Hi everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful start to 2023!! As you may know, at the beginning of every year I like to choose one specific word to focus on throughout the year, and that word typically ends up being a grounding theme for the year. I've been doing this since ninth grade and now in my fourth year of it I have really seen the value of choosing a focus for each year.
For the year 2022 I chose "masterpiece", as I had hoped to focus on taking control of the little aspects of my life and making them beautiful. Of course, like all things in life this did not pan out exactly as I had pictured in my head but I truly see that making my life a masterpiece of work has been apparent in the past year. With the newfound independence of growing up and having new responsibilities, I was able to see the beauty in both the highs and lows of life and embrace them as such. Pain and joy are both so beautiful and peculiar in their own fascinating ways and somehow there is distinct value and artistry in them both. In fact, there is artistry all around us, if we are only willing to look for it!
For this new year of 2023 I have chosen (drumroll please)... servant-hearted!! This is rather different than my past few years' words, as they have typically been very confidence and self based, but this year I'm embracing a new vision with so many new opportunities on the horizon. As I've reiterated in nearly all of my posts lately, lol, this upcoming year will have the most change I have ever experienced with high school graduation and beginning college. While these are all rightfully exciting experiences, I predict I'll be very focused on myself and my changing life. This is totally to be expected, but I think that something I'll need to focus on is literally just not focusing on myself all of the time. I tend to become very focused on myself when I'm deeply involved in projects and such, and I could always use a reminder to refocus on the people around me. As I'm experiencing all of these huge life changes, I predict that having a servant-hearted spirit will help me to selflessly love and help those around me.
I read this passage in a lovely little daily devotional by Archbishop Fulton Sheen that my grandad gave me, and it really got me thinking about if I experience this and how I serve those around me.
“Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?”
I'm honestly so excited to focus on this word this year as it'll be used in large and small ways. In smaller forms, I'm already noticing opportunities to be more helpful around my house and help out my friends and family, but I look forward to being challenged by God to radically love and serve those around me.
"For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another." - Galatians 5:13
Feel free to join me in a word for the year focus! It's so excellent to center your mind around a theme for a year and watch how you grow and develop. I look forward to new growth in the coming year!! ❤️