There’s nothing as satisfying, in 2018, like old school video games. Ok, there is, but you get the point. I remember playing Nintendo and Sega Genesis and getting really excited when I advanced to the next level. It never happened without some sort of battle. There was always tests of endurance and then an enemy that was guarding the exit of the current level and the open door to the next. In Mario Brothers, a victorious player would get to jump to the top of the flagpole and watch the points rack up as the victory song played. Well, life is like that game. There are spiritual levels and physical levels and career levels and relationship levels and… you name it… there are levels to this. I am grateful to have leveled up after 2017. It taught ME to put on the FULL armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) to stand against the enemy and remember I fight FROM VICTORY not for it.
In 2017, I learned to armor up to level up.
Ivy Out
My next sister feature is Sheridan Labbé…”How did God grow you in 2017?”
Thinking about how God grew me is such a pleasant twist on revisiting the ups and downs of 2017. God grew me by allowing me to learn more quickly when faced with adversity and setbacks. Instead of lingering on a roadblock, failed attempt, or what may have seemed like a “no,” I have instead been blessed with the wisdom of discernment and clarity. Although I know there will be more tests to come, I’m more grounded with each test. My outlook has changed when it comes to negative experiences and encounters. I listen and trust my intuition more, especially when allowing new people and energy into my space.
God has also grown me by causing me to ask myself, “Why wouldn’t I be deserving?” For so long I felt like I have to complete steps A-Z to receive certain blessings, but God showed me another way to operate. I am deserving because I AM. No longer will I sit back and think “I have to do this in order to be worthy of that.”
In the most important way, God drew me to be authentic, not only for myself but with others. It’s easy to be authentic with yourself when you’re alone but being who you are 100% of the time, with no apologies, is a life I strive to live daily. So many people don’t grow comfortable with who they are until much later in life after spending decades of hiding behind others expectations and projections, but God blessed me with a tribe of women who serve as a mirror to me to live authentically every day and in every way.
2017 was growth. 2017 was understanding the beauty in growth. 2018 Mantra: I am deserving because I am. Bloom & Prosper.
Sheridan Labbe
Andonnia's Truth 