Word of the Year, Goals for the New Year

On yesterday's blog post I mentioned that I pray, reflect and see what I should focus on in the coming year. I generally get an impression as I pray about this as to what single word sums it up, as well as a verse or verses that may go with it.

Tomorrow I will post specific goals I have for the year. But today I wanted to talk a bit about the word I'm focusing on this year. It is the word "order". Psalm 37 tells us that God orders or establishes or orders the steps of each person and that He takes pleasure in them.

That part of these two verses was an eyeopener for me. I was raised with the idea that we have to earn God's love and the sense that He is waiting to whack us on the backside whenever we mess up. Here I see that God planned out my life and the path I would take and it brings Him pleasure. He sees my desire to serve Him and how I use my gifts, talents and personalities and He is pleased. I have a mental picture of God sitting back and saying, "That's my girl, Terri, and I am so happy with how she is using what I gave her!"

As I move forward into the new year, I want to consistently remember that God loves me and is pleased with my life. But I also want to put some order and organization into my life. There are so many projects around this house that need to be done. There are ways I could better organize my house, my projects, my business and my life. I want to consistently have a plan for each area of my life. If I can do that I believe it would alleviate the feeling of trying to "catch up."

So as I move forward into goal setting, being ordered will help to actually achieve those goals. How about you? Do you have a specific word that you focus on each year? I'd love to hear about it!