Be brave

What was your “word” for 2019?

It’s that time of year again – time to get all excited about a fresh start, new goals and ambitions. We’re still riding the high from Christmas, and feel like we can achieve anything we set our minds to.

But an important part of that looking-ahead is also looking-back.

When I take our family’s wall calendar down to put up the new one (yes we still use those), I page through it, looking back on events from the past year. I don’t remember them all, and I definitely don’t remember all of the lessons learned from them all. But it’s a step in the direction of reflection.

I was skeptical about the “one word” idea for a long time. But in the last few years I’ve embraced the concept, seeing it as an opportunity to grow in something specific, or at least take a step back and notice things. Yes I’ve had some years where my word has stood out in multiple ways throughout the whole year, and others where I completely forget what it was by April.

A year ago, as I started loosely thinking about what 2019 would hold for me, a word kept popping out at me from lots of different places. But I kept pushing it away, because honestly? it terrified me. I thought that if I “officially” acknowledged BRAVE as my “word” for 2019, God would actually test my bravery. I would experience some hard things, be forced to have hard conversations with people. And that idea scared me so much. (#enneagram9)

I finally gave in, two weeks into January, because nothing else came to mind. And as I look back on the past year, I do see some concrete examples of God teaching me to be brave.

1. I started the year with Annie Downs’ book 100 Days to Brave (no matter what word I choose each year, I think I’m going to make this devotional part of my beginning-of-the-year reading).
2. I cut my hair the shortest it’s ever been (and I’ve loved it).
3. I taught two workshops at the GEMS Conference (one of them had me sick to my stomach beforehand because I felt so unprepared, but God showed up and used my gifts in amazing ways).
4. Though I’ve been a member for almost two years, I finally tried out group classes at the gym (#introvert) (and discovered one I really enjoy and now try to go as often as the class fits into my schedule).
5. We bought and sold a house (such a whirlwind of a summer).
6. In February I registered for the hope*writers Conference in North Carolina, and in November I went! (God showed up in so many ways to make this happen, and I’m still processing everything I learned)

I truly am amazed at how many things I noticed during the year thanks to choosing a “word” for 2019.

Before you look ahead to the next year – the next decade! – tell me, what was your word for 2019? I’d love to know!

And sure, if you have a word ready for 2020 I’d love to hear that too. I’ve got a possibility in mind for myself, but I’m not entirely settled on it yet and want to hear other ideas. 😉