My word for 2022 was “all.”

I remember the Lord placing that word on my heart at the start of the year, as we were in the midst of ministry in the desert of California, and I didn’t quite understand why. I focused on the fact that Christ is all, that He came for all, and that I needed to be all in for Him.

And then everything changed again.

My health was struggling, our girls were struggling, and just as quickly as God opened up the doors to send us to California, He opened the doors for us to return to the east coast. He moved fast and assuredly, and in no time at all we were right back where we started, trying to make sense of it all.

As we readjusted to life back home, He began to reveal a deeper meaning of that word “all” to me. Yes, I had trusted Him with it all when we moved from east to west back to east again. I trusted Him with it all when we looked for homes and careers and made school decisions for our kids. I trusted Him with it all when I was sick, then healthy, then sick, then healthy. I trusted Him with it all when Harper was having seizures and when her disease was in remission and when it came back again.

I trusted Him with it all as we sold another house and bought another house… as we lived with relatives… as one kid graduated high school and started college… as I had surgery again… as the middle kid embraced music and sports and became this whole new person… as my husband started a new career… as I went back to work full-time… as the third kid took on new therapies and new meds and even spent weeks walking around with casts on her legs.

But for me, “all” wasn’t just about trusting Him with it all. “All” was about seeing purpose in it all.

It was easy to see the purpose in full-time ministry in a “foreign” (to me) land. It was easy to see purpose in leaving everything that was comfortable to go into the unknown. It was easy to see purpose when doing the “big” things for God.

But what about when He sends you back home? What happens when you’re back to the everyday, normal mundane? When you aren’t doing “big” things with “big” titles in “big” places?

That’s where “all” takes on a new meaning.

Because He is still at work in all things… the bad stuff, the good stuff, and even the seemingly boring stuff.

He still is all we need… whether we’re living outside of anything comfortable or sitting cozy in the normal.

There is still a purpose in it all… the big jobs with influence and titles or the small stuff no one sees at home.

He still wants my all… regardless of where I’m living or working.

It all matters. Every word, every deed, every attitude, every lesson, every step… it all matters.

And as we close out 2022 and move into 2023, my word shifts from “all” to “purpose.” I’ve learned that it all matters, so now it’s time to look at why it all matters- what is the purpose of what I do, the purpose of how I spend my time, the purpose for the way I live my life? 2023 is about focusing on His purpose, doing things with purpose, and living on purpose.

Happy New Year…