My One Word: a new kind of resolution

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I haven't in years. I can remember making them in the past and barely making it through January before I blow it. Why set myself up for failure? That gets depressing pretty quickly.

However, earlier this week a friend of mine shared about a different kind of resolution: My One Word. From the organizations website:

If you're like most people, each January goes something like this: You choose a problematic behavior that has plagued you for years and vow to reverse it. In fact, you can probably think of two or three undesirable habits—make that four or five.

Thus begins the litany of imperfections to be perfected, commonly known as New Year's Resolutions. All of which are typically off your radar by February.

My One Word replaces broken promises with a vision for real change. When you choose a single word, you have a single focus. You are moving toward the future rather than swearing off the past.

With My One Word, you're right where God wants you: in His hands. And it's not an extreme makeover we're talking about. This year, the goal is to see His work in one area of your life.

I am feeling a little bit apprehensive about picking my word for the year before the year begins. I can sum up the last couple years in one word, but I only really knew what that word was going to be about half way through the year.

In 2009, my word was Hope. I learned the hard way that hope in God is not dependent on anything else but him. I was placing my hope in God for what he might do for me. Gulp. That was a tough thing to admit in the midst of this lesson, but there it is.

In 2010, my word was Endure. Last year was rough. We had many challenges pile stress on us. Rusty's job was questionable all year. We both had numerous health issues. Our finances were tight. I struggled with some seasonal blues with the crazy winter we had. And that is not everything that made it a rough year. Endurance. Yep, that was our word.

In 2011, I am choosing the word Growth. I want to have a more effective prayer life this year, and I thought about chose the word Prayer. Today, however, I realized that my word should be growth. The reason I want a dynamic prayer life is to grow. Grow in my spiritual life, first and foremost, because growth there would naturally spill over into the rest of my life.

I've chosen my word. Will you?