It’s time to “Rise and Shine”

Let’s chat about vision boards; visualizing our dreams by getting them out of our head and putting them on paper, and setting goals to accomplish them.

Have you heard about the “One Little Word” trend? It’s where, instead of making a New Year’s resolution that you forget about by the time February rolls around, you pick a word that shapes your focus for that year. This is my first year doing something like this and my word is actually a phrase: Rise & Shine.

2018 was a stressful and very challenging year to say the least. However, I know that God was present in all of my struggles and used then to grow me. He taught me a lot about suffering and it’s purpose – to build perseverance and character. He also reassured me of His sovereignty, faithfulness and goodness. He blessed me continuously with his presence which I clung to as my only source of hope when those storms raged. And now, it’s time to rise, dust myself off so to speak, and shine; use those experiences to encourage others and show Him to the world.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

To visualize all the things I feel He is leading me to accomplish this year, I created a vision board of sorts and stuck it in the front of my planner. There are different ways of doing this but the process I used is very simple.

First, prayerfully consider what He is calling you to.

You know the saying: “if you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans”. Seek His will and write all those ideas down. Yes, even the seemingly far-fetched ones and the seemingly insignificant. When you look back on this year, what do you want to see accomplished? Pray over, review and finalize your list.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21

Next, visualize that list.

Collect some images that can serve to represent your ideas. Organize them into categories if that’s helpful. Then glue them to paper and accessorize with stickers, lettering, inspirational quotes, scripture, etc. as you like. And then put your vision where you will see it!

Now a vision board is wonderful to inspire and encourage, but it will only disappoint if you don’t set actual goals, break them down into actionable steps with timelines and get to work bringing them to fruition. I like to work backwards and think “if I want to accomplish this by the end of the year.. what needs to be done by mid-year? In the first quarter? Next month? This week? Today?” Not everything will go according to plan, life happens, but I find it very helpful to at least have a road map.

I’ve already accomplished one goal – I started this blog!

What about you? Have you created a vision board for what you want to accomplish in 2019? We are all uniquely gifted with abilities, passions, personality, experiences, etc. to be used to further the kingdom. What is He calling you to? Start today!