Examining My One Word(s)

I thought it might be helpful (for me, at least!) to examine what I learned from my past One Words for each year.

I've been doing this exercise since 2012.

My first word was Joy. I wrote about it in Joy is the Word for 2012 and in Choose Joy.

I may or may not have picked a word that actually was easy for me because I'm an upbeat person who has learned to focus on good things.

You see, a good definition of joy is this:

"... We have happiness BECAUSE of our situation, we have joy IN SPITE OF our situation. Anne Robertson

If we are trained to dwell on Him and all the good things in our lives, it is so much easier to choose joy.

The next year, my choice for a One Word was Fearless. I decided to write a series on the subject loosely based on the idea that God tells us over 300 times in His word to not fear, do not fret, be not anxious, don't worry, etc. I had the ambitious goal to examine each of those admonishments but only got 20 done in 2013. Maybe that topic needs to be revisited!

If you're interested in what I learned about being Fearless, here's a couple of my favorite posts:  2013:  Fearless or Epic Storm, or consider scrolling down on my homepage to find the label "Fearless" and read all 20.

One of the lessons learned in that study was this:  

"The point is, if you are doing the will of the Father, you have nothing to fear.  He will enable you to accomplish what He has called you to do. Nothing can touch you until His plan is complete."

Along came 2014 and I chose "Abiding," for my One Word.

I based my choice on John 15:7 -

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

In my initial post, One Word: Abiding, I said I wanted to spend 2014 abiding in Him, to be so totally submerged in Him that my desires would be in line with what He wanted and my prayers would accomplish something.

I also wrote in my A-Z series for 2014 in A is for Abiding:

God has a different idea.  He wants us to be so totally tied up in Him that we feel no fear, no pressure to perform, no anxieties that we will end up in need.
No worries, just abiding. Living in total trust.

The next year, I decided to focus on the word, "intentional."

I said in My Word for 2015 is Intentional,

I want to figure out what is important to me, this year, and develop a plan to work to get there.

It was a nice sentiment but I can't really say that I accomplished that goal. (This was also the year I said I wanted to write everyday!) In fact, for that year and the ones to follow, Rest (The Challenge of Rest) and Less (My One Word for 2017) choosing my One Word did not really bring forth the desired changes.

After mulling it over, I think what made the difference is I didn't keep that word out there in front of me as in times past.

In order to focus on a quality for real change, you have to dwell on it, meditate on it and plan for growth.

I think the word I made the most strides in was the word Fearless because I blogged about it 20 times over the year, which averaged to about 2 times a month. It meant at least every couple weeks I was thinking about being fearless.

So here its, 2018. I've chosen the word, Press, as in press on. I'm never giving up. With God's grace, I'm continuing on in the Journey. Older, hopefully wiser, but even more determined.

Have your resolutions or One Word determinations made a difference in your journey? I'd love to hear all about it! Leave a comment and share.

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I'm linking up with the #TellHisStory and #WriterWednesday Communities.