WITH (2025)

With. Such a small, hardly profound or important word. Usually used to tie things together, and here I’ve picked it for my word of the year. By itself unassuming, but that all depends on who it’s referring. Last year was my year of courage. I don’t know that I would even say that I had a lot of courage, but I had the choice to choose it and to decide if or when I would act courageously often. I would say I had my fair share of opportunities and many a plan not go according to my plan. As I was trying to wrap up the thoughts of the year behind, I was thinking of what would be the opposite of courage, to help define courage. Now, you won’t find this in the dictionary, but as I was thinking about it, DIScourage seems to be the enemy of courage- the opposite of courage because it disarms us and makes us believe that maybe courage really isn’t worth it. But that maybe that’s when it’s most important. 

That, friends, is what lead me to with. The same passage that I had gotten courage from, kept coming to me when pondering discouragement: “do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 

If I know who goes with me, that should change everything. And if it’s GOD, ya know, the one who put stars and galaxies in place and simultaneously knows the meaningless little details about me too, that, that should really change everything. Of course I should be able to muster up some courage, be less fearful, have more peace, joy, hope, security, love if it’s God who is with me. Wherever I go. And so like those people that Joshua was written about, I don’t want to go without Him. If He’s not on the move, I don’t want to be either. It’s amazing to me how incredibly obvious God’s presence was to them during that time. Like pillars of cloud and fire visibly seen every day. It becomes easy to be a little desirous of them, thinking it not fair that we don’t have the same…but we do, and they would probably have the same thoughts toward us if they had the chance to see it now. As children of God, we like John 14:17 says, have the Holy Spirit who “(He) abides with you and will be in you.” I don’t think you can get more present than that. More with you than that. 

And so we go forward. Knowing He goes with us.