So I’m posting this a few months late, but better late than never, right? My words for the year have been as follows:

2011 was my year of grace.

2012 was my year of hope.

2013 was my year of love.

2014 was my year of trust.

2015 was my year of faith.

2016 was my year of surrender.

and my word for 2017 is “follow.”

I’ve gotta tell ya’, I had a bit of an issue with that last one at first. My initial reaction was surprise and then I got a little prickly and defensive because quite honestly I have followed God in obedience when what He was asking of me didn’t make any sense whatsoever from a human standpoint. I have chosen to stand completely alone with Him when it went against the advice of every single person who knew and loved me. So it’s not like I don’t know how to follow God, but just like His mercies are new every morning I’m guessing His lessons are too – He’s taking me to new depths of following Him I guess. So continuing last year’s theme a bit, I’m surrendering my preconceived ideas and I’m sitting back and letting Him take the lead.

“Where you lead, I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to
If you need, you need me to be with you
I will follow where you lead” –(Gilmore Girls theme song chorus)

*****

Come and Follow

“Me and Andrew, we’d been fishin’
The best part of last night
We’d caught nothin’ for all our tryin’
Come the mornin’, and the light–
Then I saw Him, out a little ways from the land
He started teachin’ all the people
And they listened there in silence on the sand.

Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.

When He’d ended all His teaching
He turned around and spoke again to me
He said, “Simon, row out father–
Drop your nets once again into the sea
I said, “Master, we’ve been workin’
Since the sundown yesterday
But one more time, I’ll throw them over
Just because it’s You who say.

Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.

Now James and John, they’re both my witnesses
To the truth in what I’ve told
How our nets were filled to bursting
More than both our boats could ever hold
And I fell down there before Him
Cring, “Leave me, Lord — I’m full of sin!”
He said, “Simon, don’t be frightened,
Follow Me and you will learn to fish for men. ”

Come and follow, come and follow,
Come and follow, come and follow Me.” –Come and Follow, Don Francisco