My word of the year for 2021 is “Transform”. What’s yours?

Every year I ‘choose’ a word of the year; something I will focus on in prayer, Bible Study, and personal development. I use Dayspring’s quiz (see below) and then build my Bible studies around that word. 2020 was my 5th year of doing this and my word was “Gather”. Gather is defined as: to bring together and take in from scattered places or sources. I was so excited. I had just bought a house and was looking forward to hosting many gatherings of all kinds in my new home! Movie nights with HFC Kids as well as my nieces and nephews, game nights with friends, fellowship events with parents from HFC, hosting family dinners for the holidays. 
 
Then the pandemic hit. And I was alone in my house for 6 straight weeks. 
 
Those six weeks were lonely long weeks. I thought a lot about all I was missing out on: worship and fellowship together with HFC, meeting with my students and their families, seeing my parents, having friends over. All the fun things I had dreamed about and planned and looked forward to in my new home were no longer an option. “Gather” was not an option. How was I supposed to study the word gather, and grow in that experience without being with other people?!? I really threw myself a pretty great pity party, but once I stopped and thought about it, prayed about it, and looked to Scripture for comfort, I became excited again! 2020 definitely scattered us! We were all in different places, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t gather.
 
Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.” Whenever we gathered online for kids club, for worship, for staff meeting, etc we were praying together and in the presence of God! We WERE together, even if we weren’t physically in the same room. It seems so simple, a verse many of us might have learned as kids, but it had never meant more to me than in that moment. Gathering didn’t have to be in the same room. When I stopped looking at myself and all I was ‘losing’ due to isolation, I looked around and saw all that I was gaining! I was spending more time with students and their families; instead of one hour, we were sometimes on zoom for 2! We were calling each other more often, texting throughout the week. We were more intentional in our time, more focused, asking more specific questions and really listening to the answers. Did the isolation of 2020 take some things away? Absolutely. But we gained SO much more: deeper relationships with the Lord, and with each other! While I really hope that 2021 offers more relief from current restrictions and we can ‘get back to normal’ whatever that looks like, I hope that we do not lose the tighter community that has been created. I hope that our intentional focus on relationships continues to grow into 2021 and beyond. One way that you can connect, gather together and focus on relationships in 2021 is to join a Community Group. Join a group today at hfcog.org/community-groups. We have both in person and online options. 
 
We are so excited to connect with you and your family in 2021! What’s your word for 2021? Take the quiz at https://www.dayspring.com/yourwordquiz#/home and post your response on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HoustonFirstChurchOfGod
 
Many Blessings,
Pastor Sarah