Hello friends! I certainly hope your new year is off to a great start! After saying that The Mr. and I would be spending New Year's Eve in our living room watching the ball drop I actually ended up going to bed and to sleep and slept right through midnight! How's that for an exciting evening? I'm still finding that I am pretty tired each day, with the aftermath of Covid, so I actually wasn't that surprised when I slept through welcoming the new year! We also had a lovely day celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday but, again, it was pretty low-key. The Mr. took a hike and then we went for a drive. We may do something more exciting later but we were both happy with our day and that's all that counts right? If you missed my last post about our wedding 40 years ago you can catch up here.
I want to introduce you to my "word of the year" in today's post and I must tell you that I have gone round in circles trying to decide on this one. Several really good words have come to mind and I have gone back and forth before deciding that my word for 2023 is going to be "light." I finally decided on this word after reading and re-reading Psalm 27.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? "
I also have spent a lot of time thinking about this verse from I John 1:5
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. "
I just find that I am looking for ways to put light into my daily living (such as with candles and my little white light tree) and I am looking for where light is shining in my life and in the world around me. I want to really be on the lookout for the "lighter" things in life that bring me moments of happiness and joy. I want to notice when good things happen and not just dwell on the negative. Last year was a really tough year for me and for my family as a whole. Losing two beloved family members was hard. But, along the way there were also good things happening. Hope was a major part of last year (you may recall that hope was my word for 2022) and I continue to hope for positive things. But, I also want to be the light in all of the situations that occur in my life and to bring the light of Christ to the world around me. And, to recognize the light that Christ brings into my life on a daily basis.
So, my word to focus on for 2023 is Light! I hope that you will take the time to read all of Psalm 27 and I John 1 for yourself. Remembering that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all is so important, I think in today's world. There is a lot of darkness around but God's light shines through all the darkness. I am going to work on keeping that uppermost in my heart this coming year.
And here is my little white light tree that I typically put out each year after the Christmas tree comes down. I added a couple of my favorite little snowmen to create more of a winter vignette. This is the extent so far of my winter decorating. Time will tell if I add more or not. One of the words I kept pondering as a word for the year was "simplify." And I still think it is an important word for me to ponder. I think that simplifying life as much as possible is probably a good idea. I had "simplicity" as one of my words in both 2019 and 2020 and I didn't want to choose a similar word again. But, somehow, simplify seems different from simplicity. Perhaps I am splitting hairs here but simplify seems to be much more about just making life easier in all the ways we can. Sometimes, life just gets way too complicated whether it is with daily schedules, too many "things" to keep up with in the house, etc. So learning how to simplify life in general would be a wonderful way to also be able to see all of the "light" around us wouldn't it? And, it would make life a little lighter, as well.
Lots of ideas to think about here in 2023! How about you? Have you chosen a word (or words) for the new year? And where in your world do you like to bring light or see light? Be sure to share in the comments, okay? I love hearing from you!
Until Next Time,
Debbie
5 comments:
I enjoyed reading about your word for 2023. I haven't chosen a particular word, but my Mr. and I are going to try a new routine. I read about this practice, and I thought it sounded like something I would like to try this year. We have a large Mason jar with a sign that says Good Stuff in 2023. We plan to notice things that bring us joy or gratitude during the year or just what we consider "good stuff". We will write those things on small slips of paper and place them in the jar. At the end of 2023, we will read all the slips of paper aloud. I am hoping that this practice will help me notice all the "light" that is around me and in my life just like you are doing with your 2023 word.
That's a great idea, Sharon! I think your word(s) for the year might be "good stuff!!"
Oh my, you really got me to thinking. I love the word "light" and I love your little tree that goes up after the Christmas tree comes down (my tree is still up, I probably need to get going on that).
I may have to be a copy-cat and use your word and your little tree (I have a little one somewhere).The scriptures you choose go really well with your word, and a two of my favorites.
I hope you're feeling better soon. Don't try to rush it.
Iris
Oh I'm glad you like my word of the year, Iris. Feel free to use the word and the little white light tree! Those scriptures are some of my favorites and I plan to focus on all the scriptures about light this coming year. Have a great 2023!
That's a wonderful word for the year. I seem to have four although they are all related. An ongoing word is positivity - to see the good in as much as I possibly can. The other three just seem to have just 'arrived'. I call them the Three Cs - contentment, consistency and confidence.
I am so glad you're feeling a lot better now.
xx
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