Moving Forward

This year, my intention—and word of the year—is present . Over the last few weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection and working to cultivate deeper, more intentional presence. Words carry so much meaning, and I even struggled with whether to continue my practice of choosing a word this New Year. I considered not sharing it publicly at all. Through conversations with family and friends these past few weeks, I was reminded again and again how important it is to honor stillness. With so many distractions, it’s easy to live hurried. I know I often need reminders to slow down and let go. I learned a great deal about that this year and want to continue practicing it. I’m sharing this as a quiet invitation—to step out of urgency and slow down a bit this spring. I’m looking forward to smelling the roses, enjoying the journey, pausing to ask whether something truly pleases me before trying so hard to please others, and trusting the journey without labeling circumstances as good or bad....

Beginning in 2017 to continue my journey of growth, I jumped on the word of the year bandwagon, which for me is a regular or daily practice that I think about each morning.  I start my day with 3 daily gratitude prayers, spiritual study, and try to bring in a morning walk. Through a coaching experience in 2016, I was encouraged to develop a visual or vision board of where I wanted my life to grow each year. This has evolved over the last several years. It really isn't a check off list, but more of a practice or idea that I tried to learn more about and apply to my life. There is so much power in the words we think about and use. Truly a word has so much power. When we name a word with intention, God seems to meet us there. I am learning to be very intentional in my word choice. This year the word was THRIVE, and the lessons I have learned have truly brought peace into my life in a way that is very hard to describe fully in this blog post.  Writing helps me truly apply ref...