FIND: My Word of the Year and Why
The Word
FIND (verb): To realize that something exists or has happened.
Funny enough, I found this word by doing one of those Instagram stories that encourages you to screenshot to find your answer. It was just for fun, but when I read the definition and took some time to think about it, it’s pretty perfect for me.
I’ve been known to live on the sidelines of life. I enjoy watching other people succeed and cheering them on in their endeavors. While I always feel a little pang of jealousy and some feelings of, “why not me?” I am quite adept at shoving them down and stomping them out with comebacks like, “because you might fail,” “because other people are better-suited for that,” “because it’s scary and you’re not enough to handle it,” “because you’re too much and people shouldn’t have to handle your ‘too-much-ness.”
Do any of those sound familiar to you? I think this is a common problem with a lot of common outcomes. But I also think I’m quite done with hiding and making excuses for not following what God has planned for my life.
Why
So “find” is perfect. This year, my hope is to find what God has laid out for me to accomplish.
And when I get scared, I’ll remember whatever it is I’m doing, it’s already written in God’s book. He’s already told the story of my life and He already knows how it ends. He has the people, the courage, the resources, and the energy placed perfectly where they need to be. He knows where I’ll fail and how that will help me succeed in the long run. He has it all laid out for me: a plan and a purpose and a mission and a goal.
I just need to find it.
I need to do my part and stop turning my head to the left and the right, seeing what everyone else has going for them or how I might compare or contrast. Because that’s not really part of the plan, is it? To compare. I believe we should watch others so we might partner with them, cheer them on, encourage them, and pick them up. But we’re not meant to watch and criticize, pick apart, be jealous of, or scrutinize them. No, that’s a very large waste of the precious time we’ve been given.
And a Verse
I like to pick a verse to go along with my word, and this one was tucked in the middle of my devotions last week and fits just so perfectly. I love when God places what we need where we need it and gives us eyes to see it.
Matthew 7:7-8
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
How I Plan to Keep it in the Forefront
I’ve been very guilty of picking an intention for the year and letting it fall to the wayside by about January 15. Lucky for me, that date has come and passed!
January is almost over, so I’m a little late to the “New Year, who dis?” party, but I’ve never really been about sticking to a January 1 fresh start, it feels like too much pressure. So, if you’re with me and you’re just getting your new-year-bearings, let’s be friends.
I invested in a Cultivate What Matters planner for this year and let me tell you, I am one of those people who buys planners and notebooks and journals because they’re pretty and then they sit on a shelf with a few pages filled out, so trust me when I say this is a planner I can see myself sticking with until at least June, but probably throughout the whole year. But that’s another post.
This handy planner gives a place to write your word of the year, and I will be writing it out along with my verse and placing them on the bathroom mirror. We are what we behold, so what better way to become your goals than to place them somewhere you will behold them daily?
What’s Your Word?
Do you pick a word for the year? How did you come to it? How do you plan on keeping it at the forefront?
If you still need a word, I’ve put together a free sheet with 10 word + verse options that’s printable so you can stick up on the fridge, in your car, on the mirror, or on your forehead. All the words are verbs, because I believe this is the year we should start being active participants our lives.
I’d love to gift it to you, just sign up here. Let me know which word + verse resonate most with you! (FIND and Matthew 7:7-8 are options on the sheet, in case this post resonated with you.)
**If you sign up, please check your spam folder, mark your email from me “not spam” and confirm your subscription :)