2016 was a tough year for the world.

Which is weird because it was one of the best I’ve had personally…hello, my baby girl turned ONE.

But it did seem like every night, I hugged her a little tighter because of something that brought tears to my eyes during the day. A shooting, or a terrorist attack. I watched as my own community was the victim of both of those. In one weekend we saw a young pop star shot point blank, a terrorist shoot up a local night club, and a young boy drowned by an alligator. It was a tough year, for sure.

And then we have the 2016 election season. I think we’re all still thanking God it’s finally over, ok maybe not all of us, but I’m sure happy it’s over. We’re certainly more divided than when we rang in the New Year last year, and that’s what really makes me sad.

So I think we all have to try better. Me, you, everyone. We’ve got to get back to the point where we actually like each other and don’t mind if our opinions are different.

For me, it’s really simple. I’ve got to get with God more. Way, way, way more.
I saw this quote on the Proverbs 31 Instagram:

“A real sigh of spiritual maturity is looking to God for purpose and perspective instead of comfort and convenience.”

A lot of my prayers are, “Thank You Lord for…” and then you fill in the blank. It’s always whenever I can find the five minutes to do it too.

It’s comfortable and convenient. It’s honestly not working.

So in effort to get better at…well everything, I picked the word FOCUS for 2017.

I looked up the definition of focus: a central point, attention or activity.
The synonyms though are what really got me: center, heart, core.

I actually struggled with what word to pick. I’ve been following along with Lara Casey’s goal setting and I was going to skip the whole word for the year thing, because I’ve felt like in the past, I’ve picked a word and forgotten about it or let it go by January 10th.

But something about focus just hit me.

Center, heart, core.

J E S U S.

Jesus at the center, Jesus in my heart, Jesus at the core. Of it all.
I think I’ve tried to make this whole picking a word thing too hard. Put too much pressure on it.
So I’m simplifying it this year.

Like the beginning of every year, I’m so excited for January 1.

Cheers to a New Year, friends! Have you picked your word?