Welcome to 2018! Many of us are making resolutions, setting goals, and reflecting on the past 12 months. One thing that I do every year is idenify a word (or a phrase) and scripture that I will focus on throughout the year. I’ve been doing this for the past five years or so, and these have been my words:

2017 – Miracles

2016 – Vulnerable

2015 – People Over Things

2014 – Unfiltered

2013 – Be Inspired

When 2016 ended, I couldn’t have been more happy. I thought that was one of the absolutely worst years of my life. I wrote about it several times, and one thing I can say about 2017 is that it was much better. Last summer, I realized something that caused me to explore more about my own life more. 2017 was much better than 2016 because I became closer to the voice of God. I listened more. I communicated with Him more. And I learned (at times the hard way) that I needed to obey Him more.

If I can be completely honest with you, that obey thing was hard. Very hard. So hard I spent the last six months of 2017 justfying all of the reasons I may not have been the most obedient.

For all of the times I argued and was stubborn, there were some times that I actually did what God say do, and when I did obey Him and follow His direction, I was absolutely amazed at the results. And that led me to realize that maybe, just maybe, I needed to be more intentional about obedience. Specifically obedience when it comes to the word of God.

A few of the things I was obedient to in 2017:

• Homeschooling, again
• Staying in Dallas
• Joining a church that I had visited on and off for several years
• Completely redesigning my blog and gaining clarity on what I write about
• Preparing for the empty nest
• Loving like Jesus did

So that’s where I am y’all. I don’t expect to have this mastered anytime soon. In all honesty, it’s going to be a doozy, but I’m going to do it. And every time I try, if I fall, I will pray, get right back up, pray again, and obey.

Do you have a word for the year?