My word of the year 2018: JOY

This year instead of having new year resolutions that never get accomplished, I am going in a new direction. A word of the year.

One word to take me through the entire year. One word to shape the way my year goes.

That word:

JOY

Joy in everything. Joy in the hard times. Joy in the great times. Joy in the small things. Joy in the big things.

I want to seek out joy in all things. I want to be wrapped up in joy.

For me the key to finding this joy is finding the love of my father, ABBA, Savior, King, Lord, Messiah, Immanuel.

Immanuel: God is with us.

What greater joy can be found than that. For me, my goal is that no matter what circumstance I find myself in that I also find the love of my God there too and with that I will find my JOY.

Whether I am washing my fifth load of laundry for the day, or having a fun day with my family, or watching my kid lay in a hospital bed, I want to find the joy. I want to see God’s presence in everything.

I have spent a lot of time trying to find just the right word for 2018.

In doing so I had to look back at 2017 and find what I would change.

The biggest thing I took away is that in 2017, I let my circumstances decide how I felt.

I look back at 2017 and all I can see is that fact that my child received a life changing diagnosis. I see the miracle of her life, but I also see the countless hospital stays, and the medication side effects.

I don’t want my next year to be tainted by a few bad days, or weekends.

In fact, someone I know recently said “my life could get worse…everyone’s life could get worse”. They went on to say how they didn’t have a bad year, just a bad day. This struck home with me. This person experienced my worst nightmare, and they were still able to say it wasn’t a bad year.

If they could do that. Surely, I can find it in myself to seek out the joy in all things.

2017 wasn’t a bad year, it had its moments but it wasn’t a bad year.

So here is to 2018. A year full of joy.