One Word for 2018

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

As I thought about what word should characterize 2018, the word refocus nudged itself ahead of all the other words floating around in my brain. The more I thought about this word, the more I realized that I not only need to refocus, I want to refocus.

Refocus on what? You might ask.

I want to refocus on:

My relationship with God. It’s kind of gathered some dust and cobwebs over the past couple of months. Any neglect is totally my fault. Sometimes the busyness of life can introduce a wedge into everything. I don’t want His still small voice to be drowned out (or wedged out) by all the other noises vying for my attention.

Digging deeper into the Word – fueling my hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God and Scripture.

Cultivating stronger relationships with family and friends through meaningful conversations and time spent together. While I feel that I do this already, I think there is always room for improvement on my part. For example: I can intentionally put aside what I am doing that seems so pressing at the moment and seek out others.

Reading for leisure and to learn. Over the past year I spent a significant amount of time reading required material for my grad classes. Those reading assignments forced me to study material that I probably would not have read otherwise. While I have learned much, there is still much to learn. Plus, I have a long list of both fiction and non-fiction books that I want to read simply for the sake of reading.

Writing – There is quite a bit I could say about this category. Somewhere near the end of summer I sort of fell off the writing wagon. That was not my intention. Honestly, I think that I simply got burned out from all the papers I had to write for my grad classes. In the span of nine months I completed five 7-week long grad classes. Each class required me to write major papers, forum posts, and complete timed essay exams. One class required that I write a sermon. On top of this I was writing book reviews, material to submit for publication, posts for my blog, articles and book chapters for my writers group to critique, as well as lesson plans, new curriculum and science experiments for work.

Yes, it’s definitely time to refocus.

Along with the word refocus I’ve chosen Hebrews 12:2a as my verse for the year. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (NIV).

What about you? What one word or verse(s) have you chosen for 2018? I’d love to hear from you. Jill

* Background photos are compliments of pixabay.com.