The time between Christmas Day and New Years Day is always a fun time to relax and continue celebrating the holidays with your family and friends. We have a fun tradition as a family every year during this holiday week. My husband and I and our three kids have a short getaway to the Hill Country in San Antonio, Texas. We take a few days of R&R to play and spend some quality time together before all the busyness starts up again for the new year ahead. The resort we like to frequently go to has a cozy lobby with a rustic flare of Austin stone fireplaces and lots of chairs and couches to sit in and relax. We love to take board games and lots of fun snacks and sit in the lobby until 1am and play games as a family and laugh a lot. There is something special about the simple things in life that bring us pleasure and joy. The smell of the wood burning and the crackle of the fireplace, along with the joy of friendly competition, can really help refresh the mind and soul. I love tradition and creating lifetime memories. One of my other favorite traditions on our getaway is to spend some extra time seeking God for the upcoming new year. The resort has some awesome leather couches that are super comfy and look outside lots of windows to see the big cedar trees off the back porch. I look forward to having an extended time with God while sitting on those couches and getting to linger. It’s not everyday that I get time to linger and listen closely to whispers from God to my heart that bring sweet comfort. God speaks to me quietly in my heart every year as I reserve this sacred time to ask Him what He sees coming. This year, I actually got the word He wanted to declare over me before the trip. Many times I get the special word He wants me to declare over my year while on the trip, but not this year. Before we left town, I was in my closet and getting dressed to go workout when I heard the quiet whisper. I was digging in a basket of tshirts that I often wear to workout, when I came across to the shirt from a conference I had been to in 2017. The shirt said the words, “The Best Is Yet to Come”. As I grabbed that shirt out of the basket, I felt God say to me , “that is what I am wanting to tell you about this coming year, 2018”. I next heard one more word that He whispered to me, “Expectancy”. I could feel the bubbling up inside of my heart that was beginning to start after I heard these words in my spirit. I said outloud, “Ok, God, is that what you are saying is my word to declare this year”? I also asked Him to confirm it to me. Within a few hours later that day, a friend of mine sent me a text that had a link to a podcast called “Living in the Expectation of Blessings”. She said I heard this message and felt like God put you on my mind to send it to! Wow!!! That was a direct answer from the Lord confirming His words earlier to me in the closet. I am now grabbing onto it and believing that word as truth for me! I believe God is purposeful and He wants to give us words of life and encouragement. He has a word to speak over us. A word of blessing, favor, grace, provision, restoration, healing, joy, and peace. The choice is ours this new year! Will we ask Him and seek Him with intentionality to hear the words of faith He is waiting to whisper to us? He can’t wait to share with you what He sees. He is full of hope and His promises are for you and me. Ask Him today to whisper to your spirit what He wants to declare over you. It will bring you joy and hope will begin to bubble up in your heart.

This year is going to be spectacular and truly the best is yet to come!