Every year I ask God for a word for the year. Last year’s word left in a quandary for several months. I knew the word He had given me was FOCUS, but on what?
2013 The Year of Grace
The year of 2013 my word was grace. I didn’t understand the purpose of that word until about April. I was working on a book aobut my 250-pound weight loss. My working title was “Confessions of a Food Addict”.
It defined what I was writing about, but I knew it wasn’t THE title. It was in April the title hit me in an exchange with friend over grace versus works. I write it that more in the memoir which ended up being title, Sweet Grace.
2014, The Year of Focus
Fast forward to 2014 and I get the word focus. My life started going fast and furiously with speaking engagements and radio and television interviews regarding my journey.
I was also leading a weekly book study of Sweet Grace, which God used to lead me to start and online weight loss coaching and accountability group, Sweet Change. In the midst of this my husband and I took a trip to Florida where I was featured on the Homekeepers show on Christian Television Network (CTN) and also on a Christian Television station in Pensacola.
As Sweet Change began individuals began sharing their moment of change. I define this as the point in time when you realize you have been going towards an unhealthy lifestyle and you turn around and go towards health. For me it was the moment I realized I am a sugar addict. I surrendered processed sugar and began going full-fledged towards health.
One of the biggest questions I was asked after Sweet Grace came out was how do I get to the moment of change. There really is no one formula because what hits one person emotionally doesn’t resonate with another. It has to be an emotional change that translates into a physical change and culminates in a spiritual change.
Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation
God dropped into my mind the idea of how to write the book along about September. I emailed several I knew who had lost significant weight and asked them if they would write their story.
I gave them an outline and a deadline. At first it was going to be nine people. That number doubled as everywhere I looked, I was led to others I knew were also on the journey.
It took from September until December for the the book to get written, formatted, designed and uploaded to Amazon. I didn’t do it alone. I had a tribe who helped get all the pieces together.
Looking back I realize I was not just focused for that season, I was hyper-focused, going without sleep, being committed and persistently working towards a deadline to have the book out before January 2015.
The Purpose of Focus
I know God did not give me the word “focus” to focus on speaking, giving interviews, leading the Sweet Grace study, coaching the Sweet Change Group or writing Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation.
The word was given to me in order to FOCUS on Him. The one thread that goes throughout 2014 is I learned to allow God to lead to me to the next thing. I did not have an agenda for the year, but He did. His agenda was the only thing that mattered.
The only way I could have gotten through the year was to just focus on and follow Him. The verse that kept coming to mind was “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”1
The Picture of Focus
During a prayer time I got this picture of me as a little girl trying to trudge through snow taller than me. I couldn’t get anywhere until my Daddy came out with a snow shovel and started shoveling a path.
I saw myself walking right behind him where he shoveled a smooth straight path for me so I wouldn’t fall or stumble or get lost in the tall mountains of fluffy white stuff that could, in reality, overtake and bury me.
In the picture it was my earthly father, but I knew the back of that big strong man was focused always on His heavenly Father. That was where my focus had to be. If it was anywhere else I would be buried in something that looked beautiful, but could inundate me quickly if I didn’t know where to go.
In 2014, my goal was to focus on my heavenly Father who has the plan. It felt very risky to live my life not knowing the plan. My only agenda for 2014 was to follow God in the next thing He had for me.
At times it felt really risky, but then faith is the “evidence of things not seen.”2 So, I live not knowing what the next step will be. I make plans, but I allow God to interrupt them if He wants me to go a different direction. I’ve learned that if I don’t know what to do about something, I need only wait until He shows me.
The Word for 2015
I have a new word for 2015 and I hope you do, as well. If not, all you need to do is ask God and I’m sure He will lead you to your word for this next year.
Tomorrow, I will share mine for 2015. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your year. Do you have a word, scripture or phrase you focus on for the year? What is your goal for the New Year?
1 John 10:27 NIV
2 Hebrews 11:1 NIV
If you have problems with sugar or losing weight, I invite you to check out Sweet Change Weight Loss Coaching and Accountability Group for the transformation of your life. JOIN SWEET CHANGE and get our best price for ONLY a TWO-MONTH commitment now through Jan. 3. Just click this link for more info>>>Sweet Change.
Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation includes stories of weight loss and change from 18 ordinary individuals, yes, Teresa too! Plus additional information from Teresa Shields Parker. Get your copy as an instant download by going here>>https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/sweet-change-order/ or on Amazon HERE.
Don’t forget to check out Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor and the Sweet Grace Study Guide, both are available as instant ebook download. Just click the book titles to take you to the order page which also has the Amazon link.
Teresa Shields Parker is a Christian weight loss author, coach, podcaster, and speaker, who has lost 250 pounds and kept it off since 2013. Her books include: “Reconnecting Jayne: Her Sister’s Support,” “Rebuilding Jayne: Her Father’s Protection,” “Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor,” “Sweet Grace Study Guide,” “Sweet Victory: Winning the Battle,” “Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds,” “Sweet Journey to Transformation: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Live Healthy”, “Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off With God’s Help,” “Sweet Freedom Study Guide,” “Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation,” “Sweet Hunger: Developing an Appetite for God,” and “Sweet Excuses: Stop Lying to Yourself & Start Losing Weight.” She also offers Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy and VIP intensive coaching. Don’t miss her weekly podcast, Sweet Grace for Your Journey, where she shares tips from her personal journey of losing weight and discovering healthy living. Contact her at [email protected].
My word for 2014 was “Transition” and for 2015 it’s “Launch.” At first I thought that was just for the concept of moving from my former career to a new one as proofreader/editor/writer, but I soon came to feel that it referred to more, that I was being asked to prepare myself to step into a new and better way of living in general. I’m still not sure exactly what that will entail, but a couple of times I felt a small subtle voice telling me, in essence, that I had to improve my health and be more energetic so that I could do the work the Lord was calling me to. And again, I’m not sure what that will look like, but I also knew I had to leave certain things behind, so I recently had a session of reviewing and writing down old painful memories and grudges and going through a forgiveness process, then destroying the notes. I knew I couldn’t drag all that stuff with me into the future if I really wanted a new and healthier one. So I am very curious as to what 2015 will bring….
Lucie, I believe we all need to improve our health. The problem with the way we as Americans eat is we eat fast and furious and easy. In essence, we have to be more mindful of what and how we eat while not obsessing over it.
And of course our emotional and spiritual issues play as big a role as our physical issues. It simply shows up first in our bodies because we take care of them the least.
I’ve said many times, I have lost 250, now 260 pounds and tons of emotional baggage. I know the emotional stuff weighed on me much more than the physical. Getting rid of both has freed me to listen even more to what God is saying to me, showing me and leading me towards.
Transition is a great word, an optimal word for the season you are in. Can’t wait to accompany you on the journey that WILL change your life!