One Word 2017

I have a few projects in the works that have me thinking about words and main ideas and titles, and I had one of those picked as a good option for this year's word.  But then as I was thinking of writing about it, a new word emerged that better described the direction I was wanting to go.  The word I choose to have for this year as my reminder, motivation, prayer, and goal, is LOVE.

It's a simple word, and oh-so-common, but the depths!  And I do feel that this is really something I need to dig into this year. 

• Parenting a little boy - how can I express love in the midst of discipline effectively?  How can I teach him to love well?
• In marriage - we just celebrated 10 years, but in marriage, how to love well is always something to think about.
• Loving a big kid - how can I love well and effectively when big changes happen like high school grad and new adventures after that?
• Ministry - loving those outside my four walls - This is where my projects in the works come in, and I need to see it all, the whys and the hows, through the filter of love.
• Extended family, church family, friends - how am I doing at loving?  What can I do better?
• Loving God - He is unchanging and knowable, but there is always more to discover about our Lord.  I want to dig into learning to love him more.

I didn't write about my word last year, but I did have one: Receive.  After a few tough years, it felt like we had a chance to breathe easier, and I felt God was saying that was not just all right, but what he wanted for us.  To receive healing, peace, rest.  To receive good things from him.  And it was a great year.  We did receive reconciliation, which was at the top of my list, and healing from a long suffered physical pain.  We bought a trailer and enjoyed more camping than ever before, which felt like a gift in so many ways.  My business was more successful than ever before.  We even won a garden tractor from a hardware store's grand opening, then sold it for the exact amount we needed for our property tax.  I'll receive that!

I am reading in Job at the moment, and 1:21 says "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."  I imagine many of you read that and immediately think of what has been taken away; I know I do.  We all have ups and downs in life; the truth is that there are seasons of grief and pain, and that there are also seasons of rest and refreshing.  I am so glad to have come through a season of Receive, and I think that's why Love is a natural fit for this year.  I feel like paying back - paying forward - all the good we've received lately.

May you have a wonderful 2017.
XO, Carolyn

PS - Do you have a word?  Leave me a comment and tell me a bit about why you picked it.