Word of the Year 2015

Well, hello there! It seems February is my favorite time of year to get a little personal on the blog. Last year around this time, I shared some of the HUGE changes my family was facing and revealed that because of those changes, my inaugural Word of Year was to be "Stretch." I'm back with a little update, and my Word of the Year for 2015.

So, first off, I'm happy to report that our family's new business is going as well as we can hope. At the start of last year, we were just happy that there was food in the house and our bills were getting paid. Seriously, I would go to bed and thank God for the fact that we were keeping our heads above water enough to keep the furnace running and stuff. Now, a year later, although I still don't take those things for granted, our knuckles aren't quite as white--at least not every day. We are sleep-deprived, but happy. Most important, we just feel in our bones that we're on the path God envisioned for us.

Now, this isn't all to say we've got stuff figured out. Ha! Our learning curve is still quite steep. Some things about running our own company have become easier but we have a looooong way to go before we feel confident and secure in all aspects of the business. We hope to narrow our focus this year and improve upon the foundation we built our first year.

Speaking of foundation, church has continued to be an important part of our lives. In fact, we became members, which was a huge step for us. I've continued to feel blessed by the nourishment I receive there, and our kids are so happy, confident and secure every time we're in that space together. This year, I hope to find the areas where I can help out more. I've started volunteering a little, but haven't "stepped up" in a big way yet. Part of that is because I still feel stretched thin juggling our company, my writing gigs (which I LOVE by the way) and motherhood and don't want to commit to something I can't be 100% present for.

So, now that I've stretched my comfort zones to accommodate our new normal, I need a new Word of the Year. I'm going with...DEFINE. Like I said, last year's journey was about 1) choosing a new path and 2) surviving. Done and done. But now we need to define who we are. We need to define our company; I need to define goals for my writing career; we need to define ourselves in the context of our church. Although we know we're headed in the right direction, it's time to pick the right road on which to get us to the destination. I also like the word "define" because it conjures up the idea of something with marked limits. In other words, as much as we want to define who we are, we need to figure out who we are not. So how do I want to define myself this year? Wow, I realize as I'm typing this that that's a lot to take on. But I think this step is crucial to my professional success, not to mention my success as a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and Christian. This seems to be the step that has to happen before any others. DEFINE.