Showing posts with label Living Your Word group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Living Your Word group. Show all posts

Friday, June 19, 2020

Change


Change


Living with a pandemic these past few months has changed so much about our lives. I imagine for many of us it may have changed how we have interacted with our word of the year and the intentions or goals we set at the beginning of the year. That is what we are exploring this month in our Living Your Word of the Year group. This week we are specifically going to explore the intentions or goals we set early on and see if they are still relevant in our "new normal". My original post about my intentions can be found here.

A while back I read a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that has become the basis for my prayers lately. Bonhoeffer said,
"May God in His mercy lead us through these times; but above all, may He lead us to Himself."
Times like these can test us. They can test the depths of our faith and may force us to ask deep questions about our walk with Christ. Has fear of the virus or the economic changes it has brought caused fear to shake our trust in Jesus? Or have you been surprised to find your faith is greater than you had previously thought; that the years of time in God's Word and prayer, of faithfully walking with Him day-by-day have resulted in a foundation of trust that is not being shaken? Or maybe you're somewhere in between. As Bonhoeffer said, we can make a choice at any point in life to ask God to "lead us to Himself" and filter how we see life and our current circumstances through His lens of faith. We can ask God to "lead us to Himself for the first time or for a mid-course correction at any time.

I want to encourage you to spend some time reviewing the intentions or goals you set for your word. Reflect and pray. Our question/prompt this week is:
Has my connection with my word or my intentions changed as a result of current situations?
Here are a few more questions to help in reflection: 
  • In light of the changes we have experienced over the past few months, do I feel God moving me away from any of the intentions I originally set for the year? 
  • Do I feel Him moving me deeper into any of my intentions?
  • Do I need to make any mid-course corrections to my intentions for the year?
  • What do I want for my word in the last half of the year?
My word is fruit. I started out the year wanting to focus on the fact that fruit is a by-product of something else. Spiritually, fruit is the result of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. Fruit, such as those listed in Galatians 5:22-23, is not something we can produce ourselves. It comes as a result of positioning ourselves under Christ and practicing spiritual disciplines such as Bible study, sacred reading, prayer, meditation, solitude, journaling, etc., in order to live a life that is led by God's Spirit.




But fruit is also something that can be borne through our lives into the lives of others as we live that Spirit-led life. As we love and serve and have a heart that seeks good for others  prompted by the call of Jesus through His words throughout Scripture. As I reflected on the changes in life brought about by the pandemic over the past few months, and more recently by issues of racial injustice, I found a resolve in me to continue serving in the community as I have been. To be wise in how I practiced in order to stay healthy, but to not back down on serving or being generous, and in this way to continue to bear fruit even though serving looks different in many ways now. And so, I feel just as connected, and maybe even a little more connected, to my word and my intentions. I find encouragement in the stories of our Christian heritage in centuries past of how Christ-followers acted and served in times of plague and famine, or in times of war and injustice as in Bonhoeffer's days. They are the "great cloud of witnesses" as Hebrews 12:1 calls the lives of those before us who lived by faith. So, while many things are different, and the ways in which we are able to do them have changed, for me, I find that I am to press on. My intentions of positioning myself before God and practicing spiritual disciplines that tend my soul and produce the fruit of faith within still serve to lead me through the rest of the year. As well as diligently serving that resolve I feel to bear fruit by serving in the community and using what God has planted in me and blessed me with to be used as an instrument of His blessing to others.



How about you? Where are you at right now? We are all at different phases in our spiritual journey and in our life situations, and it's fine wherever you're at.

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Living Your Word 2020 Opportunity!

My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020
Check out their blogs:
Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/ 

Friday, June 12, 2020

2020 Vision Board & Moving Forward


2020 Vision Board & Moving Forward

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."                   Soren Kierkegaard
Generally I make a vision board for my word of the year earlier in the season, usually in February or March. It's a way of visualizing my intentions for my word through the year. But this has not been anything like a normal year. So, instead of just a board looking at the year ahead, I am both looking back  to see how I have lived out my word, and then looking ahead at where I feel called to go in the rest of the year. This is our theme this month in our Living Your Word of the Year Facebook Group, looking back in order to move forward. This is a regular practice for me. A few times a year at least, I will read back through my written journals and my art journals to see where I am in this journey of spiritual transformation. And generally, God will use this time of looking back as a time for me to reflect and evaluate where I need to focus. I wrote about the start of this looking back process in my post two weeks ago, which you can read here



I have made a vision board for my word of the year for quite a few years. In fact, it's one of my favorite practices of the year. I usually put them on an artist canvas and display them in my home studio/office. They are visual reminders of my journey.



I begin by going through my collection of magazine pages and other ephemera that I have torn out and saved because the image or words stood out. I enjoy going through my magazines every few months and tearing out the pages, and the bonus is it keeps my magazine baskets from overflowing! Even though I read a lot online these days, I have not lost the enjoyment of holding a magazine in my hand and leafing through it.




Next I like to cover the edges of my canvas with gesso covered book pages. I do this in part because I don't frame the canvases and the papers add a subtle decoration to the edges.




Over the past few weeks I have looked back over the beginning of the year, and especially the months since we began experiencing the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks the horrifying events of racial injustice that have taken place have been added to my time of reflection. All of this is in my heart and mind as I began to think about what the future may look like. There is so much to think about right now and so much that is unknown about how life will be lived in the months, and maybe even years, ahead of us. Below I have some reflection questions that helped me and that may be of use for you as well.


  • Re-connect with your "why" for selecting your word for this year. Have the circumstances of the past few months changed your "why" at all?
  • How have your life values led you through this time?
  • What have you held onto? What have you had to let go of?
  • As you look ahead, what are you sensing God calling you to? What might He be calling you to leave behind as you move forward? What might He be calling you to keep in your future life from these days?
  • What have you been thankful for?
  • What has brought joy? What has caused fear or disappointment?
  • What do you need more of? What do you need less of?
  • Are there areas in your life right now that require more trust in God and His promises?
  • How has your faith been? On shaky ground? On a firm foundation? What has this time of crisis shown you about your relationship with God?
Let me also offer two great questions I read recently. The first was in a newsletter from Shelly Miller. She is an author and has an online group called The Sabbath Society. Here is her question for reflection:
"If the previous chapters of your life prepare you for what lies ahead, how might God be using your right now circumstances as preparation for what comes next?"
The other question was posted in our Facebook group last week and comes from Suzi Stringfield Denis.
"How is God using this time to transform me?" 
This week our prompt in our Living Your Word of the Year group is to spend some time reflecting on the past few months and thinking about where God may be leading you now with your word. Try making a vision board from that time of reflection. This project may take some time to work through. In the next few weeks we will offer more reflection questions that will help us evaluate the goals and intentions we set at the beginning of the year, and seeking God, will help us move forward in the second half of the year.

My vision board process surprises me each time. As I go through the process of cutting out letters and leafing through magazine pages I don't immediately see how they will come together. But once I start laying things out on the canvas the pieces start to fall nicely into place.






I hope you'll give a vision board for your word of the year a try. If you do, please share it in our Facebook group and/or on Instagram with the hashtag #livingyourword2020.

Join us in the Living Your Word Community
My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020
Check out their blogs:




Friday, May 29, 2020

Facing the Unknown


Facing the Unknown

Life has been so different these past few months as we have experienced the coronavirus become a global pandemic. So much has changed is such a short period of time. Little knowledge of this virus and its impact on our future has led to feelings of uncertainty. The crises of so much death, job losses, food shortages, and social isolation have left us struggling with how to handle the immense amount of emotion and stress that crisis and uncertainty bring. Even if we have not faced the death of someone we know or suffered the loss of our income, we have all been impacted by the change this crisis has brought about and face an unknown future in some way.

This week in our Living Your Word of the Year group we are exploring this very topic with a reflection question:
How are you engaging with your word in light of the unknown?
This question has given me an opportunity to look at my word of the year, fruit, and to look back over the past few months. Taking time for some reflection will be something we are going to focus on in our group over the next month. I have always found reflection and evaluation to be valuable practices in my life. My written journal and my art journal both are great tools to help me with the process of seeking God to examine my heart and life. As pastor and author Marc Alan Schelske said, 
"Journaling is an outward expression of your inward thought and heart life."
I use both of my journals for this purpose.

This week I began to look back through my journal for the past few months. On March 16, when we were beginning to face this crisis, I began to explore in my journal what life might look like in the weeks ahead. At that time our governor had closed schools for a month and had just declared bars and restaurants to be closed. Our church had also made the decision to stop in-person services for as long as the Governor deemed it appropriate. Since my job and much of my life revolve around ministry in the community I needed to determine how I would move forward. So I took some time to pray, to read Scripture, and then talk through what I felt was my call with my husband, and then with my pastor.

The first thing I did was to spend time finding out what was known about the virus at that time. How was it spread, what preventive measures could be taken, etc. Using that information to help guide my practice. I spent some time reading in 1 Peter, a letter written to Christ followers on how to live during times of crisis and suffering. I read many other passages in Scripture as well, and I spent a lot of time praying. This is what I determined back in March:


I've tried to use these as my guidelines for the past few month. I am volunteering in the community, trying to help make sure kids and families are fed. I'm trying not to engage in the divisiveness that has sadly become a part of this pandemic. I am mainly working from home, but am fully following the safe guidelines we have been provided with when I go out a couple of times a week. I've lessened the amount of news I take it. Not because I agree or disagree with the broadcasts, but because I am so emotional over the loss of life and over the divisiveness in our nation at a time when we should be caring for and supporting each other. In the early phases of staying at home I spent too much time reading news stories and social media and had times of totally checking out by binge watching TV. I got off track with eating well and exercising for the first month or so, but have turned that ship around. And then I remembered my training. That is what discipleship is all about after all, training to be like Jesus. Building our faith through spiritual practices so that we can draw from that deep well in times of crisis. So, I got back to what I know: Begin my days in God's Word before anything else. So when I look back through my journals for  the past months I find this:
The fruit of years of walking with the Lord and learning to trust Him; the years of spending time reading and studying His Word and learning how to live a life of faith, have borne fruit I didn't know I would need for such a time as this. I found that, while I was concerned about the virus and loss of life and about my family, I also had a peace about my role right now. 
What has not been on my mind: fear and anxiety. That is not to say there have not been times of riding emotional roller coasters, but I have found that the many years of being in God's Word and trusting Him through some difficult trials in the past have produced trust and faith in who God is, and in His goodness and faithfulness.. He is on control, even when the world feels out of control. I don't want to appear as if I have the answers to what is going on or to know exactly how we should handle life right now. It's going to look different for each of us because we each face different situations in this crisis. My time of reflection has just pleasantly surprised me with seeing the fruit of walking with the Lord and pursuing Him wholeheartedly in the practice of spiritual disciplines.

Last year I trained myself to memorize some Scripture passages, something I had always struggled with in the past. The two passages I memorized and meditated over repeatedly through the past year were Philippians 4:4-7 and Colossians 3:1-3. They both come mind so often these days and I've learned the value of having Scripture "hidden in my heart". Those passages have helped me stay anchored, grounded in my faith in God. More unexpected fruit that has blossomed in a time of need.






So, how are you engaging with your word of the year in light of the unknown? May I encourage you to take time in the weeks ahead and reflect on how life has been for you over the past few months. We'll provide questions and Scripture passages to help guide us in prayer and in reflection and evaluation.

Join us in the Living Your Word Community
My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020
Check out their blogs:

Friday, April 24, 2020

The Fruit of Self-Care


The Fruit of Self-Care


In our Living Your Word of the Year group we have been pondering weekly questions to help us connect with our word of the year in order to make it an active part of our lives. This week our question is:
How can you nurture your word with self-care this week?
We can thank Valerie Sjodin for these great weekly questions.  :)

My word for 2020 is fruit. The quote that describes my intention for selecting this word is by Dallas Willard:
"If you tend to the tree, the fruit will take care of itself."
For me, a large part of "tending to the tree" is about self-care practices. Fruit is the by-product of something else. Spiritually, it is the by-product of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. He enables us to position ourselves before the Father for transformation. Spiritual practices or disciplines help us in this positioning, they help us live the life of the Spirit.


Self-care can be a loaded term in some circles. Some may see it as selfish or being self-indulgent. Others may have the view that it is a time waster, something only those who have a lot of extra time on their hands can indulge in. Whatever your view of self-care may be, I hope you'll indulge me in sharing my thoughts on the subject. 

In my own journey, embracing self-care came out of a time in my life when I was experiencing burn-out. I had worked in ministry for quite a few years - the same ministry I work in now - and I was struggling with feeling worn out, having no energy, constantly emotional, and not seeing how I could continue to pour out myself in outreach ministry for much longer. I was running on empty and it felt like the only solution to my problem was to quit my job. I am not going to go too much into the details here, but I ended up not quitting my job, and over the course of a few years of reading, studying the Bible, and talking with a few trusted friends, I found the answer to my burn-out issues was in self-care.

One of my foundational passages of Scripture for self-care is Mark 12:28-31.
"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” "
Jesus says that loving God and loving our neighbor/others are the most important commandments. Yet this verse also makes an assumption: that you are already loving yourself. Not loving yourself in an unhealthy manner that is self-absorbent or verges on narcissism, but in a manner that is healthy and good, and that out of that place you will love your neighbor/others in the same manner. To me loving yourself is about self-care. It's about taking care of yourself in ways that keep you healthy emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually so that you can be your best for others. Jesus modeled this when he withdrew and sought solitude, rest and time for prayer. He even did this at the expense of not serving others needs at times. He taught it and modeled it to His disciples. He was so in tune with His Father and the Father's will that he was able to discern when it was time for self-care and when it was time for caring for others. 



Over the past years I have used this verse as a guideline when determining my intentions or goals with my word for the year. Jesus is calling us to love God with our whole being:
  • With all our heart - this is our emotional health. Often burn-out has more to do with a loss of emotional energy than physical. So what habits and activities help restore my emotional energy? How can I make time for these activities in order to fill up what has been drained?
  • With all our soul - this is our spiritual health. How am I regularly drawing closer to God? What practices can I put into place that deepen my relationship with Him and that help create spiritual health?
  • With all my mind - this is our mental health. What am I doing to keep my brain healthy? How can I keep learning and growing? What practices need to be in place?
  • With all my strength - this is our physical health. Being physically healthy helps all of the other areas of our health. What practices do I need to put into place to eat well, to exercise, to insure good sleep? What practices do I need to eliminate that cause my body to be unhealthy?
The other passage for self-care that is important to me offers Jesus' prescription:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Self-care is about resting in Jesus and learning from Him. But that's a message for another day!

This week think about your intentions and goals for your word of the year and ponder this:
What am I doing to care for my heart? For my soul? For my mind? For my strength? What am I doing to grow healthier in these areas, so that I may love God with my whole being and love my neighbor/others well? 
(Complete with a pen slip-up!)



"When I stop and rest, I can fill up and that enables me to pour out." ~Sunshyne Gray

Join us in the Living Your Word Community
My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020
Check out their blogs:

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Bullet Journal and Art Journal

Bullet Journal and Art Journal

This year I decided to return to a journaling format I used a few years back to record daily life as well as to keep a record of my word of the year. I am also intrigued with many of the aspects of bullet journaling as a means of documenting life and tracking some of your habits. As I said at the beginning of the year, I'm using a Leuchtturm 1917 journal with grid pages. My post about why I chose this journal is here.


In this journal this year I am working through how to live out my word of the year, fruit. Previous posts over the past few weeks have highlighted how I chose this word, how I do a word study for my word, doing a mind map for my intentions for my word, and then, this past Friday, about the difference between intentions and goals. You can access all of these posts by clicking on January in the blog archive column on the right side of this page.

Some of the other ways I'm using this journal is to record events through weekly page spreads:




I"m also tracking a few things this year:
My non-fiction reading list

Birds I spot on my walks and in my backyard 

And finally, I'm adding in pages as things happen or as I am inspired. Such as a page remembering our weekend in Traverse City, MI to celebrate my daughters 40th birthday with a girls road trip.


Then there is a page of some of the little phrases I say a lot. These little sayings or mantras tend to reflect what we value or things we've learned over time. They tend to reflect who we are and can serve as reminders when we need encouragement or motivation. This page also gave me an opportunity to play with the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pen set I recently purchased.



So far, I am enjoying the Leuchtturm 1917 journal. At first I was concerned with shadowing - seeing the shadow of what your writing or the items you glued on the following page. But as I have gone along it hasn't bothered me too much. I love the grid paper and its a nice sturdy journal. But because I like making journals and binding books, and because I like a variety of journal and art styles, I have a second journal going. I made a junk journal out of an old book and I'm using it to play in and to do pages for different art challenges or groups I participate in.













#livingyourword2020 #junkjournaljanuary, #getmessyartjournal, #gmseasonofhome, #jan202020creativechallenge

If you choose a word of the year and are looking for ways to live it out through the year, I am a part of a faith-based Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year 2020. Join us!



Some of the art supplies used in this post:



Vintage paper packs, Dennison red border labels and tags can be found at Found On Brighton Etsy.


Disclosure:A note about Amazon links on my blog:
I am giving Amazon affiliation a try, which means I may receive a small percentage off sales made through clicking on the Amazon links found on my blog. There is no additional cost to you.








Friday, January 31, 2020

Intentions or goals? What's the Difference and Why Does It Matter?


Intentions or goals? What's the Difference and Why Does It Matter?

I have never been one who put much stock in setting New Year resolutions. Setting them never made much of an impact on my life, or took me very far into the year. Yet, I have been one who has continually sought change in my life. Not change for the sake of change itself, but rather a continual desire to become who God desires me to be. To me this is at the heart of spiritual formation. Over the years the practice of choosing a word to guide me through the year has been a significant tool to help with the goal of "Christ being formed" in me. (Galatians 4:19)

In conjunction with using a word as a lens on life through the year, has been the practice of setting intentions. A few weeks ago my friend, Bernice Hopper, asked me what I thought was the difference between intentions and goals. Here was my answer to her:
"I think the main difference between goals and intentions is in how you view them. Goals are usually specific in nature and are future oriented. I want to save 100.00 each month or I want to lose 20 pounds. Intentions are usually focused more on daily living in the present moment and lean toward habit forming and lifestyle. Both play a role. In fact intentions can help us meet goals. But I tend to prefer intentions because I think they help create a lifestyle or mindset instead of just completing tasks. Intentions can help us become the type of person we want to be. So instead of simply setting a goal of how many pounds I want to lose, instead my intentions are to eat healthier for my overall health. As I work on that I may or may not lose the pounds but will gain so many other health benefits. If I simply have a goal of losing ten pounds then every time the scale doesn't change I feel like I have failed."
Today I would like to expand on my answer to Bernice and explore a bit deeper into the topic. Here is a brief, basic rundown of goals and intentions from various definitions I found online:

Goals
Intentions
Future oriented
Present oriented
Concrete, tangible, specific
Aspirational, values-based characteristics
Action oriented
Way of being
Usually have a fixed outcome
Often ebb and flow as you grow
Generally more outwardly focused
Generally more inwardly focused
Usually focused on an end result
More focused on day-to-day living



I think both goals and intentions are valuable. However, I do tend to lean more toward using intentions, and here is the main reason why. To me, setting intentions is about making choices in my daily living that focus on who I want to be, more so than on what I want to get done. And this is based on a value for me: Doing flows out of being. Who I am is more important than what I do, and I want what I do to flow out of who I am. Who I am is about my character and my heart. I can change behaviors or habits and still have no change in my character or outlook. Because I also value authenticity - I want what I do to reflect who I am, or put another way - I want my actions to reflect my heart. And my heart is continually being transformed as I intentionally seek to be formed in the image of Christ.

So, I focus on intentions when looking at how I want to live out my word of the year. And I keep my values before me as I set those intentions. Then setting goals can help me put action to my intentions. But all of it is determined by my "why" - the values that guide my life. 

Some of my core values are:
  • Faith first. Matthew 6:33 "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" has long been a guiding verse for me. 
  • Doing flows out of being. Who I am guides what I do. You see this principle laid out in many of Paul's letters in the Bible. He gives a doctrinal foundation of who we are in Christ before he goes into instructions on how we are to live.
  • Wholeness is the goal - seeking health in spirit, mind, body, emotions (Luke 10:27). Over the past few years I have used each of these areas as a guide to set my intentions.
  • Authenticity. I highly value honesty and being real. I want the outside to match the inside. It may not always be pretty, but it is character shaping.
  • Life long learning. Especially in the pursuit of spiritual formation, but other areas too. I am always curious!
So, then, each year when I have chosen a word through reflection and prayer, I set intentions for my word to be lived out through the year using my values as a guideline. I shared my mind map for my word a few weeks ago.


In keeping with the theme of my word, fruit, I used agricultural words to head each of my areas of focus. And my areas of focus are divided into the four areas of life that make us whole beings. 

Spiritual: This is a big focus for me this year. Since fruit is not something we can produce ourselves, my desire is to focus on being more dependent on the Holy Spirit. It is He who produces the fruit of Christ in our lives. I continually battle my stubborn, independent, I-can-do-it-myself personality, so I need to continually be intentional about leaning into and living by the Spirit. 


Mind: For me, much of soul care is about the continual effort of training the mind, thoughts, and heart to the mind of Christ. Last year I made great strides in overcoming my doubt that I could memorize Scripture passages and am going to expand in that practice this year. Other spiritual practices such as prayer, journal writing, and reading help train my heart and mind as well.


Body: I really just added this category over the past few years as I have learned more about the body being an active part of our spiritual life. So areas of healthier eating and building exercise habits can help me grow healthier and stronger physically, and, I believe, aid the other areas as well. 


Finally emotions: Emotional and mental energy are so important to me. The more I understand my personality and being an introvert, the more I have learned to make time for self-care - the things that restore my energy and help me have a healthy outlook.


From here, setting intentions that are driven by my values, I can then go on and develop goals - action steps that will help me live out these intentions. Things such as reviewing my daily schedule and rearranging things or removing things to make time for walking at the park, which actually helps me build my exercise habit and has the added benefit of being out in nature, which I have learned is something that helps my emotional and mental outlook. I can now go through each area of focus and spend time planning steps that will help me live out my intentions and see healthy fruit produced as a result of following the Spirit's leading in each area.

Here are some questions that show the process in a nutshell:

Your values help determine your why: What are the values that guide your life? 


What are your hopes for your word this year? 

Intentions help determine your how: What intentions would help you live out your word in a manner that help you be who you want to be? Do they align with your values?


Goals help determine your what: What goals will help you move toward your intentions?


Valerie Sjodin will be also have a post today about intentions on her blog: valeriesjodin.com 

Living Your Word 2020 Opportunity!
My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020
Check out their blogs: