Hello! I wish you a blessed and exciting 2016! I don’t know about you, but I love the start of a new year, it always feels like you have a fresh slate and is always good to start as you mean to go on. I find it really helpful to look back at the year just gone and thank God for all the blessings and good things in 2015, especially in a year that ended with sorrow at losing a wonderful grandfather. It is good not to forget all the ways that God has blessed and enriched my life, so in 2015 I thank God for:
- Another year with my lovely husband, son, family and friends.
- Recording and releasing my debut album ‘Out of the Ashes’.
- God’s incredible provision and leading every step of the way.
- Getting to know and work with John Merriman and Bill Sherrington at Crown Lane studios.
- Going to Spring Harvest and Mission Worship, and for the incredible teaching and encouragement.
- Working with the wonderful community choir Inspire and making some wonderful new friends.
- For a whole year of running Songs and Stories and for provision for the Kalji Trust that has come out of this.
- For our fantastic new Families and Children’s worker, Charis, who has been such a huge encouragement and support to me.
- For those who have taken a chance on me, encouraged me and supported me and the blessings that have come out of that.
- Finding a new confidence to step out in sharing my faith.
- Family coming together in love and support through the illness and loss of my wonderful grandfather.
2015 was a year of beginnings for me with the recording and release of ‘Out of the Ashes’. Most importantly for me after years of battling with my identity, God gave me the strength and peace to accept who he had made me to be, to start to find my identity and affirmation in Him alone and to step into his calling on my life. This last year I started to learn to walk by faith and not by sight, having a total reliance on God. I started to understand what it meant when it says ‘do not worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries’ and learning to see pass my own anxieties and natural reaction of worrying and to trust that God is bigger than it all.
So I’m not sure if you do New Year’s resolutions, but what usually seems to happen is most people start with lots of brilliant and healthy resolutions and within a few weeks or months these have been forgotten. So this year, I wish to start as I mean to go on and set a few achievable goals to focus on this year. I need to ask for God’s help, strength and endurance to be self-disciplined and learn to walk closer with him. So my resolutions this year are:
- To get back into running and to fulfil a goal of doing a 10k (running and walking!) in memory of my grandfather
- To practice the discipline of joy by having a thankfulness jar, which I write down something each day that I am thankful for.
- To step into this New Year trusting that God will lead me on, and help me grow more in my faith, reliance and love of Him.
As well as resolutions I am looking forward to what God has in store for 2016, so at the start of the New Year I am handing it to him, asking Him to lead me, and show me where He wants me to go. This is so hard because I love knowing what will happen and when, so this is a big handing over of control and submission to God. So at the start of a new year I am saying Lord would you have your way, would your name be glorified and would You lead me where You want me.
I look forward and am praying for (would love prayer for):
- My new recording project – Voice of truth
- The events/gigs/ that I have the privilege of ministering at.
- For another term of working with Inspire
- More opportunities to share God’s Word and to minister through song.
So at the start of a new year I pray that you would fix your eyes upon Jesus and know His love strength and guiding in all you do.
Love and prayers,
Kat