One Word ...

For the past few years I have been trying to focus one just One Word with each new year. It hasn't been so much about resolutions, but about trying to learn more about and develop characteristics and traits that would be good in my life. I have focused on Love, Order, Virtues ... and good things have come from those focused efforts.

As this coming year approached, I decided I was going to focus on Reclaiming! I felt as though I had let everything about me go to the wayside. My mind, my body, my sanity, my health ... and this year I wanted to focus on getting ME back. It was even made more relevant by losing 12 pounds in November ... I was excited and ready to focus on ME again. But, funny thing, every time I really tried to lay out a plan or focus on what I needed to do for me, I couldn't get this scripture out of my head:

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 16: 25)

My intentions were all about ME ... finally being able to sleep through the night ... getting back to a figure that would be a little closer to my original adult size ... reading every book for book club, and then some ... getting my mommy quilts made ... finishing all of the unfinished leftovers of recent (and not so recent) home improvement projects ... and who knows what else (there was plenty MORE).

Honestly, none of that is bad - any of them would enrich my life. But, there is this thing called time, and there is only so much of it. If I were to focus on making all of thesethings happen, there really wouldn't be time for anything else. And when it comes down to it, good as it all is, none of it is eternal. I realized what a precious commodity time is right now, and I need to make sure it is used as best as it possibly can be. So, my focus shifted ... thanks to the above scripture. And I no longer am going to focus on ME ... but on the one thing (which I lack terribly) that seems to completely envelope the idea of losing your life for the Lord's sake ... and that is Charity!

And, I am taking my family along with me on this journey.

We are going to work hard to lose ourselves in loving the way our Savior would. We have so much to learn and so far to go in this endeavor, but the outcome of improving our capacity to possess the true love of Christ in our souls is far more important than any of the other ideas that have been overtaking my thoughts lately.

And just to help keep me in line and on task, I have posted little reminders about what Charity is and what I need to be doing in order to truly possess this virtue. It is kind of busy and full of a lot of stuff, but each word was so important, I couldn't leave any of them out. Each word is a key to living the life my Heavenly Father has in store for me. Each word carries a weight and strength that will last for eternity.

So here's to reaching for the seemingly impossible ... because one thing that I've learned over the years is that the "impossible" only takes longer.