New Year - One Word

A new year.

What's a task-oriented, planner-toting, stressed-out-mom-of-three, wanna-be-writer to do?

There's a part of me that longs to open a spreadsheet and plan the next twelve months.

There's another part of me that knows just how long that spreadsheet will hold up under the steady stream of daily life.

So this year, I'm trying something new.

Well, it's not new. It's new to me.

Instead of resolutions and detailed plans of attack, I've chosen one word for 2012. One word to focus on, to filter decisions through, to pray for and about.

One word.

And let's face it. For a word-loving girl like me, narrowing anything down to one word should have been challenging. But this word floated to the surface with ease.

I tried a few other words, let them bob along in my mind for a few days, but they couldn't stay afloat. So I'm stuck with this word. For 366 days.

My word for 2012?

Intentional.

My prayer for 2012? That I'll use this word to remind myself that I don't want to bob along without direction. I don't want to parent by accident. I don't want to write on whims. I don't want to worship only when the mood strikes. I don't want to be so busy ordering my day that I fail to rest in His plans for me.

Ten years from now, I want to be able to look back on this time of my life and see trips to the library, the zoo, and the children's museum, sprinkled in with Bible studies, date nights, and, dare I say it, maybe a novel—or five?

Life is short. I want to live on purpose.

Not regimented. Not legalistic. Not even with a ten-page spreadsheet. But I don't want to miss the things that matter. And it would be so easy to let that happen in the whirlwind of everyday life.

So here's to a year of intentionality. I hope you'll hop Out of the Boat and walk the waves with me.

How about you? Do you have a word for 2012? I'd love to hear about your New Year's plans and possibilities!