Page 18 - Grace.Spring.2021

Spring Cleaning
Your Thought Life & Dusting Off Your Dreams
Christy Webb
C h r i s t y W e b b
I lost my vision.
Let me clarify, I didn’t lose my
eyesight, I lost my vision...and
veered way off course.
Like many people, I started
2020 with hope, focus, dreams,
plans, goals….and a vision
board to organize them all in
one place. It was the first time
I had ever created a vision
board. I spent a lot of time at
the end of 2019 thinking,
praying, and talking to my
fiancé, now husband, about
what intentional living would
look like for the new year. For
several years now, I have
prayed for the Lord to give me
a word to focus on for the
coming year, and for 2020 my
word was “discipline”. Oh, the
irony of THAT word. It sits
boldly at the center of my
vision board as a reminder
that all the other dreams,
goals and plans hinge on the
execution of that single word.
It was to be a year of promise,
growth and change!
But then life happened. A
pandemic happened. And they
brought some unwelcomed
friends: uncertainty, doubt,
fear, isolation, distractions and
stress.
addition to all that made
2020, well 2020, but maybe,
I’m sure we all remember the like me, you also faced some
first few weeks of the novel
significant challenges or losses.
virus, dubbed COVID-19, and In the span of one year we
how there was fear and had a wedding, followed
uncertainty in abundance while closely by my husband having
toilet paper, Lysol and hand a 2 week hospital stay due to
sanitizer became scarce. complications from Multiple
Suddenly many of us were Sclerosis, an adult child with a
working from home, our kids serious addiction that resulted
were forced into virtual in some jail time, extensive and
learning and life as we knew it intrusive issues with an ex-
came skidding to an spouse, the loss of my job and
unexpected stop. Restaurants subsequent 4 months of
closed, movie theaters closed, unemployment (without
gyms closed, public gatherings unemployment benefits), a
were either forbidden or damaged relationship with
severely restricted. For months another child due to
we were given grim daily circumstances beyond our
reports of cases, death tolls control, the loss of my
and hospitalizations. New husband’s job a couple of
symptoms emerged. Officials weeks before Christmas and
and doctors argued about the loss of my precious
what treatments would and Grandmother...the last
wouldn’t work. We all, to some patriarch of my family and
extent, lived in crisis mode, one of my very best friends.
isolated from our friends, Stress was through the roof!
extended families, church To say that all of my carefully
families and work colleagues, planned goals and dreams fell
swallowing the fear the media to the wayside would be an
doled out, masked, fearful and understatement!
swimming in the uncertainty of
what the future would hold.
As 2020 was coming to a close
I, once again, sought the Lord
All of this is enough to derail for a word for 2021. It sure
most people and knock them didn’t take long to get an
off their feet, even if just answer…about 2 seconds,
temporarily. But we all had really. He said, “’discipline’
other, regular life issues to because you didn’t master it
continue to deal with as well. yet.” Well, that was a kind way
I’m not sure what you faced in of putting it! I’m so grateful
for His grace! I’ve never had
to repeat a “word” before, but
I also understood that this
one is really important and
that it would be my word
until I got it right. You know
that whole going around the
mountain thing until you
grasp the lesson? That’s
what this is about. If I want
to see my vision realized,
reach my goals and live out
my purpose, I have to be
serious about discipline.
I know I am not the only one
who struggles with this and
wanting this to be my last
trip around this particular
mountain, I started to dig
into some of the “whys”
outside of the typical time,
focus, and resources reasons.
Remember our unwelcomed
friends from 2020:
uncertainty, doubt, fear,
isolation, distractions and
stress? I found that they all
play a role in derailing us
from reaching our goals,
dreams and potential. Let’s
look at each one.
Uncertainty
Uncertainty starts to niggle
at us when we are faced with
the unknown. We begin to
question, or second guess,
where we are going. Instead
19