As 2015 was coming to a close, I kept seeing friends on social media talking about their word for 2016. This was a new thing to me, so I made a mental note to think about finding my own word. Before I knew it, 2016 had arrived, and I still didn’t have a word. So one day, I paused to consider if there was a particular word God was putting on my heart. “Be” came to mind. And I remember thinking that was an odd word. Be what?? A few days later, I tried again. Still, all I got was “be.” Then, as I was preparing to register for the Manifest Summit 2016, I had a moment. When the website opened on my browser, I discovered that this year’s conference theme was . . . yup, you guessed it: Be. Welp, I can sometimes be slow to understand God, but I finally heard the message loud and clear. It was official, my word for 2016 was “be.”
Why this word? As I reflected, I had to admit that sometimes the only thing between me and my destiny is me – to be more specific, my fear. Whether it’s a fear of failure or success, fear can cause me to second guessing myself when opportunities arise. So it’s time for me to kick fear to the curb, walk confidently through the doors that God is opening for me and trust that he has fully equipped me for everything I’ll encounter along this journey. In other words, it’s time for me to just be.
One of the ways that I am actively leaning into my word for this year is to get back on the blogging horse. Last year, I only wrote one post for my blog. It wasn’t for lack of ideas, either. At least once a day, I had the thought, “I should write a post about that!” I just never took the time to get the thoughts out of my head and onto paper. Then, in December 2015, I received my annual stats report from WordPress. Total number of posts for the year? 1. One. O-N-E.
A friend explained to me that being a writer is such an integral part of who I am that I am not living my life to the fullest when I don’t write (and share my writing) on a regular basis. So I have created a blogging schedule for the month of February, to get myself back into a rhythm. I’m even writing posts ahead of time and scheduling them for publication – to eliminate any excuses about being too busy.
As I lean into my word for 2016, I hope that it inspires and encourages you to take a step of faith. Do you have a word (or phrase) for the year? What are some of your goals? Have you made a plan? What are you waiting for?!