ONE WORD 2020

2020 is my tenth year to choose a One Word. One word to focus on for the entire year. One word to grow in. I've had some pretty great words over the years and I am excited about this year's word. So, here it is!

My One Word for 2020 is less!

He must become greater

and I must become less.

John 3:30

Less me. I want to focus more on God and less on me. I want God to be at the very center of every part of my life. In order to do that, I must become less. To do this, I am going to spend more time in the Word and in prayer. I am also praying specifically for God to become greater in my life as I become less.

Less excuses. One thing I really wanted to do this year was get back into playing the piano. I played as a teenager but haven't played since I became a mom. I've just always had an excuse, too tired, too busy, house is too loud, forgot, blah, blah, blah. They are all nothing but excuses. I also tend to use the same excuses when I know I need to exercise. Too busy. Too tired. To do this, I am purposing to just do the things I know I need to do, no more excuses.

Less attitude. I have said many times that our families get the worst of us. They get the tired, wore out, busy, stressed us while we give the world the best us. I don't want to do that to my family. I don't want to have an attitude with my husband or kids. It's time for less attitude. To do this, I am first praying about it and second I am giving my husband permission to give me a gentle reminder when he feels my attitude is out of place.

Less social media. Ugh. I have a love hate relationship with social media. I love that I can be connected with family and friends all over the world. I love that I can keep up with everyone and let everyone know how we are. But, I am tired of all the drama of social media. I am tired of giving Facebook and Instagram more of my day that I give God. I want less social media in my life. To do this, I already removed all social media notifications from my phone and now I am keeping close track on how much time I spend on my phone through iPhone's screen time tracker.

Less stuff. I love simplicity. My husband likes to call me the throw away queen. If I haven't used in six months (other than season things like holiday decorations, etc), then I trash it. I just hate so much stuff. I think I could avoid the purging if I could avoid the buying. While I may be obsessed with office supplies, the truth is, I do not need any more pens, highlighters, or sticky notes! I am pretty well set for many years to come. To do this, I am purposing to buy less and continue to declutter my home.

What is your One Word, New Year's Resolution, or goal for 2020? Share in the comments! 

ONE WORD 2019 UPDATE

For the past 9 years I have chosen a One Word. One word or theme to focus on one year. The first year, 2011, I didn't take it serious and don't even remember what my word was. In 2012, I decided I need to be intentional, since I failed the year before. So my word was intentional. In 2013 I wanted to have a heart after God. 2014, I wanted to focus on prayer. 2015 I wanted to drink more water and focus on the Living Water. In 2016, I decided I needed to make myself a priority. In 2017, I wanted to focus on my marriage and dating my husband. 2018 was all about living with joy. And in 2019, I wanted to focus on progress.

So how did my year go as I focused on progress?

Over the year I focused on making progress with little by little steps. I also learned that making progress on my goals was better than giving up when I didn't perfect them. This is something I learned with the help of Powersheets.

One goal I set was about my health. I wanted to drink 80 ounces of water a day. I didn't always hit 80 ounces, but if I hit 60 ounces, that was progress! I wanted to walk 9,000 steps a day. I didn't get 9,000 every single day, but if I got 9,000 more days than not, that was progress! Another goal I set was to go on a weekly date with my husband. We didn't get to go out weekly, but if we went out at least once a month, that was progress!

In the past, I would have gotten bummed about not hitting my complete goal every time. But learning that progress is still growth helped me to be pleased with what I was doing. I am grateful for the year to focus on progress and the lessons I learned.

Come back tomorrow and I will share my One Word for 2020!

WEEKLY BLESSINGS

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

2690. My youngest. He turned 17 this weekend.

2691. Seeing my church come together to do some updates to our building.

2692. A warm home, it’s been so cold.

2693. An updated blog design.

2694. My daughter and her husband coming over to hang out with us. 

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

LESSONS FROM PAPA

This week I shared that on Christmas morning my grandfather, Papa, left this earth for Heaven. Our family has been shocked and devastated. I had a wonderful Papa. He was one of the strongest men and one of the hardest workers I have ever known. Having spent almost forty years with him, I have learned many lessons. Today I would like to share a few. I pray we can all learn and grow with lessons from Papa.

1. Put God first. Papa loved God and served Him with his whole heart. He was up before the sun every day to read his Bible and pray. Even after retirement, he was still up before dawn sitting at the kitchen table with his Bible. As a little girl, I remember when I would spend the night, I could see his chair at the table from the couch where I slept. And every morning was the same. He was devoted. If he knew of a need, he prayed for you. I always called my grandparents with prayer requests. The day my mother-in-law unexpectedly passed away, the first person I called was Papa. I just had to tell him and I knew he would be praying for us. He loved to sing hymns and worship God. He would sing anywhere, any time, but one thing he loved to do was sit outside on the patio with his old tape player. He'd rock in his chair, sing along to his hymns, and raise his hands to heaven.

2. Marriage is second. Papa put Mamaw, my grandmother, second only to God. He loved her deeply. Papa stood by her side and took care of her faithfully for 62 years. Even when times were hard, he loved and cared for her. I remember one evening when I was about twelve or so, he came home from work with a cassette tape. He had a song to play for her. She had recently lost her mom and was hurting. I don't remember the song, but I remember him playing the song and dancing with her in the kitchen until she was crying in his strong arms.

3. Family next. Papa loved his family. His wife, his daughter and son, their spouses, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. This was his world. He was always there for family, nothing was more important. If we needed something, he was there. He would stand up for his family and protect them. One time not that long ago, someone called my Papa. She said that she was my daughter and had been in an accident. She was convincing. Unfortunately, it was a sick scammer trying to get money out of my grandfather by using my daughter, who knew nothing about it. But he jumped to take care of her, because, family is important. (The situation was taken care of, no one was hurt, and no one lost money. Praise God.)

4. Love your country and pray for it. Papa was a proud American. He prayed for his country intentionally and stood proudly for the flag.

5. Laugh often. Papa had a loud, boisterous laugh that could be heard clear across the building. He loved to laugh and loved to make people laugh. My husband worked with Papa for many years. He would always tell me that from his place in the shop, he could hear Papa's laugh clear from the office. Papa always smiled, always laughed, always made people laugh.

Why do I share these lessons I learned from my beloved grandfather? Because we can all learn something. We need to remember to put our priorities in place. We need to place God above all. If we are married, our spouse is next. Then family. We need to take pride in our country and pray for the leaders. And we can all learn to laugh and smile more. Let’s be like Papa.

WELCOME BACK

Oh dear friends. I planned to be back on the blog long before now. But 2019 was a hard year. December was a very hard month. Christmas day was one of the worst days of my life. Since Christmas, I honestly considered quitting this blog and Woman to Woman Ministries. I was very much ready to walk away. I very much wanted to walk away.

In 2019 my husband and I had four car accidents, not a single one our fault. One accident, I was injured and still to this day have trouble with my hip from time to time. One accident, my husband was injured. My grandmother went in for a routine procedure and almost died. My grandfather was on life support and almost died. My dad has a health issue that they cannot figure out and it is so frustrating for him and so hard for us to see him hurt. My uncle suddenly passed away.

Then, just after midnight on Christmas morning, my phone rang. Getting a call at 1:30 in the morning will shake you because you know it surely cannot be good. It wasn't. My mom said one word, "Papa," and I shot out of bed screaming. He was gone. Unexpected. He had some health issues, but we thought things were getting better. But he was gone. I am still, three weeks later, shocked and devastated. I had the great blessing of being very close to my grandparents. This loss hurts more than I can ever say. Not a single day has gone by that I haven't curled into a ball and shed buckets of tears.

Even just last week, I thought I would shut down the blogs. But, I knew my Papa would not want that. He always read my posts. He was proud. I know God would not want that either. He put me here and gave me this space to share. So through all of the pain, all of the sorrow, all of the heartbreak, I will continue to blog. I will continue to share God's sweet blessings.

I love you Papa. I will always be your Darling Girl.

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

2685. The almost 40 years I had with an amazing Papa.

2686. The lessons I learned from him. I will share those lessons very soon.

2687. My husband who has held me, sometimes literally holding me upright, during this time.

2688. Friends who text just to see if I am okay.

2689. Listening to old hymns, Papa's favorite, and finding God.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.