My 2025 Word of the Year & A Giveaway!

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A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! I pray that your holidays were exceedingly blessed and that this greeting finds you in good health and much encouraged in your walk with Jesus! It is hard to imagine that we are now in 2025, and I don't recall living through a faster-moving year than 2024. It just felt like it flew by, and as hard as I tried to grasp onto the moments, they slipped through my hands like grains of sand. Time onward flows, and here we are, already 11 days into the new year, still pressing on, keeping the faith, and doing our utmost to follow Jesus as closely as we can. 

~2024~

2024 held some life changes for us; honestly, some of them left me reeling, sort of clinging to the Lord for dear life. Some were good changes, some not so good, but life continues, all glory to God, and new challenges and fresh grace come with each new season. I am so thankful our faithful, loving God never changes. No matter what we face or experience in this life, He remains steadfast and unmovable. What a glorious blessing to be able to count on Him through it all! I am very grateful to God for sparing all three of our lives to see a new year ushered in together. Every second God gives me to spend with my dear husband and son means more to me than I could ever thank Him for or express.

~2025 Word of the Year~

I sought the Lord earnestly about the word He wants me to focus on this year, and the result of that seeking is something that I feel very passionate about right now. For many months, God has repeatedly and through various ways brought Romans 12:1,2 across my path. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." It has come across my path so often that it has really arrested my attention and caused me to dig into what exactly He is trying to get across to me. As I have read and pondered it, the phrase that jumps out at me the most is "the renewing of your mind." There is something in that that really calls to me right now, and it is the basis for my word of the year and its accompanying acronym.

R       - Renew

E     - Energize

S   - Strengthen

E   - Encourage

T            - Trust

I feel the need for a reset and long for a renewing of my mind. I need a fresh touch from heaven to energize and keep me going. I need strength that only He can give and encouragement straight from His heart to mine. I am leaning into trusting Him as never before.

~Free Online Seminar~

Right in the midst of my seeking the Lord for my word of the year and pondering Romans 12:1,2, I came across and just watched a free online Christian seminar on Limbic System Rewire that I feel is worthy of your time. I'm unsure how long they will be available, but the replays of the five days' lessons are posted here, in case you would like to watch them. Very interesting stuff.

~Decluttering Inspiration~

If you are like me, you feel the need to declutter and get back on track after the holidays. I published a post on our other blog, Biblical Minimalism, that is chock full of ten minimizing tips. Click here, to check it out! I noticed that I hadn't published a post there since July 2023! Yikes!

~A Song~

This song has long been one of my favorites and is my testimony. If you haven't subscribed to our channel and are interested in doing so, you can subscribe by clicking here.

~A Book Update~

All glory to the dear Lord. I feel like I am finally making some progress on editing Homespun Devotions: Volume Three. According to my estimations, there will be a total of 12 volumes altogether, and the task seems overwhelming to me. Still, I am pressing forward and even beginning to enjoy the process. If God wills, it would be a wonderful blessing to me to be able to get Volume Three published sometime this year. Only He knows what the year will bring forth, and I trust His timing.

If you are interested in any of our three published books, you may order them at the links below the pictures below.

Biblical Minimalism

Homespun Devotions: Volume One

Homespun Devotions: Volume Two

Or, if you email us at homespundevotions@gmail.com and request a copy, we will send them to you free of charge.

If you have read our books and they have been a blessing to you, and you would be willing to leave us an Amazon review, we would appreciate it so much!

~New Family Members~

Sweet little Emmy and Otis—new little rescue kitties that God brought into our home! Otis is named after Otis on The Andy Griffith Show. Fun fact—did you know that the same actor (Hal Smith) who played Otis on Andy Griffith was also the original voice actor for "Whit" on Adventures in Odyssey? Hal also voiced Winnie the Pooh for a period of time. 

~A Giveaway~

My dear, longtime blogging friend and Bible study partner, Noreen, has a granddaughter, MacKenzie, who is a super-talented artist. Noreen sent us a Christmas card that MacKenzie had made, and after seeing her work, I was so impressed that I visited her Etsy shop and placed an order. We are giving away sets of four of her beautiful note cards to five winners! Each of the five winners will receive one of each of her four designs shown here.

I love supporting small businesses, especially those owned by friends. If you get a chance, stop by and check out MacKenzie's Etsy shop and show her some support.

If you want to enter the giveaway, just leave us a comment below, and make sure you include your contact information if you are an anonymous commenter. Otherwise, you will not be entered because we have no way of reaching you. The giveaway is available to readers in the United States and will remain open until Thursday, 1/23/2025 when, Lord willing, we will draw the five winners' names.

I pray that all is well with each one of you and that your new year is off to a great start!