With the dawn of another new year, it’s time once again for me to focus on a new theme word. A word to help guide me through the year.
Focusing on an over-arching word—a quality, an attitude, or an action—can give me direction all year long while also helping me implement that word more fully in my life. It’s a practice that has benefited me time and again, one I highly recommend.
This year God directed me to the word breathe. A couple of months ago when I realized it was time to start thinking about a theme word for 2026, I asked God to guide me to the right word for the new year. Within days breathe came to mind.
As many of you know, last year I barely kept my nose above water with all the demands on my time and life. Much of the extra activity revolved around the prep, launch, and marketing of my new book Christmas for the Heart. And that was wonderful and such a gift from God, but combined with caregiving and trying to keep our lives going here at home while also serving as president for the Fellowship of Christian Writers group in Tulsa, let’s just say it kept me hopping double-time.
So yes, now it’s time to breathe a bit. I don’t mean stopping writing or even long-term rest, but I think God is giving me permission to take things at a slower pace for a while and enjoy some times of refreshment.
To that end, I’ll keep this on the short side—you know, take moments of ease where I can. As the year unfolds, life and circumstances may call for something different, but if that happens, I’ll still be keeping breathe in mind. Whatever is going on, slowing down, taking a deep breath, and resting in the Lord can make all the difference, can’t it?
If you haven’t done so yet, why not choose a theme word for 2026? What would the Lord have you focus on? Do you need to breathe too or does he have something completely different in mind for you? Either way, we can trust him, can’t we? Oh yes, we can always trust him and rest in him.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” Ps 23:2-3 NIV
*What is your theme word or anchor verse for 2026? I’d love to know!
*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early February. Sign-up is FREE.
*For info about my books Christmas for the Heart: 25 Devotions Reclaiming the Beauty and Wonder of the Season and Mother of the Bride check out my Books/My Work page.
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash