What Word Will Direct You This Year?

Perhaps like me you have seen a link on Facebook recently which asks the question, "What is your word for 2016?" What word or phrase is going to be your word or your goal this year, dear caregiver? Perhaps another way this question could be stated is to ask, "What word is going to characterize your actions and attitudes this year?  What are the desires of your heart in this area, dear caregiver?"

In the past as a caregiver I was sometimes challenged to answer this question. One of the answers I gave in the past was "letting go" or release.  By that I meant letting go of the worries and anxieties that I sometimes clung to as a caregiver for my husband with an ever declining health. We in fact talked about that very concept of "letting go" in my blog post last week. Another answer I gave in the past to that question was the word "hope" or resting things with the Lord.

These are all good words or goals to drive us along our sometimes difficult paths. This year I would like to make my word for the year to be intimacy.  By that I mean practicing the presence of the Lord. I already love the intimacy I have with the Lord especially during my devotional time each morning. My personal love for the Lord has grown immensely during these past few years, and I have seen evidences of  His love for me in my life in numerous ways.  Yet I want to see that grow even more.

It is so easy for me to have an intimate time with the Lord during my devotion time. After I get up from my devotional time, however, sometimes it is also easy to respond with panic or despair when situations arise which are unplanned or out of my control.  It is easy in those cases to try to "fix" things in my own strength.  This year I want to be continually reminding myself of the presence of the Lord and that He is in control.  I want to experience His intimate presence moment by moment.

If I do that I will be able to "let go" of the worries and anxieties.  I will be able to rest things with the Lord.  If I have this kind of intimacy with the Lord on a moment by moment basis, I will also have a thankful attitude.  I will be thankful for all the material and spiritual blessings.  I will further be thankful for the difficult moments because these difficult moments are working to make me more like the Lord Jesus.  Then too my joy will increase no matter what is going on in my life at the moment.

So I am going to seek to make "intimacy" my word for the year-an ever increasing awareness of the Lord right beside me.  What word will direct you this year, dear caregiver?  Feel free to share your word or phrase below in the comment section.


(You also may be interested in clicking on the link below.  It is a devotional blog post on Psalm 16.  It is a post from my other blog called Moments with God.  It ties in nicely with what we are talking about in the post above.)

http://scripturemoments.blogspot.com/2016/01/psalm-16.html