Theme Word 2024: Balance

“. . . it’s a matter of striking a balance.” 2 Cor 8:13 GW

What does starting a new year mean for you? For me, it means it’s time to focus on a new theme word. I’ve never been big into New Year’s resolutions, but this is the twelfth year now I’ve chosen a theme word to help guide me through the year. It’s a practice I highly recommend. I can honestly say it has benefited me year after year.

The word the Lord impressed on my heart for 2024? Balance. I never know all that the Lord has in mind when guiding me to a new word, but this year maintaining balance in my life seems especially important.

My responsibilities and the demands on my time have been much greater for quite some time with my husband’s Alzheimer’s impacting our lives, but I’m also still working part-time as a writer and author (with a new book contract and all that entails too.) I’m also continuing to serve as president of the Fellowship of Christian Writers group I belong to. Throw in trying to be an involved grandmother to two sets of twin boys along with maintaining other family and church involvement, and as you can imagine, my to-do list never gets caught up.

With all that in mind, I need God’s guidance, wisdom, and help in maintaining the balance he wants me to have. One that will not shortchange special times or moments spent with my husband as I try to fulfill my other responsibilities and desires. But also one that allows me to keep those things going in a way that brings glory to God. So yes, balance is what I need right now. Balance as God guides. And as the year unfolds, I may find that God has even more applications for balance in store.

If you haven’t done so yet, why not choose a theme word for 2024? I can guarantee that having an over-arching word—a quality, an attitude, or an action—to focus on will help give you direction and help you grow throughout the year. 

You’re welcome to join me in focusing on balance—it’s something we all need, isn’t it? But I encourage you to give it some thought and prayer first. God may have another word in mind for you. Why not ask him? He is faithful to guide!

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5 NIV

*What is your theme word or anchor verse for 2024? I’d love to know!

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early February. One lucky subscriber (new or current) will receive a $15 gift card to Starbucks and a signed copy of my book to use personally, give as a gift, or donate to a library. Sign-up is free! Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Any: Little Word, Big Impact

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV

If you ever feel little or insignificant, take heart. Little things have a way of being real game-changers at times. For example, some of the littlest and seemingly least important words in scripture can impact our lives in giant ways.

In the past, we’ve looked at how the words us and let were used in two different verses. We discovered what a huge difference they made in expanding our understanding and application of those particular verses.

Today let’s focus on the word any in the scripture above. As the apostle Paul teaches how we can offer comfort to others because of the comfort God has given us, he opens wide our comfort-giving door.

We are not restricted to giving comfort to only those who are going through the same trials we ourselves have endured. No, God tells us through these words of Paul that “we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (emphasis mine)

Who can we comfort? That’s right—those in any trouble.

And there you have it. Our little word with big impact. Any. No barriers, no restrictions. Wide open ministry doors.

The next time we start to hold back from comforting someone because we feel inadequate, because we’ve never experienced his or her kind of trouble or grief, let’s remember we have the very comfort of God to offer our hurting friend. Let’s remember the word any and walk through the door before us. It’s wide open.

“For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” 2 Corinthians 1:5 CSB

*Who do you need to comfort this week?

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, came out earlier this month. It’s not too late to receive it. Sign-up is free! Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

Photo by Daniel Mirlea on Unsplash

Theme Word 2023: Patience

The new year is here (2023!) so once again it’s time for me to choose a new theme word to help guide me through the year. Do you do something like this? Some people prefer selecting an anchor verse or word.

Focusing on an over-arching word—a quality, an attitude, or an action—can give me direction all year long and also helps me focus on more fully implementing that new word in my life. It’s a practice I highly recommend. I can honestly say it has benefited me time and again.

This year God directed me to the word patience. Yes, I know most people would be afraid to choose this word for fear of what circumstances God might bring into their lives to give them opportunities to practice patience. But the truth is, God has already placed me in a situation that will require great patience for the forseeable future—and patience is not something that usually comes naturally for me.

Thank goodness patience is a fruit of the Spirit. That means as a child of God, the Holy Spirit who is within me will help me grow in patience as I ask him, yield to him, and depend on him to empower me.

I know it won’t be easy, though, because as long as I’m on this side of heaven, I also have my old sin nature waiting to rise up and war against the refining work the Lord is doing in my life. This makes me doubly thankful for God’s promise to all of us to one day complete the good work he begins in us (Philippians 1:6).

Is there a good work God wants to do in your life this year—a word that he’s led you to claim as your theme word for the year? If so, I’d love to hear about it so I can encourage you along the way. As for me, I’ll be over here patiently growing in patience—I hope!

being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,” Colossians 1:11 NIV

*What is your theme word or anchor verse for 2023?

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early February. One lucky subscriber (new or current) will receive a $15 gift card to Starbucks and a signed copy of my book to use personally, give as a gift, or donate to a library. Sign-up is free! Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

Photo by Girish Dalvi on Unsplash

Guard and Gift Acrostics: 2022 Theme Words Refresher

**I will be taking a blogging break the rest of this month. See you back here in early August!

Half the year is gone now so it’s time to give more thought to my 2022 theme words for the year—guard and giftFor me, the creative exercise of writing acrostics is an excellent way to go deeper in my consideration of my theme words each year. Doing so helps me think of different aspects of the word.

As I remind myself of and reflect on guard and gift, I pray you are encouraged and inspired to apply these words to your life as well. And not only that, but if you chose a theme word of your own this year, maybe reading this post today will inspire you to do something similar with your word. Whatever the case, friends, may you be blessed as you read!

Give no place to unforgiveness, bitterness, revenge, unkindness, pride, or people-pleasing.

Understand all the wisdom, power, and riches you have in Christ as you seek to make wise decisions and exercise self-control.

Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and empower you each day to stand against the schemes of the evil one.

Read, memorize, and plant God’s Word in your heart.

Declare that God is your rock, your fortress, your deliverer, your refuge and shield, the horn of your salvation and your stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 NIV

AND

Given by God from the fullness of his grace.

Ideal for your needs in this particular time.

Favor upon favor flowing from love.

Treasure for your spirit, heart, and soul.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV

*What is God saying to you about the words guard and gift today?

*If you’d like to hear more about why I originally chose guard and gift, click over to my 1-4-22 post. Hope it blesses you!

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early August. Sign-up is FREE. *Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me. p.s. If you sign up after noon July 28th, you will be included in all future Life Notes giveaways but not in this current giveaway.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride check out my Books/My Work page.

*Flickr photo by Randy Tan Travelogue, Creative Commons License

2022 Theme Words: Guard and Gift

Yes, you read that title right—I’ve selected two theme words for 2022! Two theme words is a first for me. It’s always good to branch out and try new things so I guess I’m starting the year off right, huh?

Do you start the New Year by selecting a theme word for the year? Some people refer to it as an anchor word and others even choose an anchor verse from the Bible. I jumped on the theme word bandwagon back in 2012 (over ten years ago now!), and I’m so glad I did.

I love how a theme word keeps me focused on a particular quality or action throughout the year. I won’t think of my chosen theme word every day, but I will think of it periodically. It will help keep me on track or give me guidance.

The words I’ve chosen for 2022 are guard and gift. I usually start thinking and praying about what my word for the upcoming year should be sometime in November or December.

This year, before even praying about it, I immediately thought of the word gift because I’d recently read my friend Edie Frink Winters’  book Giftitude. I loved the perspective she shared of seeing problems and challenges large and small as gifts—something we can learn from by asking “Where is the gift in this for me?” I knew I wanted to start applying this to my life, and selecting gift as my new theme word for the year seemed like the perfect way to do that.

When I began to pray and seek God’s guidance about my theme word, though, right away he pointed me to the word guard several times. I didn’t really want to settle on that because I’d already used it as my theme word several years ago, but when God kept bringing it to my attention, I knew I needed to listen and obey. After all, I’d been thinking about how I need to guard my tongue right now because of a personal ongoing situation that can cause a lot of frustration and upset feelings. It’s all too easy to say the wrong thing. So once again, guard will indeed be my theme word for the year.

I still had the strong desire to focus on gift though too, and as I prayed about it, God was so good to confirm to me that it is indeed okay to have two theme words with gift being one of them as well. So here I am with two theme words this year! Hopefully, I will see growth in both areas, and I probably won’t know the full impact of these particular theme words until the year is out. The Lord knows about it all right now, though, and I’m thankful he’s preparing me for whatever may come as the year unfolds.

If you haven’t done so yet, why not choose a theme word for 2022? I can guarantee it will help give you direction and help you grow throughout the year. Who would want to miss out on a deal like that? May God guide you and bless you in your choice!

“Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3 NIV

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV

*Do you have a theme word or anchor verse for 2022? I’d love to hear about it!

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early February. One lucky subscriber (new or current) will receive a $15 gift card to Starbucks and a signed copy of my book to use personally, give as a gift, or donate to a library. Sign-up is free and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.) Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash