05 Jan Going on with God
Happy New Year to you all. We made it, we are in 2021 and it is only by the grace of God. My name is Ouedraogo Tatiana and I am 25 years old. I was born in Burkina-Faso (west Africa), raised in Belgium, moved to Luxembourg 10 years ago and studied in an American College in Germany. I had the chance to evolve in a pretty international environment which can be a bit confusing at first but I count it in my strengths now. I have been “officially” involved in ministry since I was 14 years old in my local church and I mainly served in the music ministry.
It is needless to say that 2020 was a very particular year for all of us. So many went through loss and mental breakdowns. All the information concerning Covid-19 were heavy to take and we all had to face several changes. Most of the things we planned did not go as planned. If nothing else, 2020 taught us that we can plan as much as we want but we do not know what tomorrow holds. This is not because we plan that we are in control. God only is the master of time and seasons. Personally, I had to learn to trust God in the unknown this year. Not only because of the drastic changes Covid-19 brought but I also was struggling in many other areas of my life. I had to trust God for myself as an individual and put ALL my faith in Him. For the first time I could not count on anyone! Not even my family.
All these experiences brought me to take my resolutions for 2021 and I pray it can help or inspire someone who can identify. I chose to only have two specific resolutions this year to be able to set specific goals. There are probably other things I will be working on but these two will be my main focus.
My first resolution of 2021 could sound really cliché but it is to put God back in the center of my life by investing intentional quality time with Him. Meditating His word and pray are of course the main ways to do so but we can also get a bit creative about it. For instance, I enjoy long walks in the nature and I figured it is also a time I feel close to God and talk to Him while walking. I also enjoy all kinds of crafts and feel very inspired and close to Him while crafting for other people. I also realized that singing helps me express things that I struggle to express talking. So sometimes I just sing my prayers.
My second resolution of 2021 is to actively work on my skills. When God gives many talents, it is easy to rest on one’s laurels but this year I want to deepen/improve my skills by setting specific reachable goals. For instance I started learning the guitar and my final goal is to be able to play and sing in Church by the end of the year. Now, to do so I had to set reachable and specific steps like: practice 30min a day, learn to play and sing a song each month, have an accountability partner (my brother) to check on my growth regularly, etc. They key is to set specific reachable steps (to avoid being frustrated and then give up).
I pray for 2021 to be an amazing year where you will rest in the Lord.
THE AUTHOR
Tatiana Ouedraogo
Tatiana was born in Burkina-Faso (west Africa), raised in Belgium, moved to Luxembourg 10 years ago and studied in an American College in Germany. She has been “officially” involved in ministry since I was 14 years old in her local church and now mainly serves in the music ministry.