’s from Isaiah 61. Really, I’m concentrating on verse 3:

To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Beauty for ashes. An unfair trade, but beneficial to me. It’s already begun. So much has worked out for my good. Looking ahead to a new year though, knowing the above is a promise, is more than encouraging. So much so, I have decided while writing this post, I am hereby announcing my [word of 2015] is:

 beauty. 

It was going to be pioneers [don’t ask…..but yes, it really was].  Beauty though, in all aspects of life. A conscious effort to focus on what makes life beautiful, what’s beautiful in others, most importantly, what God makes beautiful especially out of my yuck.

I wish you a happy new year. A year of beauty.