My Word for 2016

Hi friends, thank you for checking back with me. The holidays were a whirl of busyness and traditions from Christmases past, and once Christmas was over, I lost myself in New Year’s goal setting. This was the first year that I got my hands on a set of Powersheets by Lara Casey and they made the process of resolution-making a lot more intense and ten times more purposeful. I couldn’t recommend them enough.

One of the exercises in the Powersheets was choosing a word for the year. I had never done this before because, frankly, I’d never seen the point. I thought, “Why would I choose a word at the beginning of the year that’s supposed to label an entire 12 months when I have no idea what’s going to happen?” But, it’s really not about labeling the year, it’s about thinking intentionally on where you want to be at the end of the twelve months and selecting a word that will be your “anthem” in getting there.

True to form, my word came to me through a movie. I’m starting to believe that stories are just a part of how my mind works, they affect me so much. I was watching a Christmas movie and in one scene, the characters are singing a prayer. I had watched the movie and heard the song countless times, but for some reason one of the lines stuck out to me like never before,

 

We reach for you, and we stand tall, and in our prayers and dreams, we ask you bless us all.

Isn’t that beautiful? And isn’t that true? When we reach for God, we stand tall…we just do. That’s the way I want to live. The more I thought about it, the more it represented my vision for a right life. So, my word for the year is “reach.” And hopefully it will remind me that no matter what I find to do or say, first I will reach for the Lord. In need or in plenty, throwing my arms up to Him to receive wisdom and peace or to give thanks and praise.

It’s a powerful thought, and maybe thinking it all year long will inspire me to live it. Do you choose a “word of the year”? If you do, what is your word for 2016?

 

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Okay, so the movie the song lyric came from was A Muppet Christmas Carol. 🙂 And, that may sound hilarious, but read these lyrics, they’re beautiful!

Life is full of sweet surprises
Every day’s a gift
The sun comes up and I can feel it lift my spirit
Fills me up with laughter, fills me up with song
I look into the eyes of love and know that I belong

Bless us all, who gather here
The loving family I hold dear
No place on earth, compares with home
And every path will bring me back from where I roam
Bless us all, that as we live
We always comfort and forgive
We have so much, that we can share
With those in need we see around us everywhere

Let us always love each other
Lead us to the light
Let us hear the voice of reason, singing in the night
Let us run from anger and catch us when we fall
Teach us in our dreams and please, yes please
Bless us one and all

Bless us all with playful years
With noisy games and joyful tears
We reach for You and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams
We ask You bless us all

We reach for You and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you
Bless us all

Happy New Year, y’all!

–SONG