Releasing 2021 and Leaning in to 2022! (A One Word 365 post)

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Do Y'all still do this? I love the practice and even in those years where it seems my OneWord may have slipped away - I can always reflect back over the year and see how it was actually at work all the while!

Maybe you are not aware of the movement that is OneWord365... or maybe you are in the know and already have fully embraced your Word for 2022! I didn't write much in 2021 about my One Word and to be honest, I kind of forgot all about it for months at a time... but as I said, as I have been reflecting over this (past - almost!) year, I can see how it was always close at hand!

I've been doing this OneWord365 project for many years and yet, each December, I pray into what He may have for me and ask Him to lead my Word to me. (And --usually-- I argue and second-guess! It's fine. It's all part of my charm!)

My OneWord last year was RELEASE!

It was sort of a Do-Over word because I had picked "Releasing" about seven or eight years earlier. If you remember, I sort of argued with God about His choice because - you know - out of ALL the words...? Why use one so similar to something I'd already walked with? But I got confirmation after confirmation and when I allowed myself to sit still long enough to listen, I realized there were things I still hadn't let go of in 2021... things that were holding me back!

"Release" also showed up in laying things down (again) like old hurts and expectations, insecurities and doubts, but also releasing things like our small group and old traditions... It meant good things too, like releasing Hope and Peace into OH SO MANY anxious and stressful situations throughout the year, and releasing the false hope of trying to control or persuade something or someone into believing differently!

So... I'm so thankful I took a few moments to look over 2021 to see where or if Release showed up - because, well - it seems (even though technically I am NOT 'lighter'!) I feel much lighter going in to 2022! Less weighed down... less held back --by myself and by others! When I moved on and began praying about my NEXT Word for 2022, I asked the Lord to give me a Word that would stick with me all year long and would bring in me - if I was willing - a lasting change!

Enter the stirrings of Power and Strength!

I first began to hear Power and - hey? Who doesn't like Power? Am I right?  I thought of Power in terms of more answered prayers, and more Holy Spirit --and when the drive for 'more' started to gain momentum, the Lord directed me to literally page after page after page after page in my Bible where "Strength" was written all over the place!  In order to have more power... we must increase our Strength! We must become stronger! 

So, my OneWord365 for 2022 is:

~Strength~

Strength: \ ˈstreŋ(k)th  , ˈstren(t)th  \

1: the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance

2: power to resist force : SOLIDITY, TOUGHNESS

3: power of resisting attack : IMPREGNABILITY

4a: legal, logical, or moral force

b: a strong attribute or inherent asset

5a: degree of potency of effect or of concentration

b: intensity of light, color, sound, or odor

c: vigor of expression

6: force as measured in numbers : effective numbers of any body or organization

7: one regarded as embodying or affording force or firmness : SUPPORT

8: maintenance of or a rising tendency in a price level : firmness of prices

9: BASIS —used in the phrase on the strength of

from strength to strength

: vigorously forward : from one high point to the next

I'll be honest... I'm human and this isn't my first rodeo so I felt it important to let Him know I already see that in order to gain strength - there must be resistence and I'm not a fan of that!  It made me a little less than enthusiastic about this OneWord.  

He reminded me that there has already been steady resistance over the last few years and I am most likely WAY stronger than I even know!  So, as 2021 winds down and I let go of Release (ya see what I did there?) --I'm ready to embrace Strength! 

I need it --I think we all do, really! We could all use a bit more power... more strength in body, mind, emotions, spirit... I'm looking forward to 2022 and as much as I am well aware that there WILL BE some Heavy and Hard, I am believing that I will also see that He has been strengthening me all along!

May each of us tap into a 'Strength' that the last few years have already grown in us... let us be STRONGER in 2022! Amen? 

And May we each:

What comes to your mind when you hear the word, Strength? 

What about you, my friend? Do you participate in finding One Word (or letting One Word find you?)  If so... what's your Word for 2022?
I'd love to hear!