ONE WORD INSPIRATION FOR THE YEAR
Have you ever chosen one word to focus on for the year? I know many people would rather have one word than make a lot of resolutions that may or may not be kept. My first contact with the one-word crowd was near the end of 2014. There wasn’t much time left, but I chose a word anyway after looking back through the year. My first word was enjoy. THIS POST will fill you in on my words from 2014 through 2020.
My word for 2021 was comfort, but I must confess that I forgot about it for most of the year. Interestingly, though, as I look back, I think it found me more than I realized. God has comforted me through His word, through friends, through unexpected kindnesses and blessings, through renewed friendships and deepening relationships. It turns out that as I tried to comfort and encourage others, they were also a comfort to me. In THIS POST I share a little more about my word, comfort.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
MY ONE WORD INSPIRATION CHOICE FOR 2022
I was not planning to have a word for 2022, because I don’t seem to keep up through the year. But last week, as I was trying to come up with a heading for a blog post, the word hope kept appearing. Then it just seemed to nestle in and make itself at home. There is always a place for hope. Without it we would probably fall into despair when our struggles seem too much to bear.
When I did a search through my published posts on the word, hope, I found so many. It would seem that hope has been a theme in my life for quite a few years, but it’s not a wishful thinking type of hope. No, my hope is real because it is in a real, resurrected Savior – Jesus. Because of His resurrection, hope will never die.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1 Peter 1:3 CSB
HOPE BRINGS JOY
Because of the hope we have in Christ, we can have joy even in the midst of grief. Joy, according to Rhymezone, is related to great happiness. That is true, but the joy we have through God is much more than that. It is a deep down joy that is not related to circumstances. In fact, we can feel quite sad as memories of loved ones lost come to mind. But that doesn’t take away the deep seated joy. The following stanzas from a poem within the post, Thinking of the Good Times Can Bring Joy in Grief, illustrate what I mean:
Grief keeps our memories alive Comfort comes as we pour out our Hearts to God, knowing He hears Letting His love wash over us Joy can exist with grief Memories of our loved ones Bring to mind good times past Letting sorrow mix with joy ~gsw~
A SUMMARY OF PAST WORDS
As a fun activity, I went over all my past words, lined them up and centered them. Then I added words to each line using bold to highlight the one word choices. As I added words to make a poem, I noticed it resembled a Christmas tree shape.
Enjoy life
Be Intentional
Open your heart
Wait with patience
Practice Hygge hospitality
Look for Joy at Home in every day
Move toward Simplicity and contentment
Be a Comfort to others as you are comforted
There will always be Hope when you look to Jesus
One Word
The Word
Immanuel God with Us
In this last post of 2021, as I look back over the year there are highs and lows. Through all circumstances God has been faithful. He has blessed me in so many ways through my family and friends, my work at Chronic Joy and the deepening of relationships.
I want to leave you with a prayer from God’s word that is my prayer for us all.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 CSB
I’m linking up with Lisa Notes One Word 2021 December Linkup
Dear Gayl, I love the creative arrangement and poem that you created from your Onewords! It really is fascinating to see how they all have fit together in God’s weaving for you. And Hope is such a good word for this year. Jesus is still calling us to hope in Him! Blessings, love, and hugs to you dear friend. Xoxo
Dear Bettie, thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed my poem. And yes, Hope is what we all need. Our best hope is in Jesus and it is a sure hope. It’s such a blessing to know that He loves us. Love, hugs and blessings to you, dear sister! xoxo
I just love how God used Comfort during 2021 regardless of your conscious intention with it or not. And Hope is such a beautiful choice for 2022. Hope was my word in 2019, but I need it even more now for 2022. 🙂 My new word is Release. So glad you linked up with us and that you joined our little community!
Thank you, Lisa! Yes, we all need hope, and we know that the hope we have in God is a true, sure hope. I love your word of release. It is freeing as we think of releasing those things we don’t need and just putting ourselves in His hands, trusting to His purpose and will. I’m glad to be a part of your community, too! Blessings to you!
I thought I commented on this yesterday.
Hmm…
Isn’t it amazing when God chooses a word for you. I know it has been transformative for me.
Blessings to you in 2022.
Yes, I agree that it is amazing, especially when I wasn’t even looking for it. 🙂 Blessings to you, Barb!
The God of all hope — peace and joy — hope! Lots of HOPE! I like the avenues for hope in all of life no matter how hard things seems. When God is over our lives, there is surely hope! Thank you for showing me that I can open this door in my heart for hope to come in.
Yes, there is lots of hope! We just need to keep our eyes open for it. There is always hope with our great God. Blessings to you, Linda!