New year, new beginnings 1-1-12

I thought today I'd talk about what I'd like to see manifested in my life over the next year, things that I am actively working toward, things that I am willing to actually accomplish, not just dream and plan.

On one of the blogs I read, the writer had established a word for the New Year- something to hold fast to. Something to give her direction. I really liked her word for 2012, so I'm adopting it as well. That word is "GO".

For a long time, I've been preparing for some things that I feel called to. Preparation is important, but I think sometimes we can get stuck in our preparation phase- so stuck, in fact, that we ONLY prepare. We ONLY plan. We ONLY dream, but we never take the steps needed to move out of that comfortable place of writing things down in a journal. We get so busy packing our bags so that we'll have everything we need that we never actually open the door and step out into the big, wide world. I'm tired of preparing. I'm ready to GO and get on with what God has ahead.

I will be finally graduating in May of 2012 with my bachelor's in Religious Studies. I had thought that after this, I would continue on with my education to get a master's. I'd thought that by this point I would be looking at seminaries, and I have, but I haven't applied at any because I'm tired of being in school. I am ready to get on with my speaking ministry- ready to help other women- ready to start fulfilling my calling. Is seminary in the future? Maybe, but not for now. For now, I need to open that door and step out of school and into what God has for me.

Specifically, I will be pursuing speaking opportunities and writing articles for magazines and web content and building my web presence. Speaking and writing. Writing and speaking. This is my plan. I do have specific steps laid out for myself, but I won't bore you with all the details. I just needed to put my plans out there- for someone other than me to see.

It's a scary thing- this stepping out. It's so much more comfortable to just keep on preparing for the path ahead. It's a lot more comforting to keep on packing those bags with everything I might need. It feels better to be protected, to be safe, to not have any expectations of myself other than to do well in school- preparing. But am I just called to be comfortable? Surely not. Instead, I am called to GO, to do God's will, not just sit around planning for some nebulous future that may never come to pass if I never tied my shoes and opened the door.