Hi, everyone...this is Sara's sister, Laura. I know Sara would want to follow up on her "one little word for 2011," so I thought I would take some of her thoughts and share them with you...
Sara's one little word to focus on for 2011 was PRAISE...and how did she do?
Like she did at everything...OUTSTANDING!!
Praise made Sara feel centered. Praise is what helped Sara Choose Joy.
As I was re-reading Sara's post regarding her choice of the word Praise, the phrase, "It's not about me" stuck out. As Sara was preparing to meet our Heavenly Father, she told us she did not want her funeral to be about her. As we all chuckled and told her it kinda was about her, she adamantly told us NO, she wanted it to be about what she was teaching through her writing, that it is all about Him.
In Sara's post on Praise, she said,
"Rather than letting life run me, I take a simple action. I go from my own circumstance to thinking about others. I remember that this life is not about me and choose to give thanks to the God who loves me. That is what keeps my spirits up... it's my focus on spirits other than mine. It's my focus on praising instead of dwelling on my own circumstances. It's not always easy, but it is something I have to choose to do if I am going to live the life He needs me to."
There is that other word, Choose...
On December 5, Pastor Christian Watts gave a sermon titled "Choosing Joy When Life Gives You Lemons." Pastor Watts contacted me and asked if he could use Sara's story in his message. He read Sara's post on Choosing Joy and reminded me of the word choose...
"I made a decision a long time ago that I was going to choose joy. I even painted a big rectangle on my wall and printed it in big letters so I wouldn't forget to make that choice every day. The major word in that rectangle isn't joy... it's CHOOSE. It's looking around me when life is difficult and trading every complaint I have for something beautiful in my life that far outweighs it. I know, it's that Pollyanna personified thing again... but living joyful beats being cynical any day of the week."
(Here is the link if you would like to hear his sermon. He did a great job of honoring Sara! Http://vimeo.com/33196922)
Sara chose Praise and she praised Him very well...I will leave you with this final thought from Sara...
"He knows my past, present and future. He is surprised by nothing. He is with me, never leaves me even when I feel alone, and holds me up even when I think I am standing on my own two feet. He is good. All the time. And I am going to praise Him through all of it."
2012 is right around the corner and as we choose new resolutions or items to focus on, I'm definitely not going to stop focusing on this one...
