Goodbye, 2016, and hello, 2017. As Shakespeare said, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Bidding farewell to 2016 feels very much that way to me. Last year, I…

• Married off my baby sister and welcomed a brother-in-law into the family
• Learned I’m going to be an aunt!
• Moved to a new place and set up my first dream space (aka an office)
  
• Lost another family member and a mentor
• Walked through the loss of friends unexpectedly losing parents
• Celebrated friends stepping into marriage and pursuing other dreams
• Traveled and spent time with friends who always refresh and sharpen me
• Learned that leadership looks like Jesus – strong and tender – and that leading women is refining
  
• Learned to laugh with those who laugh and mourn with those who mourn
• Celebrated a 10 year reunion and caught up with old friends 
• Moved into a new position at work
• Started two books and dreamed of many more

So why don’t you have another book in your hand?

Well the answer is as easy as it is complicated. Writing requires all of me, and this year all of me felt drained and stuck. After a couple years of high highs and low lows, fear of losing more wrecked me. Even in the highs sometimes change and loss can cause a sting – relationships change, people change, circumstances change. And the sting of loss, even in joy, can instill fear, too – fear of pain and of missing what was. So writing and publishing and finishing became fear of failure and rejection.

But not this year. This year I’m committed to living LIMITLESS. A friend a while back told me I have unlimited potential. The only way I can live and respond like that is true lies in remembering I serve a God who directs my step and knows no limits.

In Joshua 1, the Lord tells this leader that He will give Joshua every place he sets his foot. As God was with Moses, so he would be with Joshua. God had given Israel a promise, a land for themselves. The Lord has given me a story, one for me alone. I don’t know what the way looks like any more than the Israelites did, but I can move forward in confidence. I’m human. I’m going to run into road blocks and disappointment. But those things don’t have to paralyze me, and I don’t have to live in fear of the pain of an unknown step. As God has been with those who walk before me, next to me, and behind me, He is with me, too – even in loss, joy, rejection, and victory.

Life is sweet, and the stinging moments grow our character. I can live as a conqueror. I can live limitless. And I plan to do just that in 2017. Stay tuned and join me on the journey!

Do you have a word or focus for 2017? I would love to hear it!