look up.
Months ago, I felt like God told me to “look up” during worship. Normally, my eyes are closed, so I’m not actually looking anywhere. But my head is usually bowed.
Turn your face toward Me, He seemed to say. Look up.
A small shift in posture. Seemingly insignificant. But I was surprised to find it felt hard to do at first. I kept forgetting, and Holy Spirit would remind me. But then, I didn’t want to. It felt weird. Like my head is bowed in reverence — what is it if my chin is up?
Oh, I noticed. It kind of feels exposing.
Not because lifting my face meant the people around me could see it. I close my eyes to block out the whole room. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just me and God. Which means that bowing my head wasn’t simply a posture of reverence for Him, it was revealing the feeling of unworthiness — and God was calling me out for it.
I don’t think it’s always been that way. But lately, faith feels hard. And in the midst of so many things I don’t understand, sometimes it just feels like, What else is there to do but bow before You?
But it felt like a gentle reminder. You can look up, because I am good. I am hope.
Don’t just sing about Me, sing to Me.
We have this song that I love from my church, and we haven’t sung it in a while, but it says, “I want to be face to face with holiness.” His notes on my posture during worship reminded me of those words — reminded me He wants that too. But I can’t be face to face with Him if I’m looking down.
Last year, I had the idea to make a wall calendar. I love having words of truth hanging on my wall, but there is something about a timely declaration. Words for a season. What might God be saying about this month of the year?
I asked Him to tell me what to write. Which months to assign the words to. I designed it, printed a bunch of copies, and sold them. It was fun to make something like that, but even more fun to flip the page each month and see how the words were exactly the reminders and encouragement I needed.
This year, a few people who bought the 2025 calendar asked if I would make one for 2026. Honestly, I wasn’t going to, but I asked God about it.
I wrote down some ideas and was drawn to Psalm 5:3, like an anchor verse for each month of the year.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning, I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
This verse rings true for me. Not always, but it’s a pattern I like to follow.
I talk to Him. I tell Him about what’s happening, what I’m excited about, and what I’m disappointed by. I make my requests known.
And then — I look up. To hear what He says. To see what He does.
Because He hears us. He responds. He is worth waiting for.
I wasn’t going to make the calendar, but then in a burst of creative energy, I did. In two days, it went from nothing to a very colorful something. I wanted to make it black and white, like last year’s. But I just kept feeling like God was pushing the HOPE agenda.
Look up. There is hope. The future is bright and colorful.
What’s God saying in 2026?
I don’t know. But look up. Because it’s something.
That's what the calendar is for. To remind us to look up. To lean in. To wait. But also, to have space to write down what we see, what we hear, what God is doing in 2026.
