Happy New Year, Arrowheads!

I hope you all had an awesome Christmas and Happy New Year. To be honest, I’m coming back from my hiatus with poorer mental health than I did when the hiatus began, and I’m entering 2023 behind on content plans and with bad sinus issues, so this year has already been a challenge.

I apologize for the downer intro, but it’s the truth. I’m hoping to get back on track, but I also don’t want to overwhelm myself more than I already am. That being said, if I seem absent, mostly from Instagram, in the upcoming weeks, I’m just burnt out and trying to get back into the groove of things.

Now, let’s move on to my Word of the Year: Contentment.

2022’s Word of the Year Journey

2022’s Word of the Year was Ministry, and it became the second Word of the Year I was able to live by throughout the year. Last year, I felt the need to share more about Jesus via my author platform social medias through posting weekly Bible verses and other content that mentioned the gospel, and it’s something that I hope to continue in 2023.

2023’s Word of the Year Hopes

Though God has been working on my heart concerning Contentment over the past couple years, especially when I was writing Writing by Faith, I want to make it more of a priority in 2023. This year, I will not be publishing anything, and I know that progress in my author career may suffer for it. In the past, stagnancy has put me in a bad mental place; however I really need to take this year easier and focus more on personal things. I want to grow closer to God, and really learn to appreciate all He’s done for me in the here and now and not constantly dwell on my next steps forward or the what-ifs of the future. I suffer from anxiety and am always worrying about future scenarios, and I just want to finally learn to be at peace with where God has me and learn to trust Him wholeheartedly through the ups and downs of life.

What Does Contentment Mean?

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Philippians 4:11-13, kjv

Contentment, as Paul writes in the book of Philippians, is the state of being content, or at ease, in whatever situation we’re facing. Like I said earlier, as someone who deals with intense bouts of anxiety (I’m in one right now, to be honest), I have a tendency to do the exact opposite of that. Instead of immediately turning to Jesus with what’s bothering me, I either ruminate on negativity or turn to Google/WebMD/etc. for help. This has done nothing but put me on a downward spiral of anxiety, and I’m sick of anxiety taking over my life.

As Christians, we’re also instructed to not live like this. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, “ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Will I slip up and go down an Internet rabbit hole of “fixes” sometime this year? Most likely.

Will I feel like an insane person for constantly dwelling on issues that arise? Yep, I’m already doing it.

Will I still worry about my author career, even though I’m trying to be happy about where I am now? Guaranteed.

But, all these things can’t be fixed automatically. These issues have been going on for a very long time, and it’s going to take lots of time with God to mend them.

Please pray for me as this journey starts. ❤

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you have a Word of the Year, what is yours? Also, how can I pray for you in this new year?

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark

-Allyson 😀