WORD OF THE YEAR for 1 Decade – 2016-2025
2016 Restore – So was acknowledged and faced throughout the last few year. And this years was a year of restoration. Restoring of lost relationships and restoring of a spirit within that had been broken. Putting the cracked vase back together, accepting the broken lines for the beauty that they have created. Restoration is the beginning of something new. I know that the Lord has so much for me in this new.
2017 Finding Me – After some restoring of self in 2016, in 2017 I realized that I wasn’t who I thought I was and some of who I needed to be. God was working on me. He was seeking me in a way that lead me to allowing Him to find me. I am learning to lean into Him more. Asking Him to help me be the me that He created. Showing me in little ways who He was asking me to be. This was and still is a journey that I’m sure will continue.
2018 Brave – This was a big year for me. God had me on a journey that required much bravery. Confronting things of my past was the theme for this year. God was right there, without a doubt! Walking with me, giving me grace, showing me mercy and providing strength. Opening the door wide to let the light in my darkness and removing the weight I so long had carried. It was time for healing within my immediate family. And being brave was necessary for that healing.
2019 Change & Joy – After the year of bravery, God called me to Change and Joy. God showed me grace and mercy during a year of change. Change that I really didn’t want or understand but was necessary. Change that also released stressors from my life that were way over due. And with this change there was much Joy. Sometimes it’s hard to have joy in painful change but if we have faith in what God is doing that Joy comes oh so much easier. The change and joy became interchangeable. Most of the time it’s hard to have joy without the change. In God I trust.
2020 Empower – Yes, the word was Empower. I really didn’t know what God meant when He gave me that word. I’ve never been a woman of power. I usually shied away from that type of thing unless I really felt equipped for the job. But what I didn’t know is that He was going to empower me in things that I couldn’t have had the power on my own to do. He was empowering me with a sense of humility but determination. I still shake my head. The year of change jump started that empowerment. And oh how He shined. He empowered me to step out into the uncomfortable. He empowered me to release the need to have others affirm me. He empowered me to be more of what He molded me to be.
2021 Simplicity – With the new soul settling sense of Empowerment there came the need to simplify my world. God showed me that simplifying my world would bring peace to it. Learning to be content was part of that simplification. I’m still working on that because there are many layers to contentment. I think this year was about simplifying my life so that my internal would be peaceful. Giving me the courage to say “NO” to my internal urge to fix, please, prove, you name it was His intent for me this particular year. And Oh did He show me that simplifying the internal has proven to be peace filled. There probably will be another year of Simplicity for yet another layer of my life. For now, “peace be still” is my motto.
2022 Discover – Discover was definitely the word of this year. Discovering so much about myself. Some of that discovery has been done in self reflection. Learning about me, the real me. Not the one that I thought I was supposed to be but the one He wanted me to be. Not the one that was hiding behind masks but the one that He said “Go” and gave me the courage to do it. Not the one that was fearful of the “what if’s” but faithful and trusting in His “what if nots”. He helped me discover that He has redeemed me, made me resilient and strong. I can now not be afraid of new discoveries because I know he travels with me.
2023 – Quiet, Wait, Listen – 2023 has been a year of New. New friends, new job responsibilities, new losses, new awakening and realizations, new ministry directions and a new, more enhanced relationship with my Father God. Oh, how it has been enhanced! A lot of Quiet, Waiting and Listening opens up a world of how He is working in and around me. I like it here, in this place of new with Him. Although the direction that He leads me will have more new added, I believe that I will hold on to where He has landed me this year. A more peace filled place with Him. There has been quite a bit of hard in this time of solitude with Him because He has lead me to open my eyes to some hard realities but it has also opened my eyes to how He is working in my life.
By the time you are reading this, God has embarked me on my journey and I look forward to seeing what He has for me.
2024 – Trust – This year has been a year of trust for sure. He led me through the hard in reconciliation and forgiveness. Without know God was there through it, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand the turmoil that was going through my head. The angst felt because of past pain was at times more than I could bare but He held me close. Showed me if I trust Him, my insides would settle whether the situation settled or not. It wasn’t up to me to carry the heaviness of the burden, that is what He was there to do. I trusted Him, I obeyed Him and He healed my soul in a way that is unexplainable. Through death in the family, reconciliation and more rejection, I knew I could trust Him to carry me regardless.
He also gave me so many opportunities to step out and trust Him in my coaching/consulting. He was leading me into a new era of my walk with Him and I was trusting Him with each step.
2025 – Renew moving into Resililence – 2025 has been a year of renewing the child that God created. As we age, we forget what it was to have the innocence of a child. To love like a child and to dream like a child. God has been working on me with this during this year. Letting go of the control and need to understand His leading and simply walking by faith in His goodness is where He has landed me this year.
Something fun and interesting that I did this year was sell my motorcycle. Now understand, that I loved my motorcycle. It had some sentimental values, but I loved being in the open air, enjoying all that God had for me there. It was also something that my husband and I enjoyed doing together, but I found that as we age things change and I needed to gently change with them. So, I sold it. Then I took that and purchased myself an older model convertible car that we could still enjoy together along with our grandkids but also, I could take it out alone. I do that sometimes to sneak away with God for quiet space.
I am thoroughly enjoying my little car.
I’ve never named a vehicle, but I named this one “Resi”. It just came to my mind as I was considering what it meant to me to have her. I knew that Resi was short for Resilience, but I really didn’t know how much it really meant. So, I looked the word up and this is what it means.
Resilience is a crucial part of renewal, as it is the ability to bounce back from adversity, which is a necessary step toward thriving and flourishing. Renewal is the action of resilience showing great capacity to recover from hardship, while renewal is the rebuilding and refreshing your body, mind and spirit after a struggle.
I was actually stunned. At the end of 2025 God reminded me of my word Renewal that came to me at the beginning of 2025. I love when He works like that. But you do know that if I hadn’t been looking for Him in my day to day, I would have missed His goodness.
In 2025 He has opened up many new possibilities for me. He renewed my self worth as an employee with a new position locally. He placed me in a church that truly embodies what it is to build up their people, which has given me more opportunities to build my coaching/consulting business. He landed me on platforms in front of women where I could share what He has done for me. And He helped me publish my 2nd book. I am blessed.
Welcome 