1-9-22 Word of the Year
Quote: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
What a radical quote to start our 2022 blog season! I would love to start this year’s blog by telling you about what it means to cling to a “word of the year”.
So here’s some back info… at the end of 2017, our family attended my aunt and uncle’s church one Sunday morning. They passed out black Sharpie pens and told us that rather than making New Year’s resolutions, we should instead focus on one word that God wants us to focus on. Letting him be a part of everyday, not just praying about keeping a list of resolutions. It was intriguing. Only one word? I could do that, couldn’t I?
So I started praying that morning while in church. I realized that I needed to be brave in 2018 if I was actually going to do some of the things that God wanted me to do. So that year I went with “Brave” and wrote it on my hand before I left church. A few months later, I found a great song to go with it that I sang all year to remind me to be brave. And guess what? I was brave. I did some pretty brave things and I know I was successful because I had focused on one word instead of a list of all the ways I wanted to be brave.
Sometimes we overthink things. Keep it simple.
In 2019 I got the phrase “God Lens”. I asked God to help me see others the way he sees them. I needed to have more compassion and realize that hurt people hurt people. Something amazing happened! Half way through the year – after 6 months of focusing on seeing people through God’s eyes – he started to show me how he saw me! I started to get this Holy confidence of who I really was…how God saw me. Most of the time, I see myself as this hot mess of a person but that is not how God sees me. What an amazing word(s) of the year that turned out to be!
In 2020 I knew long before January 1st that my word of the year was going to be “Serve”. I had a bracelet made right away and I started planning 3 mission trips – I was ready to serve! And then BAM! Covid-19 hit and there went all my plans to serve – no prison ministry, no mission trips, no kids to teach at school, no church building. I had to get creative with everything, including serving. What a hard word of the year that turned out to be!
2021 was another hard word: “Truth”- actively asking God “What is the truth in this situation?” I was tired of living offended and I needed to dig deeper to find out why things were happening in my life so I could handle anything the devil tried to throw my way. I picked a powerful verse and had a list of questions I asked myself so many times over and over that year that I had them memorized. It was a word with a lot of work attached but I stuck with it – because it was one word that I was able to apply to every situation I encountered.
My 2022 word of the year is “Live!”
I landed on it by accident but once it came, it was like I had been hit with a lightening bolt. I had worked so hard that last few years, focusing on words of the year that I felt I needed to get better at – things to improve. God was saying to me “Breathe.” Take this year and truly live. Be creative, think outside the box, try new things, make monthly goals, and get rid of anything that is standing in the way of who I was created to be. I’ve got lots of goals – none of them are written down but I’m asking God to give me one new thing each month to focus on so that I am truly living.
I found the amazing quote by Eleanor Roosevelt and I memorized it to make myself try to do something everyday that takes me out of my comfort zone. I’ve been writing them down so I don’t forget. I found a verse to memorize and recite and I’d love to share it with you: John 10:10b says, “…but I have come that you live life to the fullest.” I will recite this everyday if I have to. I also found a Christian song to go with it (the song “Rattle” by Elevation Worship) to sing at the top of my lungs. It is going to be an absolute blast having this fun and exciting word of the year.
What word can you focus on this year?
