One Word...Round 2

Last year at about this time I posted a blog with my take on resolutions and a new outlook I had on a new year. It was called One Word. I re-read that today. And I think I did what I set out to do. I PURSUED what was close to my heart. Did I do it perfectly? No. But I was intentional about pursuing those things close to my heart.

This week, as the new year has started, one word has played over and over again in my mind. And again this year I'll have a one word focus to drive my year. This year's word is CELEBRATE: to mark with festivities or other deviation from routine.

CELEBRATE. Celebrate the positives in the kids day to day. Sound small? Well, if you're a parent, like me, who has fallen into daily routine, like me, who tends to react bigger to what's done wrong, like me...Well, this is big. This year I will be intentional about CELEBRATING what the kids do right. A clean room, a good grade, patience with the sibling, an act of kindness...whatever it is, this year those things will be celebrated. And given more weight than things done wrong. This year, I will purposefully celebrate the greatness God has placed in my two precious gifts.

CELEBRATE. Celebrate my marriage. I recognize often how greatly blessed I am with this man God has given me. And I try to consistently let him know how much I appreciate him. But sometimes in the day to day, I take little things for granted. I get caught up in that little thing that's wearing on my nerves instead of celebrating the big things that make our marriage work. I want to celebrate us. I want to focus on the countless positives and celebrate them often.

CELEBRATE. Celebrate the path we're on. 2012 brought change. It brought steps out of my comfort zone. It brought growth. And it brought the awareness that maybe the path God is leading us down is a little different than what we had in mind. This year, instead of fretting over not knowing every step or every answer, I will celebrate that my Father has a plan. He has a map for this journey. I will celebrate the fact that I can rest in the peace of knowing I don't need to see the whole map. If I stay fixed on Him, my path will never go wrong. And our path as a family will blow my mind.

CELEBRATE. Celebrate change. If you know me well or have followed this blog long at all, you know one of the greatest struggles I've faced as an adult is my absolute complete dislike of change. God has done such a work in me to just breathe. And trust. And change. This year, I won't just accept change, I will CELEBRATE change. I will trust fully that if He has brought change about, then it is best. And I will celebrate it. I will forget the things of the past and celebrate the new thing.

I will CELEBRATE this year. And in the tough times, I will intentionally find the things to celebrate. I. Will. Celebrate.

Forget the things that happened in the past. Do not keep on thinking about them. I am about to do something new. It is beginning to happen even now. Don't you see it coming? I am going to make a way for you to go through the desert. I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land. Isaiah 43:18-19