My Word of the Year

photo found here

I know that we are 10 days into the new year already, but I had to be sure this was going to be my word before I spilled the beans and had it looming over my head all year!!  I have prayed, stewed, and prayed some more and this morning while doing my daily blog reading the Lord really spoke to my heart about this "resolution" of sorts.

As far as resolutions go I LOVE TO MAKE THEM, but I BREAK THEM!!  I am a list maker and a list breaker, so I am no good at the lose 10 pounds, get kids to bed on time, eat only organic, typical resolutions.  That is why I figured I would be better off with a word than a list, so there.

Without further rambling, I give you my word of 2011...


intentional.


Such a huge word, wouldn't you say?

I think this is the best word in the entire dictionary that describes how I want to live this year.

I want to be intentional.  And I'm not.  So, I'm going to try real hard to change that this year.

Here is what I know...

I am a homeschool mom of 2 girls who are growing up faster than I can handle.  I remember my mom from when I was my girls age.  So guess what??  They will remember me.  Uh oh!!

What do I want them to remember about me?  How do I want them to think things are supposed to go in the world?  What legacy do I want to leave for them?

I must be intentional.

There is no more "getting away with it."  No, my girls have caught on.  I can no longer wing it like I did when they were 2 and 4 and just believed everything you said to be right and true.

So this year I want to be intentional about everything I do.

I want to be intentional about our homeschooling. {No more just doing something because its what I bought during the summer or its what everyone else is using.  What is most important for them to learn?}

I want to be intentional about how we live. {No more just doing something because it is what we have always done.  What is truly best for our family?  Even if its a hard decision.}

I want to be intentional about what we say. {No more just saying something because we want to say it.  What are my words doing?  Building up or tearing down?}

I want to be intentional about how we spend our time.  Who we spend time with.  What we eat.  Where we go.  How we communicate.

I believe that my mom was intentional in raising my sister and I.  It was the single most important job she had.  She weeded out all of the other distractions, and just focused on that one most important thing.  And she did it so well.  I want to be just like her and I have come to learn that it isn't going to just happen.

Here is a quote that I stumbled upon this morning while reading the blogs.  It is from Jamie at Simple Homeschool.

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather.I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wow!!  I POSSESS THE TREMENDOUS POWER TO MAKE LIFE MISERABLE OR JOYOUS.  

I will be intentional.