Welcome back to a brand new year on Authoring Arrowheads, my friends! It’s good to be back after a two-month hiatus.

As you may remember, I took a hiatus from writing and blogging due to the (self-imposed) stress and expectations I endured through publishing my third novel, The Crush, back in October. Since the hiatus announcement, I have had plenty of free time to re-evaluate my goals, how they line up with God’s Will for my life, and the steps I should take moving forward.

I’ve spent this hiatus developing the habits of gratitude journaling and reading the Bible, both old habits I used to have before falling into the trap of craving financial success as an author. Chasing notoriety instead of God cost me sleep, sanity, and most importantly a spiritual closeness with God over the past several months. But now that I’ve taken measures to seek God over all else, I’m ready to begin 2021 living for Him. So, my Word of the Year for 2021 is Purpose.

When I was planning blog content back in November, the Word of the Year I originally picked was Patience; however, upon drafting this post, God nudged me to something better. Upon further inspection, He revealed why.

As defined by Google’s dictionary, Patience means, “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.” At first glance, you may be wondering, “why is wanting patience over purpose a bad thing? Patience is a virtue.” And, right you are. But, upon reading the definition for Purpose, I understood what God was trying to tell me. Purpose, as defined by Google’s dictionary, means, “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.”

All the stress and unrealistic expectations I suffered over the past couple years may not have been due to a lack of patience, like I originally thought. Maybe, instead, it was all due to me trying (and failing) to convince God I knew what my purpose is if He’d just let me have it, instead of surrendering it all to Him and allowing Him to to guide me into the true, much better, Purpose He designed for me.

It was then I understood that before I ask God for the virtue of patience, I must first be willing to trust Him with, and dutifully live out, the Purpose He has for me.

Nowhere in the Bible does it define our purpose as to:

• Chase our own dreams
• Lust for fame
• Crave money

Instead, I believe Matthew 6:33 sums it up well:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Matthew 6:33, KJV

Our Purpose as followers of Christ is to put God first. If we do that, He will use us, according to the gifts He’s given us, for His glory and will provide us with what we need. Not necessarily fortune and fame, but all we’ll truly need to continue living out His purpose for us.

So, in 2020, let’s pray I can:

• Exist as a vessel for God to shine His light through

…and that’s it! The rest is up to God. ❤ Here’s to 2021!

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

What is your Word of the Year, if you have one? How will you tackle this next year?

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀