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 <h1>how to read the Bible - ditching the Bible in a year reading plan </h1>
 #christian #bible <br>
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src/diary/entries/240101

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 <h1>weird symptoms - diagnosing colon cancer </h1>
 #personal #health #christian<br>
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src/diary/entries/240108

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 <h1>miracles in the midst of my worst fear </h1>
 #personal #health #christian<br>
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    <h2>a thousand little miracles </h2>
    <p>I'm tired and will continue later. :) Thanks for reading, and please thank God for all His faithfulness and lovingkindness. </p>
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-Last updated January 1, 2024. <br>
+Last updated January 8, 2024. <br>
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src/diary/entries/240109

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+<h1>2024 word of the year: hope </h1>
+#personal #christian<br>
+<br>
+<p>It's a new year! And the word of the year is hope. </p>
+
+<h2>word of the year </h2>
+   <p>My church encourages its members to choose a guiding word each year. New Year's resolutions never really clicked, but a single word is more thought-provoking and less pressuring than an objective goal for me. I source annual words naturally from reoccurring words in my life and Scripture that speak to some misunderstanding or weakness of mine, then I spend the year learning more about it and addressing faults. </p>
+   <p>For example, last year's word was fool. It directed me to better understand those confusing sections of Scripture where Paul says to be a fool for Christ or even boasts as a fool (2 Corinthians 11), but it also encourages me to be a little more foolish before myself and others for Christ's sake. There are so many times I have been nudged to do something good for another but refused because "they'll think I'm crazy," "it won't do any good," "I'm too embarrassed," "surely the Holy Spirit isn't nudging me right now," and all the other classic excuses. No more! I would rather be reckless and do everything I can for God and make some mistakes while doing it instead of passively hoving about the sidelines. Having "fool" as a mantra was more inspiring than "Say yes to God more, and do more good works." If it had been a resolution, it wouldn't have been as constant in my mind. </p>
+   <h2>hope </h2>
+   <p>2024 is the year of hope. My pastor called it the year of miracles and of family healing, so maybe it's appropriate. I chose this word because of Romans 5:3-5, which claims suffering ultimately produces hope. This verse ties in with my readings of Paul's and James's epistles addressed to those going through tribulations while I try to better understand the recent hardships in my life. The word hope has cropped up in recent sermons also. If something stands out to me like that, I suppose I ought to examine it. </p>
+   <p>I usually skim over mentions of hope in the Bible and even avoid using the word in everyday speech. I find it weak and passive. If someone hopes I get better soon, it's nothing more than a nice sentiment to have said and even less when performed. Hoping to get something accomplishes nothing. It seems to me like anything else put in hope's place would be better. Advice or genuine and non-cliche support beats a 'get better soon,' and any other action would be more productive towards reaching a goal than hope. Hope itself even lacks substance as a virtue. Everyone hopes, but can you excel at hope? Can you improve your hope? Can you hope harder? </p>
+   <p>Even if it wasn't conscious or that big a deal to me, that attitude towards hope is still neurotic at best and a little uppity and false at worst. The Bible addresses hope as something all Christians should have, so it has divine value, end of story. In other words, it's something new to explore in Scripture and embrace as a way to better understand my Savior and be more like Him. So let's find hope this year! </p>
+   <p>I'm not fully the kind of person to hope for a brighter future or for good outcomes to my current situation. I would prefer good things, of course, but I often feel like looking towards a bright future is a passive waste of time and will make any possible bad outcome that much more disappointing. It's best to see how things are actively progressing and adapt, preserving my emotions as I go. After all, we aren't guaranteed a happy and easy time while on earth. In fact, we are called to suffer with Christ. </p>
+   <p>Obviously hope isn't placed in earthly things anyway, no matter how precious they may seem. We hope to forever be before our Savior, for our linen dresses to have been washed spotless white in the Lamb's blood for the heavenly wedding, and for us to reside in the New Heavens and New Earth forever. These outcomes are promised, so hope in them is assured. I do hope in these things, but maybe I have more room to grow in my hope? There's always a gray tinge under these words, since there is room to think the goodness is withheld until after death. However, David was so confident in the goodness of the Lord, forever declaring the Lord would restore loss multiple times over and that He would show His goodness in the land of the living. Perhaps we have hope on Earth, too, even if it pales in comparison to our hope in Heaven.  </p>
+   <h2>you try </h2>
+    <p>Anyway, if you haven't thought of your word of the year, start thinking. :) It's more fun than resolutions. I hope you have a year of miracles and family healing. Thanks for reading. </p>
+<br>
+Last updated January 8, 2024. <br>
+<br>