Welcome 2022!

I have given lots of thought to what my focus needs to be this upcoming year.  Like most, we all have so many things we can work on.  Every year I say I need to get 8hrs of sleep per night, drink more water, exercise more, and stay in his word daily.  It seems to be the same struggle each year.  However, I have found over the years that often times I can pray and find a word that helps me focus all these things into one.  It amazes me that the word I choose will take shape throughout the year and mean different things to me in different seasons.  Here are my words for the last 4 years.

2018- Choose Joy

2019- Draw Closer

2020- Balance

2021- Intentional

I kept praying for a word to come to mind that solidified what my focus needed to be for 2022.  As funny as it sounds, "Pruning" kept coming back to my mind.  When I first started thinking about the word, our CFBC Pastor, Dr. Stephens, actually did a sermon the next week on it (yes, THAT is how God works, ha!) and said the following...

"Pruning is a reward. God is the vinedresser who prunes the life of everyone who abides in Christ and bears the fruit of Christ. I believe spiritual pruning will enhance personal growth by removing whatever inhibits my spiritual growth. Technically speaking, to "prune" means to cut off or cut back parts for better shape or more fruitful growth. When we prune correctly, we can encourage healthy growth and flower to our fullest potential."   

Needless to say, my mind was made up and I knew Pruning would be my 2022 focus.  My verse of the year fell right into place as well.  John 15: 2-6 was actually one I had memorized in High School and it was fun to think back to the index card on my bathroom mirror from 1998.  Who knew that 24 years later life would circle back around to a verse that meant so much to me back then.  So, here's to 2022...the year of the PRUNING! 

John 15: 2-6

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.

To ring in the new year, we decided it should start as a relaxing one.  We hung around the house, started painting Ma's furniture set for one of the guest rooms, made our neighbors laugh with axe throwing in the front yard, watched a gorgeous sunset, and cooked a LOT of great food.  Charles smoked a brisket for 10 hours and let it rest for 4 hours, cooked some deer sausage from a friend, and made our first batch of burnt ends.  We also tried a recipe we found for smoked cabbage wrapped in bacon and made black eyed peas.  Gamee & Grampee brought cheese grits with jalapenos, and we spent the evening watching the Baylor Bears WIN the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans!  It was a tough decision not to go to NOLA for the bowl game, but we decided to save the money since we had gone to the very same bowl game 2 years ago.  It was a pretty perfect beginning to what I know will be a year of adventures, growth, and pruning.  Cheers to 2022 and all it will bring!