Formed By the Word Week 6: Imitate

 

Week 6: Imitate

Last week we looked at two passages that showed how we are to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. We looked at what His attitude looks like in Philippians 2:5-8 and then we looked at how Paul modeled the attitude of Christ in Philippians 3:7-9. What becomes clear from these passages is that the way we have the same attitude or mind as Christ is to imitate Him and to imitate those who imitate Him.

Jesus gave us clues to the need to imitate His life throughout the gospels:

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

Jesus is very clear about the cost of following Him. It requires a life of discipleship, where we cease to make ourself the object of our life and actions, instead becoming totally committed to Christ and to His way of life. The cross is the symbol of total commitment to Christ for us. When we "take up our cross" we imitate Christ who denied His own rights for our sake and who made himself nothing. (Philippians 2:6-7). We sacrifice our rights in order to serve others as Christ did. This is the cost of discipleship.

"Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:38

"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." John 13:15

"Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." John 13:17

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." Matthew 7:24

"Take my Yoke upon you and learn feom me..." Matthew 11:29

Jesus was clear that following Him meant imitating Him.

Paul, then, took the words of Jesus to heart, and continued His message in his writings.

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

"Therefore I urge you to imitate me." 1 Corinthians 4:16

"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:9

"You became imitators of us and of the Lord..." 1 Thessalonians 1:6

"Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:1-2

The way of imitating Christ is to love and to sacrifice through service to others.

Peter and John take up the same call in their writings:

"Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." 1 Peter 2:21

"Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6

My art for today is something I actually made back in September for a different post (check it out here.) but it fit so well here that I didn't see a reason to make a new page.

My focus this year in being "Formed By the Word" is to explore what the Bible says about spiritual formation in Christ. More and more as I study, I'm struck by how much our spiritual formation in Christ is focused on how we view and serve and relate to others. A thread we will need to continue to explore.

I would love to have you to join me in being formed by the Word this year. After reading the above post, do some study on your own. Dig deeper into the verses and passages mentioned and then respond creatively. Share your thoughts and creative responses in the comment section below or on social media with #formedby theword and #wordsartandfaithgroup, and in our private Facebook group for words challenges the Words Art and Faith group.

Formed By the Word: Week 2 ~ Perspective: Eyes Wide Open

Week 2 ~ Perspective: Eyes Wide Open

Today is part two in a series of Words challenge posts looking at Chapters 3-5 of 2 Corinthians. These chapters contain a lot of "perspective" words. Words such as seen/unseen, light, reveal, veiled/unveiled, display, show, reflect, sight, see, look, eteranl/temporary, blinded, regard, view, eyes. Paul's theology in his letters is that the right perspective is God's perspective. In these chapters in 2 Corinthians he shows that godly perspective impacts how we live, how we see others, how we view trials and suffering and the circumstances of life, and how we view eternity. So we will break these down and dig into them:

• Week One ~ Perspective: Behold Christ.
• Week Two ~ Perspective: Eyes Wide Open
• Week Three ~ Perspective: Godly Perception
• Week Four ~ Perspective: Eternal Eyesight

Eyes Wide Open

When we behold Christ and see Him in the right light we come to see things - the world, circumstances, people, etc. - from God's perspective. In a sense we have new eyes, eyes that are wide open to His will and His ways. This is a part of our spiritual transformation. As we grow in Christlikeness our spiritual eyesight will grow as well. 

Now that we see Christ clearly – as the glory of God – we must then see ourselves more clearly as those who are in Christ. In Christ we are new creations (5:17), He took our sin that we “might become the righteousness of God’ (5:21). Thus, we are called to live by God’s standards, growing and maturing, being transformed into the image of Christ (3:18).

How then does Paul call us to live in these chapters in 2 Corinthians? By being living epistles of Christ.

“You yourselves are our letter [Greek = epistle], written on our hearts, known and read [proven by experience, seen, displayed] by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry [Paul made his life known to them and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with them, turning their hearts to Jesus], written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone [like the old covenant] but on tablets of human hearts [The new covenant - God poured the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ into their hearts (4:6)].” 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 

The prophet Ezekiel shared God's promise that He would bring a New Covenant with His people:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Ezekiel 36:26-27

If you read last week's post these verses from Ezekiel fit right in. The heart of stone that God removes is the heart and mind that is veiled (2 Cor 3:13,14,15,4:3,4) and unable to see with spiritual eyes. But when we "turn to Christ, the veil is removed" (2 Cor. 3:16) and God's Spirit is in us through Christ. We have a new heart AND new eyes, which enable the renewing of our minds.

And, thus, Paul says we are living epistles. The gospel words are heard best when they are seen first in gospel lives – living epistles, displaying the character of Christ. We are called to live, to minister, to preach and speak, and to serve in ways that show God’s glory and reveal Christ. We are called to be Christ’s ambassadors (5:20) who are given the ministry of reconciliation (5:18), commissioned with the message of reconciliation – “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (5:19). He has called us to implore others to be reconciled to God – those who do not know Him, as well as those who know him but are not living for Him. For the love of God in Christ, who died for us, compels us to live for Christ and not for ourselves. 

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Our life in Christ comes with privileges and with responsibilities. We live, minister, speak, and serve so that others are drawn to “the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ” (4:4) and that His “grace may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God” (4:15). We live for His glory!

So, with spiritual eyes we see ourselves more clearly - we are living epistles, ministers of reconciliation, Christ's ambassadors - all of us who are in Christ are called to these roles. They are to become a part of who we are in Christ, our identity. May we see clearly who we are in Christ!

I would love to have you to join me in being formed by the Word this year. After reading the above post, do some study on your own. Dig deeper into the verses and passages mentioned and then respond creatively. Share your thoughts and creative responses in the comment section below or on social media with #formedby theword and #wordsartandfaithgroup, and in our private Facebook group for words challenges the Words Art and Faith group.

 

Hello 2022!

 

Hello 2022!

I'm ready for a new year, but unfortuneately it is starting just as 2021 did. We can only pray and hope that it ends in a different manner. Two weeks ago, when asked by my friend, Bernice Hopper, if I had selected a word for 2022, I said that I had not. At that time, since nothing had come to me, I was content to think I may go for a year without a guiding word. I didn't want to force it or simply select a word becausee I "had to" have a word. But then as I slowed down after weeks of being busy, a word appeared and began to take shape as the days progressed to the close of 2021.

My word for 2022 is 'formed'.

To be formed, according to Webster's, is the act of giving form or shape to something; to come into existence or being. It's root word, form, is at the heart of so many significant words: spiritual formation, transformation, transform, inform, information, reform, conform, format, perform, formidable, formulate. Plus some newer words I am ready to explore such as cruciform and Christoformity.

Formation is at the heart of the life of those who are in Christ, for the goal of our life is to spend our life in the process of being formed into the image of Christ. We see this call on us throughout Paul's writings. A few examples are:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." Romans 8:28-29

"...until Christ is formed in you." Galatians 4:19

My desire this year is to continue to be formed by the Word of God. To continue to dig deeper in Bible study, and this year, to also dig deeper into theological reading. We are continually being shaped and formed by something - our relationships, politics, the culture, family systems, entertainment, life experiences, etc. But as Christ-followers we must choose to be formed by God, who calls us to be formed in increasing measure into the likeness or image of Christ. 

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

To be spiritually formed in His image we need to be formed by God's Word, by His Spirit, by our faith community, by those more matrure in Christ, by theology, and by serving and loving others. It is God's Word that reveals to us how and why we are to be shaped by all of these things.

I so enjoy taking words or passages from the Bible, studying them and then putting it together with some form of creative expression, such as what I do for the Advent Words and other Words challenges. However, doing a daily study, art and blog post is something I can only handle for a month at a time periodically through the year. This year I thought I would do something a little different to keep myself going in this habit on a more continal basis, and to go along with my goal to be formed by the Word and my word of the year. I thought I would try to do this weekly, posting on Fridays. I'm not going to generate a set list of words in advance as I do for a daily challenge, but rather take the words out of whatever I'm studying at the time. I'm going to start this month with the first Words post on January 14 and see how this flows with my schedule.

If you would like to join along, you can read my Words posts on Fridays and respond creativly, maybe even doing your own study of the word for that week. You can then share how you respond in the Words Challenge Facebook Group and/or on social media with #formedbytheword and #wordsartandfaithgroup.

Have you selected a word for 2022? If so, please feel free to share in the comments section below otr in the Words Challenge Facebook Group.

 Who Should I Be?

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about spirtual transformation and the call on us to become more like Christ. You can read it here . I wrote about how a question in a book by Jen Wilkin was impacting me. Here is a bit from my blog post:

The study of God's Word must transform us into the people God wants us to be. It must enable us in becoming Christ-like. I started reading a book by Jen Wilkin called "In His Image" this summer. I have not, in all honesty, made it much past the introduction because of one question she puts forth.

"For the believer wanting to know God's will for her life, the first question to pose is not "What should I do?" but "Who should I be?" "

This is our highest calling, to grow into the person God calls us to be, to become. Jen Wilkin goes on to say, "Of course, the questions "What should I do?" and "Who should I be?" are not unrelated. But the order in which we ask them matters. If we focus on actions without addressing our hearts, we may end up merely as better behaved lovers of self." 

Who do you look to to answer that question, Who should I be? Do we look to other people - maybe our parents or spouse? Do we look to culture - maybe our national identity or our affinity groups or our job?That question has led me into quite a bit of Bible study, for as Christ followers, it is in Scripture that we must, first and foremost, find the answer to that question. And, in all honesty, the answer to that question is the same for all of us who call ourselves Christ-followers. Who should I be? Be like Christ. Imitate Him.

Who should I be? Be like Christ. Imitate Him.

The Longings of My Heart

The Longings of My Heart

I haven't been blogging much this summer. I've been making art and posting it on Instagram and, for the most part, I've been rather introspective and contemplative over the summer. A lot is weighing on my mind and on my heart. So, I've been reading and making art and praying and digging deeper into the Bible...a lot! 

As I have struggled over the months with concerns about the pandemic, about how divisive things are, and how there seems to be less and less compassion toward one another, I have dug deeper and deeper into Bible study. God's Word guides us to His ways and His heart.

As Christ-followers we have God's Word to guide us, to show us who we are to be and how we are to live. The work of every Christ-follower is to grow in their knowledge of God's Word. But it does not end there. We need to know the text, but we also, just as improtantly, need to live out the text. A quote from Augustine captures this well:

“So anyone who thinks that he has understood the divine scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by his understanding build up this double love of God and neighbor, has not yet succeeded in understanding them.”

The study of God's Word must transform us into the people God wants us to be. It must enable us in becoming Christ-like. I started reading a book by Jen Wilkin called "In His Image" this summer. I have not, in all honesty, made it much past the introduction because of one question she puts forth.

"For the believer wanting to know God's will for her life, the first question to pose is not "What should I do?" but "Who should I be?" "

This is our highest calling, to grow into the person God calls us to be, to become. Jen Wilkin goes on to say, "Of course, the questions "What should I do?" and "Who should I be?" are not unrelated. But the order in which we ask them matters. If we focus on actions without addressing our hearts, we may end up merely as better behaved lovers of self." 

For a number of years we have had a saying at our church that "doing flows out of being". When we focus on who we are to be in Christ, we will then make the decisions that enable us to do the right things, the things we are called by God to do.

As I was trying to pull together the different things I was studying this summer I started trying to narrow the thoughts and Scripture passages down to conclusions. And I tried to make sense of them by jotting them in a kind of mind map type of manner. I have put them together in a journal, cuz making my notes artistic is another way for me to pull things together!

Bottomline: Who should I be? Be like Christ.

Some more photos from my spiritual formation journal:

 

My favorite quote to start a new journal with is:

This quote aptly fits my spiritual formation journal which will fill with quotes and Bible study notes and the "longings of my heart".

Thessalonians Words Challenge ~ My Set Up

My Set Up

Today I thought I would share a bit about my set up for going through the Thessalonians Words challenge. I like to print out any passage or book I'm going to study so I can make the marks that help me walk through the Word. Making observation marks helps me "see" my way to understanding and act like road markers on a map. I'm going to go through these types of observation steps as we advance through the challenge. 

My basic supplies are:

• A print out of the book and a print out of the challenge calendar.
• An A5 journal with dotted lines to keep my study notes in.
• Lots of colored markers. I like the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners best.
• An art journal. I'm going to continue to use the Leuchtturm 1917 Journal I've been using all year for my word of the year journal.

I mentioned in my last post that I am expanding this challenge to offer ways to go deeper for anyone who is interested. With each Words Challenge I offer a significant verse and a Bible study devotion to go along with each word. But, in all honesty, my heart is to see people learn to dig in and discover what God's Word says on their own, and to find the joy and growth that comes along with it. 

Let me explain briefly. Many times we will study the Bible using a book or study guide that someone else has written. There is nothing wrong with that! But what we are doing is taking in someone else's interpretation and opinion of what the Bible says and what the theology or doctrine means. And again, there is nothing wrong with that. However, we are shaped by their opinion. Instead we can learn observation and interpretation skills, take what we learn and compare it to what scholars and teachers say, and then make an informed decision on meaning. When we learn to dig in and study God's Word for ourselves and do the work of interpretation a number of things result:

• We become more biblically literate. That time and energy we put into observation and interpretation and determining meaning results in the Word of God going deep into our hearts and minds, and we then KNOW the Bible. Intimately! Bible Study teacher and author, Jen Wilkin says, "The heart cannot love what the mind does not know".
• We are shaped and transformed by God's Word. Now, transformation can come from using other's Bible study guides and books, but when you dig in and chew and digest the Word of God you gain more than knowledge and you become transformed. Over and over! You grow to know the Father, Son, and Spirit more deeply. And more than the purpose of our own transformation, the purpose of the Bible is that we grow to know who God is more intimately. It's His book. We grow to know Him more and we are transformed..
• We find a joy in reading and studying the Bible. You may not get pumped up about every observation step or tool, but some of them will really connect with you and an excitement about studying the Bible will grow. That excitement will draw you back to studying God's Word again and again. One lady in a study methods class I led wasn't really connecting with the tools we were learning. That is until we went through a passage and made a list of all the things being contrasted in the passage. For her, breaking down what was being said into this list, made the Word of God open up more clearly to her, and her excitement began to grow. I love finding repeated words and finding out what message the author is communicating by emphasizing these words over and over. Along with that, word studies are a fun way of discovery for me. In fact, it is from those passions that these Words Challenges were created!

Would you join me in going deeper with this challenge? If so, I have created a new section here on my site. Bible Study Tips and Techniques. You'll find it at the top of the page on the menu.

As we go through the Words Challenge I will introduce different steps and techniques for Bible Study. Then each step or technique will have a dedicated page on the Bible Study page that you can either print out or refer back to. My steps and techniques are not much different than other Inductive Bible Study methods. Over the years as I have learned from others, my own style of study has developed. Without having to purchase numerous study books and Bible resource books or software, I have found the tools and resources needed on the Internet, and I will introduce my favorites to you and help you understand how to use them to expand and deepen your study. There are already some steps posted on the page. Check them out!

If you are up for adding the Bible study to the Words Challenge, then I am excited! But please don't feel it is necessary. You can still follow the Word Challenge with the daily Scripture reading and Bible Study devotions posted on my blog. And with both I hope you'll respond creatively and share your responses in the private Words Challenge Facebook group and/or on Instagram (#thessalonianswords).

We begin on Monday July 6th!

Click photo for printable PDF.

Change

Change

Living with a pandemic these past few months has changed so much about our lives. I imagine for many of us it may have changed how we have interacted with our word of the year and the intentions or goals we set at the beginning of the year. That is what we are exploring this month in our Living Your Word of the Year group. This week we are specifically going to explore the intentions or goals we set early on and see if they are still relevant in our "new normal". My original post about my intentions can be found here.

A while back I read a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that has become the basis for my prayers lately. Bonhoeffer said,

"May God in His mercy lead us through these times; but above all, may He lead us to Himself."

Times like these can test us. They can test the depths of our faith and may force us to ask deep questions about our walk with Christ. Has fear of the virus or the economic changes it has brought caused fear to shake our trust in Jesus? Or have you been surprised to find your faith is greater than you had previously thought; that the years of time in God's Word and prayer, of faithfully walking with Him day-by-day have resulted in a foundation of trust that is not being shaken? Or maybe you're somewhere in between. As Bonhoeffer said, we can make a choice at any point in life to ask God to "lead us to Himself" and filter how we see life and our current circumstances through His lens of faith. We can ask God to "lead us to Himself for the first time or for a mid-course correction at any time.

I want to encourage you to spend some time reviewing the intentions or goals you set for your word. Reflect and pray. Our question/prompt this week is:

Has my connection with my word or my intentions changed as a result of current situations?

Here are a few more questions to help in reflection: 

• In light of the changes we have experienced over the past few months, do I feel God moving me away from any of the intentions I originally set for the year? 
• Do I feel Him moving me deeper into any of my intentions?
• Do I need to make any mid-course corrections to my intentions for the year?
• What do I want for my word in the last half of the year?

My word is fruit. I started out the year wanting to focus on the fact that fruit is a by-product of something else. Spiritually, fruit is the result of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. Fruit, such as those listed in Galatians 5:22-23, is not something we can produce ourselves. It comes as a result of positioning ourselves under Christ and practicing spiritual disciplines such as Bible study, sacred reading, prayer, meditation, solitude, journaling, etc., in order to live a life that is led by God's Spirit.

But fruit is also something that can be borne through our lives into the lives of others as we live that Spirit-led life. As we love and serve and have a heart that seeks good for others  prompted by the call of Jesus through His words throughout Scripture. As I reflected on the changes in life brought about by the pandemic over the past few months, and more recently by issues of racial injustice, I found a resolve in me to continue serving in the community as I have been. To be wise in how I practiced in order to stay healthy, but to not back down on serving or being generous, and in this way to continue to bear fruit even though serving looks different in many ways now. And so, I feel just as connected, and maybe even a little more connected, to my word and my intentions. I find encouragement in the stories of our Christian heritage in centuries past of how Christ-followers acted and served in times of plague and famine, or in times of war and injustice as in Bonhoeffer's days. They are the "great cloud of witnesses" as Hebrews 12:1 calls the lives of those before us who lived by faith. So, while many things are different, and the ways in which we are able to do them have changed, for me, I find that I am to press on. My intentions of positioning myself before God and practicing spiritual disciplines that tend my soul and produce the fruit of faith within still serve to lead me through the rest of the year. As well as diligently serving that resolve I feel to bear fruit by serving in the community and using what God has planted in me and blessed me with to be used as an instrument of His blessing to others.

How about you? Where are you at right now? We are all at different phases in our spiritual journey and in our life situations, and it's fine wherever you're at.

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Living Your Word 2020 Opportunity!

My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

URL for Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/livingyourwordoftheyear/ 

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020

Check out their blogs:

Bernice: https://newlycreative.com

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/ 

2020 Vision Board & Moving Forward

2020 Vision Board & Moving Forward

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."                   Soren Kierkegaard

Generally I make a vision board for my word of the year earlier in the season, usually in February or March. It's a way of visualizing my intentions for my word through the year. But this has not been anything like a normal year. So, instead of just a board looking at the year ahead, I am both looking back  to see how I have lived out my word, and then looking ahead at where I feel called to go in the rest of the year. This is our theme this month in our Living Your Word of the Year Facebook Group, looking back in order to move forward. This is a regular practice for me. A few times a year at least, I will read back through my written journals and my art journals to see where I am in this journey of spiritual transformation. And generally, God will use this time of looking back as a time for me to reflect and evaluate where I need to focus. I wrote about the start of this looking back process in my post two weeks ago, which you can read here. 

I have made a vision board for my word of the year for quite a few years. In fact, it's one of my favorite practices of the year. I usually put them on an artist canvas and display them in my home studio/office. They are visual reminders of my journey.

I begin by going through my collection of magazine pages and other ephemera that I have torn out and saved because the image or words stood out. I enjoy going through my magazines every few months and tearing out the pages, and the bonus is it keeps my magazine baskets from overflowing! Even though I read a lot online these days, I have not lost the enjoyment of holding a magazine in my hand and leafing through it.

Next I like to cover the edges of my canvas with gesso covered book pages. I do this in part because I don't frame the canvases and the papers add a subtle decoration to the edges.

Over the past few weeks I have looked back over the beginning of the year, and especially the months since we began experiencing the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks the horrifying events of racial injustice that have taken place have been added to my time of reflection. All of this is in my heart and mind as I began to think about what the future may look like. There is so much to think about right now and so much that is unknown about how life will be lived in the months, and maybe even years, ahead of us. Below I have some reflection questions that helped me and that may be of use for you as well.

• Re-connect with your "why" for selecting your word for this year. Have the circumstances of the past few months changed your "why" at all?
• How have your life values led you through this time?
• What have you held onto? What have you had to let go of?
• As you look ahead, what are you sensing God calling you to? What might He be calling you to leave behind as you move forward? What might He be calling you to keep in your future life from these days?
• What have you been thankful for?
• What has brought joy? What has caused fear or disappointment?
• What do you need more of? What do you need less of?
• Are there areas in your life right now that require more trust in God and His promises?
• How has your faith been? On shaky ground? On a firm foundation? What has this time of crisis shown you about your relationship with God?

Let me also offer two great questions I read recently. The first was in a newsletter from Shelly Miller. She is an author and has an online group called The Sabbath Society. Here is her question for reflection:

"If the previous chapters of your life prepare you for what lies ahead, how might God be using your right now circumstances as preparation for what comes next?"

The other question was posted in our Facebook group last week and comes from Suzi Stringfield Denis.

"How is God using this time to transform me?" 

This week our prompt in our Living Your Word of the Year group is to spend some time reflecting on the past few months and thinking about where God may be leading you now with your word. Try making a vision board from that time of reflection. This project may take some time to work through. In the next few weeks we will offer more reflection questions that will help us evaluate the goals and intentions we set at the beginning of the year, and seeking God, will help us move forward in the second half of the year.

My vision board process surprises me each time. As I go through the process of cutting out letters and leafing through magazine pages I don't immediately see how they will come together. But once I start laying things out on the canvas the pieces start to fall nicely into place.

I hope you'll give a vision board for your word of the year a try. If you do, please share it in our Facebook group and/or on Instagram with the hashtag #livingyourword2020.

Join us in the Living Your Word Community

My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

URL for Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/livingyourwordoftheyear/ 

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020

Check out their blogs:

Bernice: https://newlycreative.com

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/