When God Gives You a Word of the Year

For years now I have stopped making New Year resolutions. I’d get discouraged time and time again when day 5, 9, 12 would hit and I had already messed up on whatever goal I had. I still set goals, I just don’t necessarily wait until January 1st to make them. I goal as I go. However, before January 1st sets in, I’ve been doing something different. Something you might have heard of before: picking a word of the year. This year I was sure that my word was going to be: consistency. It’s something I’ve been praying for for a while now. To be more consistent in my relationship with God, my marriage,  motherhood, friendships, health etc. But as I prayed more and more into this word, I felt the Lord nudge me in a different direction. 

“I want you to pursue slowness,” I felt Him whisper to my heart. 

I felt Him telling me to put less things on my calendar and have more days of stillness. For those of you who know me, you know I’ve never been really good at that. At times I would struggle with just taking a moment to myself and if I did, I’d always feel guilty. I always felt like I could be doing something more productive with my time. But the Lord has been teaching me the beauty found in the slow moments. 

An author whom I learned about last year named Nicole Zasowski has something she does called, “savoring.” It’s where she soaks in a moment by becoming aware of all her senses. I’ve been doing this alot lately with my soon to be 2-year-old. In moments when she runs up and hugs me, I close my eyes and try to capture the smells. I take in the smell of her curly hair, the feel of her warm embrace, the sounds in the room, all the things so that later I can recall that memory.

Another way I’ve been pursuing slowness is by avoiding cutting corners. My daughter loves going up the stairs and slowly counting from 1-3 in Spanish. I used to just grab her and carry her up the stairs more often than not so we could get upstairs faster. Now I’ve just been going up the stairs as slow as she does and counting out loud with her. There will come a time where she won’t be counting her way up the stairs anymore and I want to enjoy her in this way while it lasts.

Imagine if Jesus had always been in a hurry while He walked this earth. There would have been so many missed opportunities. Perhaps He would have never gone to Zaccheus house, never taken the time to heal the women with the issue of blood or simply never sat to enjoy a meal with his disciples. Jesus embodied what it means to be in the moment and pursue slowness so we can better enjoy the blessings around us.

I’m hoping to share more about what I’m learning as I continue to slow down more throughout the year.

Tell me about you, do you have a word of the year?