• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Find Your Consultant
  • Compassion
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • View Our Catalog
  • Consultant Login

Mary & Martha

  • Join
  • Host
  • Shop
  • About

How Finding A Word for Your Year Can Help You Live Intentionally

December 28, 2022 by Grace P. Cho

The new year is here within my reach, and my thoughts ping around my brain like the silver ball in a pinball machine. There are so many things I want to do as the year comes to an end, and so many loose ends to tie up. Each thought sets off a ding! and lights up all the different parts of my life that need attention: I want to rest in peace and calm after a busy fall season. I want time and space to reflect on the year past, to see what God has done and how far He’s brought me. I just bought everyone’s Christmas and birthday gifts because on top of the regular holiday craziness, there are nine birthdays we need to celebrate as well. I want to be present with my kids during the rest of their winter break, while still having to work, clean the house, and plan and make dinner. 

I want to enter the new year with purpose and intention, with a word that will guide and frame the twelve months ahead, but I know that can’t happen while I’m rushing to and fro, both in body and mind. I can’t see and hear what God is up to when I’m too busy, unable to stop the activities, the responsibilities, the noise. 

But in the midst of it all, there are pockets, moments, even hours when I can choose to put aside what clamors for my attention and to sit and be still. After the kids are put to bed, after the kitchen and living room are back in order, I sit at my desk with my journal and pen and empty space. I take three deep breaths because even though it’s quiet, I still need help quieting my soul. I open to a fresh page in my journal, and in my usual way, I start writing to God. 

Dear God, what a year it’s been . . . 

I reflect on everything that has happened over the last year. I go through my planner with its scribbles and crossed-out to-do lists, remembering the events and what God showed me about Himself in those times. I try to pinpoint the feelings and lessons I learned to see if there has been an overall trajectory God had me on. I had chosen the word cultivate at the beginning of the year, and in many ways — though in ways I didn’t expect — God cultivated the soil of my soul through a fallow season and through all the yeses I said to Him this year. 

Every year I’ve chosen a word, it has helped me stay grounded. It has given me a solid foundation to come back to when I start to wander aimlessly and busily through the year. When I get bogged down by all the mundane things of life, by the million decisions I need to make, I take a step back and remember the word. 

Am I living it out? How am I doing so? What is God teaching me about it? What is God teaching me about through it? 

It serves as a gentle reminder and an insight into how God is wanting to grow me. 

My word last year was cultivate, and now as I look toward to next year, I see how cultivate has made way for a new word for the new year. I faithfully said yes to everything God invited me into this past year, and now I sense God saying it’s time to focus, to learn to say yes to a few things and no to many things, to say yes to the better things and to say no to good things. 

This will affect every decision I make, both big and small. It will most likely mean sitting at my computer writing more than I’ve done before and saying no to coffee dates, even though those are deeply important. My word for the year will shape the way I spend my time, my money, the way I set rhythms in my life. And though I can’t see everything God has in store for me, I know that when I live out my word for the year, it will be the way He unfolds His purposes for me. 

I wonder what God is whispering to your soul as you look toward the new year. I wonder what word He has for you and what ways He’s going to work that word out in your life. He is speaking, and He is wanting you to hear. He wants you to draw near, to be bold in obedience, to stay rooted, and to grow more into maturity in Christ. 

Be still, even when things are not, and seek the word He has for you, seek His purpose for the year ahead. Let’s live intentionally this coming year! 

Making resolutions this year? Let us help. Take DaySpring’s Word of the Year quiz to find your 2023 Word of the Year – one word that will help you focus on what God is calling you to accomplish in the year ahead. 

<< Previous
Next >>

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Organize Your Time with Faith by Your Side
  • Ways to Be Kind This Year
  • When We Are Only a Bud and Not Yet a Flower
  • How Finding A Word for Your Year Can Help You Live Intentionally
  • A Prayer of Trust to Begin the New Year

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
Sign up for our Monthly Newsletter

Thanks for subscribing to the Mary & Martha newsletter.

* PLEASE ENTER A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS
Bringing Eternal Hope & Encouragement
to every home, everyday
Privacy Policy • CA Privacy Notice • CA Do Not Sell

Copyright ©2023 Mary & Martha

  • Join Mary & Martha
  • Find a Consultant
  • Host a Gathering
  • Contact Us
X

I Know a Consultant

Give Me a Consultant

Join Now

Name Title City State