What was your One Word for 2017?
Do you even remember it?
Don’t have one? No worries.
I thought it was a brilliant idea the first year I chose One Word instead of making a New Year’s resolution. God used the word Fearless powerfully to form me that year, but since then? Not so much.
I tend to choose a word and then forget it. To figure God will magically do something without my attention.
Hashtag fail.
The difference is that first year I truly showed up. I invested.
This year my word is STRONG.
I put a prompt on my calendar once a month to review my word, but honestly, other than listing some verses, I’ve ignored it…
Until the other day when I stumbled across a video post from another writer who had struggled similarly. She suggested what I’ve also done (VERY inconsistently) – going through Scripture, using Bible Gateway to check out passages with her word, BUT….(here’s the ridiculous secret part):
SHE BOUGHT A SPECIAL PRETTY JOURNAL just for her One Word!
So I did too.
Sound ridiculous that that should make a difference? Well sometimes we’re ridiculous people!
So the other day I showed up with my pretty new journal (separate from my ordinary one). I started with the first verse using the word STRONG I found with Bible Gateway and I asked 2 questions:
- What does this verse tell me about God?
- What does this verse tell me about myself?
And then I journaled a prayer about applying it to my life.
A couple of days later I was sitting with a friend who is in the depths of despair. As I listened to her, my mind went to my one word. I silently prayed for God’s strength in her weakness, in my weakness.
Strong. Not me alone, but God in me. Not you alone, but God in you.
What about you? If you’ve chosen a One Word how have you engaged with God around it? What has He been teaching you?
