Find Your Word & Flourish

I got to thinking after my last post, about the upcoming new decade and the one that is quickly fading. The words that have accompanied me in the past three years and what that has meant to me. In case you missed it, I wrote a bit about being intentional with your gift and mentioned that I usually have a word to set the tone for each new year.

I love the idea of having a theme for the year and God placed it upon my heart to do so at the end of 2015. Each word was a call to action but also the backdrop for life lessons for that particular year. I thought sharing the Word for the Year process with you all would encourage you to do the same, to aid in setting intentions for the new year but without the pressure of accomplishments.

How do you go about it?

Well during the last month of the year, I reflect on the year by thinking of a highlight from each month.

What did I learn from that experience? Was it self-serving or did it impact others? I then look for a pattern between the experiences and pray about it. Is there more for me to learn in that theme for the new year? What does that theme relate to?

I usually don’t get the word until the very end of December or the first week of January. With the word, I find scripture that correlates and I write a prayer surrounding it. I also write out the definition. Typically, I think I know what it means for me but I realize about half way in, I had no idea what God was planning for me. 

In 2017, my word was flourish which means 

To grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a favorable environment.

My scripture was Psalms 1:1-3. Verse 3 says 

“He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams

that bears its fruit in its season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.”

I thought my life was going to just feel and look like I was floating on gold lined clouds. Yeah, no. It wasn’t that the year was superbly terrible, it was just extremely tension filled to produce growth. 

Have you ever prayed for something not thinking about what it will entail? That was me on January 3, 2017. Here are a few lines:

“I pray over this year, that it will be one of continuous growth and that I’ll bear fruit in every season.”

Not bad, sounds nice.

“To be like a tree planted, deeply rooted in You. By Your riverbanks, daily nourished.”

Ok sis! C’mon deep roots and nourishment!

“That I’ll be serene and calm through storms. Still growing, thriving in drought.”

Who tell mi fi go pray dem words deh? God definitely heard me and there were quite a few storms and dryness. 

January 2017, I was in the middle of my first year of grad school. Grad school on a whole is mentally, emotionally and physically trying but my experience felt like it was suffocating me. My identity was constantly attacked and I felt as if my voice had no value. I began to question if I heard God incorrectly. If I heard incorrectly about Flourish and about the path I was on.

At the start of my second year, it seemed to get worse. I was placed on academic probation (long story short, I was unfairly targeted). I remember thinking in the first class of the semester “This is BS” (with the actual curse word). Yikes I know. The Holy Spirit immediately responded with

“Yes but BS (He didn’t say the actual word, just the letters written) fertilizes and aids in growth.”

That got me together real quick. I was convicted yet comforted all in one go. It wasn’t in spite of the crap I grew, it was because of it. To grow in a vigorous way means it involves strength, effort and energy. I expended a lot of effort that year. The environment was favorable because God was and is always with me.

Through the arid climate and raging winds, I flourished.

Into a year of being In Bloom.

In my next post, I’ll share what In Bloom meant for me as well as how it connected to 2019’s word of Intentionality. 

Do you have a word for the year? If so, what was your word for 2019?

If you haven’t implemented a word for the year in your life, I encourage you to do so. New decade means new things and new possibilities. Let me know if you’re thinking about your 2020 word :)