I have been reflecting on the evolution of my faith walk as it relates to the tradition of choosing an intentional word for the New Year.

I've been a believer nearly all my life but it wasn't until more recent years that I came to understand the true relationship that Jesus offers and the way of life He calls us to live. If that sounds like fluff talk to you, I urge you to ask me more about my testimony, because my faith was solidified over Christ's handling of the unexpected, devastating circumstances in my life and the lives of others. And trust me, it wasn't just that it all worked out.

But I realized there was a kind of maturity process to our spiritual life. Like a Polaroid photo I could finally see my faith was developing and with each new commitment to God, a piece of my picture was further revealed.

Despite the truth that sang in my heart, I still had trouble holding my faith in my mind continuously. I would often spiral down paths of self absorption and self reliance before realizing I had not factored my faith into things at all. 

I started choosing just one word to cling to, to bring me back when I strayed.

At first and maybe for several years it was Prayer. This came out of total necessity after everything in my life had been destroyed. I had been stripped of all security and I felt in constant danger. The only thing I knew to do was pray. Luckily, that happens to be the best mode for God to reach us anyway.

Out of this practice developed my first new foundation in Christ. I turned to Him and He was there, simple and absolute. It was not easy and my life still looked like ruins for several years. But inside, He was knitting me back together, He was restoring me.

The next word I moved on to was Fearless, which absolved me of debilitating anxiety as I worked to identify my fears, call them out by name, and replace them with God's sovereignty over all. That is a whole, wonderful story for another day.

Now stable and relatively healthy, I found myself still having trouble remembering God on a day to day basis. I'd get distracted or wrapped up in other influences. Days would go by before I would think to consult Him about any matter even though I wanted, I needed, to be with Him in every step. So I graduated to the word Abide.

I had gotten pretty good at honing the God's peace over trying circumstances. But as this bible verse states, I desired the peace of God infiltrate my entire being and be present with me always, not just in times of distress. It was also a healthy reminder that this type of peace comes over a process. It is not delivered all at once. It is grown like a garden carefully cultivated.

In 2020 I really wanted to put my indecisiveness and lack of confidence to rest. I chose Discernment.

Little did I know 2020 would bring a multitude of important decisions for the entire world. Which sources of information to trust, to wear a mask or not, to send your kids to school or homeschool, to hide your whole family in a bomb shelter or attempt a return to normal activities? As a parent, every step has been filled with deliberation, and I couldn't be more glad that I started off the year with the intention to ASK GOD for wisdom. 

But there is a wonderful gift in a developing discernment. God could have at any time created mindlessly obedient beings. Instead He chose free will, which gives us the opportunity to develop any wisdom at all as we go through life making choices and evaluating our circumstances. 

I loved meditating over each of these words and what God has brought forth through them in my life. I've already chosen my word for 2021 and will reveal it soon! 

My six year old and I were cooking together the other day when he accidentally spilled a significant amount of flour. 

"I am horrible." he moaned. The self-degradation surprised me, but I recognized the sentiment. I, too, had been known to ward off reprimand or rejection by beating my critics to the punch. I felt it was important to address this self-talk with him, but I found myself blanking on exactly how.

This came as a surprise, too, because I know so much about the psychology of the inner critic. I have so much experience, myself, with rooting out these echoes of shame and failure. But if there is any real test of how well you understand something, it would be how you explain it to a child.

For a parent, there is an added pressure and realization that you cannot control what your child does with this information. You are really only an influencer in their growth. 

My first inclination was to make it a rule. "No negative self talk allowed." While that may be a short-term solution, it doesn't give us any real insight into the mechanism. 

I spent several days thinking about this. Maybe it is just a hang up for me, personally, but I really struggled with putting into age appropriate words why this was important and how I could make an impact without being able to "enforce" it. 

As with most explanations I've had to come up with for my children, I settled on basic, simple honesty. But it really took me a while to get to the phrase I felt captured this.

"The way you speak to yourself is really important."

When I boil down all the implications of self talk and the fears I have for him as I watch him begin to make this negative outlook a habitual response, this is the message that it really comes down to:

​The way you speak to yourself is really important. 

I think our children get a lot of messaging from their parents and society about how to behave towards other people. But for some reason, we don't spend a lot of time on self-respect. Not surprising, then, that many adults struggle later with the concept of self-care. 

How we speak to ourselves reinforces our emotional first hand experiences. It makes all the difference between how we approach the future. If I fail, I fail two fold when my inner critic speaks negatively of my failure. If I fail but my inner voice maintains a healthy self-respect, I can learn from my failure and do better next time. I can move forward with confidence. 

I think our children are capable of understanding there is a conversation going on internally and we, both parent and child, have a role in how the dialogue goes. 

I like to try to remember to give my children unsolicited affirmations every once in a while. As humans, we tend to get so busy that we often forget to say things that are so prominently on our hearts. It is easy to assume that our children know and recognize their precious value to us and the world. But any adult can articulate there are more than a handful of moments in life where any one of us has felt unloved or unlovable. 

One night earlier this week, I was tucking my six year old into bed and it felt like a good time for one of these affirmations. I whispered to him, "Did you know that God made you and He has a plan and a purpose just for you?"

"No." my six year old said sheepishly. His honesty struck my heart. Internally, I reeled with surprise, how could he not know? And yet, as I calmed my flurry, I was reminded that there are many moments even I doubt this truth. 

That's exactly why we need reminders. It is natural to have doubts, worries, and fears. It is natural to struggle with self-esteem at various points in our lives. Growing into the person God had in mind for you to become is not light work. There are many competing voices that challenge our worth and purpose, even some that seem to come from inside. 

Teaching our children to root out these inner critics is critical. We do that by laying the foundation of an impenetrable truth they can rely on and measure every experience against. 

God created you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. 

This is the refrain that we want our children to pull up every time they feel like they have failed, made an awful mistake, or even deliberately made a bad choice they regret.

God created you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. 

This truth trumps everything. Nothing can stand against it. It doesn't even ask of any rituals or retribution that you must complete to earn this truth. 

Maybe, as a parent, you need the reminder, too. Couldn't that be an incredible gift? That you and your child remind one another throughout your lives together:

God created you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. 

​And what a special bonus that God saw fit to plan your lives would be shared together.