Hot dogs and holy balls here we are with this new day of life, this new month, and the beginning of 4th quarter of 2020!!!! What a day this is. A day of new beginnings and fresh clean slates.

Oh, did you forget to get excited over this? Maybe you’re even annoyed by my unnecessary excitement over this ordinary Thursday that I’m making a ridiculously big deal over. I mean after all, it is the year of 2020. The year we’ve learned not to get our hopes up. The year we’ve learned crazy crap happens and plans simply don’t work out.

Whew, what a work the enemy has done when he steals our excitement over a gift like today. Don’t let him win this. Don’t let him darken the glorious light of this gift you have received. Don’t buy into his nonsense that says this day, this month, and the rest of this year is something to just ‘get through’.

God has met you here today with a gift. This is the gift of October.

I know I’m partial, but I do believe this is the most beautiful month of the entire year. This is the month seasons change, days get cooler, families gather for photos, and we finally let down our hair from the messy bun it’s been in for the past 5 months. This is the month burnt orange becomes a desirable color (but really it’s still ugly, it’s just trendy), and people lose their freaking minds over pumpkin spice everything. This is the month your front porch becomes a full on farm scene with hay bales and a harvest of crops. This is also the month some of ya’ll start eying the Christmas decorations and wonder if you’ll be judged because it’s too early to put up the tree.

I love me some October.

You have been given permission to get excited about this month! In fact, I believe the giver of this gift is watching closely just hoping you will receive it with overwhelming excitement instead of overwhelming anxiety. Will you be the one excited? Will you be the one who sees the beauty and potential in this new beginning? Will you be the one seizing every opportunity and delighting over every detail? Will you be the one who knows darn well what she’s been through, but at the same time knows darn well the gift she has received and the good, good Father who has given it to her?

Psalm 143:8 “Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”

This morning, we wake up and we hear of his unfailing love. We are surrounded by the beauty of his creation inviting us into this new season of life with hopeful hearts. We step into October trusting God.

This year has taught us we’ve put our trust in things which have failed us. But God is unfailing. He is not shaken by any of this. His plans still stand, his power is still unmatched, and his love is still unwavering. YOU CAN TRUST HIM.

As you step into the first day of this new month and final quarter of this year, will you give yourself fully to him? Will you seek him in where you should walk?

God has an opinion about your plans for October. He has input for your goals. He has a way in which you should go and a timing for which it should happen. And here’s what you need to know, IT IS GOOD. In fact, it’s not only good, it’s significantly better than anything you could have dreamed up on your own.

So today, as we accept the gift of life offered to us by our creator and step into a brand new month of living, we seek God’s vision for what this month can be. We pause to partner with the Almighty in designing our action steps for living up to our potential.

We take initiative and we put some things in writing. This is the time I will wake up. This is how I will spend the first hour of my days. This is how I will eat. This is how I will get better. This is what I will change. These are the steps I will take. Yes, these are goals and I know goals have the power to impact every area of your life. I personally know the impact of written goals to the degree that you couldn’t force me NOT to write goals today. You literally couldn’t make me not do it because I never want to live a month of my life without intentionally getting better.

But here’s what else I know … any plans I make apart from God are pure foolishness. Proverbs 16:9 says “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” What good are plans without steps to get there? God is the power to make everything you dream of in your life actually happen. Partner with him.

This morning, we’re going to have a special time of asking God what he has for us in this new month of life and final quarter of 2020. A time of commitment to taking the steps he has determined. A time to seek him and his good plans for us to step into the potential he has placed within us.

Now we partner with him in dreaming of what this month could be. We get excited for what he’s doing and all he has in store for us. We agree to becoming who he created us to be and showing up for life as the full on, all-in, 100% best version of ourselves.

No more of this watered down, lesser than, little version of us who lives in fear of what may happen next. Oh heck no! We are real life princesses up in here. Our Daddy is the King!

He goes before me and shows me where to walk. He makes a way. And he invites me into his vision for my life where everything is used for good.

So here’s to October and the final quarter of 2020. We should play some pump you up music and jump around because we’re stepping into something exciting! We receive this gift and we imagine all it can become. Now let’s partner with the powerful one to make it happen! Welcome to Rocktober, it’s time to ROCK this life you have been given!