2009 Theme: FAITH

Faith is knowing the sun will rise, lighting each new day.
Faith is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray.
Faith is like a little seed:
If planted it will grow.
Faith is a swelling within my heart.
When I do right, I know

Okay so I'd seen a couple of these and felt intimidated at the idea of doing it myself. That is, until I read Seriously So Blessed and realized that if the fake, superficial Mormon mommy could choose a ridiculous one, I could definitely put the time into choosing a real one for myself. And it's still January so I'm good ;)

As I thought about this year and what it holds for me there was really only one topic that stood out in my mind, and that is that I need to have faith! I need to have faith in the Lord and in my Savior Jesus Christ that everything is going to work out as it should. That said I also need to remember to keep my feet moving-- faith without works is dead (James 2:17), and everything I do should reflect the type of person I want to become. I need to have faith that all of the righteous desires of my heart will come to me as I keep the commandments and work hard to serve those people in my circle of influence.

When I was in young woman's and started working seriously on my personal progress, my leader asked me which value I wanted to start on. I looked at here blankly and told her immediately I wanted to start with Faith. This was mostly because my logical brain said, "Start at the beginning of the book, and work through it until you're done!" but the more I finished the Faith experiences and learned the lessons intended in those I realized there was a reason Faith was first: everything else is based on faith! If you don't have faith that you are of infinite worth to Heavenly Father, you have a hard time thinking positively about yourself. If you don't have faith that good works will make you happy, you're probably not going to be as adamant about looking for those opportunities. So we're going back to the basics here, friends! I tend to be afraid about the future and doubt myself so a focus on faith will drive both of those away. They cannot exist at the same time!

I have no doubts this year will be a good one, and I'm grateful for the hope of the Gospel and the blessing it is in my life. Every thing good that I have is a direct result of it!