Last week, I asked you if you choose a word for yourself each new year. A number of you submitted your choices—and the reasons behind them. Enjoy the following thoughtful responses.
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“Plenty”, because 2020 is my year of plenty (of God’s favor.)
Armanda, Saint Paul, MN
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My word for 2020 is Connect.
It’s a word I’ve been given during prayer. Connect for me means looking for opportunities to create relationships with others and also between people.
Mary, Webster, MN
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My sentence this year... yes, I too could not wrap it up with one word... "What comes after fear?" It reminds me to be brave!
Deborah, Hudson, WI
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Retire. I was tired yesterday, I am tired again today, time to retire! I'm actually pulling the plug on everyday work, and looking forward to a new chapter in life.
Larry, Minneapolis, MN
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For 2020 I have so many words to choose from—anticipation, excitement, joy, blessings, and so many more. But to encompass all of my feelings for 2020 I think I will choose the word EPIC! Within this year I will celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary and a huge milestone birthday. I have 2 fabulous trips to look forward to. One that my husband and I embark on every other year with the same friends, finding somewhere warm to help pass the frigid days of winter in Minnesota. The other trip has been on my bucket list since I was a child. We will be traveling to South Africa for 2 weeks! Our trip will include Cape Town and all of its history and beauty, a 5-day safari in Kruger National Park with more exotic animal encounters than I can ever imagine, Johannesburg, and Victoria Falls with all of its majesty! One would think that these things would embrace all things EPIC for me, but there is one more grand adventure that will top off my EPIC year. My daughter and son-in-law will make us first time grandparents! If that was the only EPIC thing to happen to me this year, I would feel beyond blessed! God is great and I thank him every day for every day!
Kari, Moorhead, MN
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No new clothes.... already blessed with a closet full so will try to go a year without buying anything new (exception to rule for under garments like socks and underwear.)
Heather, Fargo, ND
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The french usage of the word élan.
Craig, Buffalo, MN
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It all started when I challenged my houseguests to think about their words for the year 2020. As we sat sharing a meal on January 1, 2020, we went around the table and revealed our words for the year. I heard new, life, vision, abide, eleven (an upcoming birthday), and productivity, a list of words carrying weighty, profound depths of meaning. Profound, that is, until I said my word—downsize. How utterly mundane and practical!
The truth is, I had felt a heaviness of spirit about all my (and my husband’s) material possessions for years—stuff in my big house and garage, in the barn, the Quonset, and the blue steel building on this property. So downsize seemed an appropriate and necessary word choice. But as soon as it came out of my mouth, I regretted saying it. Within the word lay layers and layers of decisions and work.
Of course, to downsize means to get rid of memorabilia and possessions such as hundreds (thousands?) of books, dishes (mine and my mother’s), LP records, boxes and boxes of music, and totes of teaching materials, just to name a few things among the plethora of my possessions. Yes, all those things need to be downsized (given away, thrown, etc.), and that process will be ongoing for some time.
But then I began to think of downsizing in a different way when applied to character traits. I want to intentionally downsize my attitudes of being critical of others whose inner turmoil I simply do not know or understand but who only need me to show compassion. And I need to discard expectations I have put on others, especially when I realize the nearly impossible challenge of achieving my own. Actually, my greatest desire is to upsize my mental and spiritual growth through relationships with people in my life, especially my family members and friends, and humbly live out my faith in the One who has blessed me more abundantly than I could ask or think.
Avis, Newfolden, MN
