JANUARY

You are so intimately aware of me, Lord.

You read my heart like an open book

and you know all the words I’m about to speak

before I even start a sentence!

You know every step I will take before my

journey even begins!

PSALM 139:3-4 TPT

JANUARY 1

SOMETHING NEW

Whether you have generated a color-coded list of goals, dreams, and an execution plan for the next 365 days or you’ve banned resolutions and vowed to make this just another day on the calendar, the clean slate represented by the first day of a new year is filled with an undeniable air of expectation. The excitement of a new bauble or gadget pales in comparison to the promise of a new beginning. Deep down inside, there is a part of us which thinks, “This could be my year!”

Guess what? It is your year. This day, and every one that follows, is yours. It is yours to choose who and how to love, to serve, and even to be. And the choice you made in reading this page represents the choice to take this journey in the company of your heavenly Father. That is a beautiful place to start.

What new thing would you like to do this year? What pathways do you need God to clear?

JANUARY 2

WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT YOU

In a memorable scene from a movie about teenage girls, a teacher asks a gymnasium full of young women to close their eyes and raise their hands if they’ve ever said anything bad about another girl. Virtually every hand is raised. The reason this scene rings true is that it is true. And sadly, we are often even harder on ourselves.

In addition to the amazing news that Mary would bear God’s son, the angel who visits her in Luke 1 also tells Mary of her goodness, of her favor in God’s eyes. Mary was a teenage girl. Chances are, she’d heard—and thought—something less than kind about herself on more than one occasion. Consider her brave, beautiful response:

Are you self-critical? If asked to describe yourself, what would you say? Now think of someone who loves you. What do they say about you? Decide today to let their words—and God’s words—be the truth. Join Mary in saying to God, “May everything you have said about me come true.”

JANUARY 3

WHEN YOU FEEL STUCK

“Local authorities are reporting blizzard conditions on the Interstate…” Did your pulse just quicken, your muscles tense? No one likes to feel stuck, and blinding snow and unmoving vehicles on every side can cause even the most rational, laid-back woman to imagine leaping from her car and running over rooftops and across hoods, action hero style. What a fun way to test out the traction on your new winter boots. Or not. Anyway, stuck is stuck, right?

Maybe we feel stuck in our everyday lives. A job that doesn’t utilize our gifts, a relationship that’s more take than give, a habit that’s edging toward addiction. Unlike that snow-covered freeway-turned-parking-lot, there is a direction to turn when circumstances have you feeling boxed in. Turn your face toward the Lord; let him fill you with the strength to move.

Where are you stuck right now? Professionally, personally, or perhaps in your prayer life, is there an area where you’ve simply stopped moving? Ask God for surefooted strength, and then go where he leads you.

JANUARY 4

THE FATHER’S LOVE

Regardless of how beautifully or how imperfectly your earthly father showed his love, your heavenly Father’s love is utterly boundless. Rest in that thought a moment. There is nothing you can do to change how he feels about you. Nothing.

We spend so much time trying to make ourselves more lovable, from beauty regimens to gourmet baking, to being there for pretty much everyone. It’s easy to forget we are already perfectly loved. Our Father loves us more than we can imagine. And he would do anything for us. Anything.

Who do you love most fiercely, most protectively, most desperately here on earth? What would you do for them? Know that it’s a mere fraction, nearly immeasurable, of what God would do for you. Spend some time thanking him for his great love.

JANUARY 5

PROCRASTINATION

I don’t want to walk in late; I think I’ll just go tomorrow.

I’m feeling a little tired; I probably wouldn’t do my best today, anyway.

I don’t feel very creative right now. I’ll do it in the morning.

How often are circumstances ideal? How often do we think we need to wait until they are?

Right now, today, let’s choose together to follow the advice of Scripture and decide that a few minutes late is better than absent. Let’s acknowledge our collective fatigue, and then do today’s version of our best in spite of it. Let’s stop waiting for a burst of creativity, attack our projects, and see what happens. Let’s honor God—and surprise ourselves at the same time.

What are you waiting for?

JANUARY 6

COMPASSION

Advertisers know your secret. They know the sight of a lost puppy, starving child, or grieving mother tugs at something deep inside your female heart, giving you a powerful desire to do something—anything. They’re counting on it.

When we accepted Christ, and he gave us his Holy Spirit, we became aware of his heart. Specifically, we became aware of what breaks his heart. The more in tune we are with him, the more those things break our own hearts.

Jesus was pretty clear: “Feed my sheep,” he commanded. His actions said the same; he fed them by the thousands. He wept for Lazarus’ sisters in their grief. He wept for those who did not recognize him. He wept for us. He took on our burden of sin, the full weight of it, so we might live and know his heart.

What breaks your heart? Do you find yourself aching at the sight of a motherless child, a homeless mother, a neglected animal? How can you act on this compassion, and obey Christ?

JANUARY 7

GROWTH

Do you remember when you realized you had stopped growing? Your height was going to be your height, your shoe size your shoe size. This second fact was pretty thrilling for many of us; no more hearing Mom say, “That’s too much to spend on shoes you’ll outgrow in a few months.” And so the collection began.

Not too long after our bones finish growing, we realize the real growth is just getting started. As we become young women, friendships either deepen or fade away as we begin to figure out who we are. No matter what our ages today, most of us are still working on that one. When we are growing in Christ, it’s a process that never really ends.

How does knowing that God wants to help you become your best inspire you to attempt it this year?

JANUARY 8

THE BUDDY SYSTEM

Women like to travel in pairs. Men love to razz us for it, but it really does feel better to go to the restroom—or the concession stand, or the mall, or the movies, or to a child’s basketball game—with another woman. It’s not that it’s uncomfortable being alone; it’s just that most things are better with a companion. We go with our friends when they ask because we want to go.

How great it is to realize we have a constant companion in the Holy Spirit? Once we’ve accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation, we’ll never be alone again. He’s there for all of it—the silly, the simple, and the scary. Waiting for those test results, driving a lonely road at night, or walking an unfamiliar...