From Trials to Triumphs: My Year of “Soaring”

New Year’s Eve found me pondering the word God had given me for 2024. Yes, I mean God literally told me that was my word; I don’t choose them myself.

The word was “soar,” and as we discussed it I confessed that I couldn’t see how it fit the year. Had I missed something? His answer was, basically, “Yes.”

The year began with a TIA that, praise God, caused no damage. An ER visit followed a few weeks later when acid reflux had me vomiting up the mucus that lined my stomach. Pretty much all of April and part of May were trashed by a severe reaction to gnat bites (gnats were at plague level at that point) that kept me in bed most of the time; I was going to work as I was able, but everything else hit the floor. These are just a few examples, but you get the picture: The word “soar” really didn’t seem to apply when looking at it from my perspective.

Then God showed me His perspective.

I’d entered 2024 having already made some lifestyle changes, but that TIA spurred me to make even more, to begin treating my body more like the temple of the Holy Ghose that Paul tells me it is in 1 Corinthians 6:19. Then, after the acid-reflux ER visit, I chose to stop using the medications I’d relied on for years and go the holistic route. The result, which I shared about in Acid Reflux Solutions: My Holistic Path to Recovery, is that my stomach is healing.

Then there is my weight, including a disturbing amount of belly fat, which has been an issue for some time. For years, I’d not been able to get under 176, which kept me in the obese category.  Last October it was 183, if I remember correctly. By February, my lifestyle changes had already caused it to drop to 180. Recently, for the first time in over ten years, I’ve broken that 176 barrier, and I’ve actually bumped 174 in recent days. It’s been a slow process resulting not from diets, but from steady lifestyle changes, and I’m feeling worlds better.

God explained to me that the weight loss and the improvement in my digestive system were examples of me soaring, rising above those trials I’d faced in the first part of the year. Even the month and a half I spent battling an allergic reaction so bad that it actually affected my ability to think clearly saw me rising above my agony. He then showed me all I’ve learned this year, including my most recent lesson on my trust in Him. (That one is in God’s Question that Stopped Me in My Tracks) He didn’t stop there, but I am. I’m sure you get the picture.

My point is that, when He gave me the word for last year, He knew exactly what was going to happen, and also knew how He was going to use what happened to help me grow, to help me soar.

Now I’m looking at 2025’s word, “perseverance,” and wondering just what He has in mind. Given the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of the word…

Steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.

I find myself wondering just what’s on the schedule.

We shall see!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

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