Enjoy this post from the Blue Ridge Writers Conference Blog today!

 Friday, November 4th, 2022     

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

Someone asked me if I picked up on any theme words by the end of 2020. It probably doesn’t surprise anyone when I say that people tend to think of me as a wordy person. Not so much because I write a lot of them and read a lot of them, though I do. Let’s face it, though, it’s because I can talk up a storm.

When we pick a word for a season, are we supposed to base it on words we’ve personally said a lot, words we’ve heard a lot, or words we’ve thought about a lot? Wait, it’s probably words we would like to think about, right?

For me personally, I felt the most used words during the 2020 season were probably “unprecedented” and “unmute.” Coming in a close third, “add to cart.”

Sometimes I picture 2020 getting sent to its room and storming angrily off the calendar. But then 2021 blew back in with a way-too-loud “Annd another thing!”

Those seasons were wording up a storm.

It’s true that storms come and go. Also true that sometimes they come and then they come again. What happens when you’re expecting a sunny day, and you find the clouds darkening instead? Or maybe you’re expecting a little sprinkle and get a life-soaking deluge?

Here’s what we can do: we can remember that our soul won’t flood. It won’t crumble. It doesn’t leak or crack. That’s because those who follow Jesus have a foundation. A Rock.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27 CSB).

Jesus is our foundation, our Rock. “For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11 CSB).

It’s good to look up, yes. But sometimes we also need to remember to look down. We need to take note of where we’re standing. We don’t have to fret unless we’re standing on some other foundation—those gooey, sinky, squishy, quicksand-y places.

Am I standing on, relying in, my own strength? In the strength and smarts of other humans? In possessions or wealth or status or entertainment? In the plans I’ve made? Am I standing on anything—anything—other than the Rock, the Word, the Way, the Truth, the Life? If so, I’m on a slippery slope and when a storm comes, I’ll be heading straight to Splats-ville.

When He who created and holds the world together is my foundation, I am secure. I can live in courage and peace and victory. Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world” (John 16:33 CSB).

Courage. Peace. Victory. Jesus! These are the words I would like to think about a lot—in every season.

Rhonda Rhea is an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway, and many more. She is the author of 19 books, including the popular romantic comedies co-authored with her daughter Kaley Rhea, Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated and Turtles in the Road. Rhonda and Kaley have also teamed up with Bridges TV host Monica Schmelter for the Messy to Meaningful books and TV projects. Along with Beth Duewel, Rhonda writes the Fix Her Upper series, and she also co-authored Unruffled: Thriving in Chaos with Edie Melson. She speaks at conferences and events from coast to coast, serves on many boards and committees, and stays busy as a publishing consultant. Rhonda says you can find her living near St. Louis drinking too much coffee and snort-laughing with her pastor/husband, five grown children, and a growing collection of the most exceptional grandbabies.