My 2017 Word of the Year

Deep breaths. Feet planted. Roots soaking in moisture and nutrients. Healing. Growth. Raw.

These are all words that came to the surface when I was prepping my goals for the year. I highly recommend the PowerSheets, in part because they have some great prep work that have helped me uncover things below the surface that I wouldn't have known were there. I had a few contenders: raw, transparent, depth, cultivate, roots, tethered. As I looked up definitions, none of these resonated with me beyond the initial word. However, the word "rooted" felt like it fell right into the center of my heart. It was screaming at me all the lessons I had learned in 2016. It's the breath of fresh air I need going into this year with hope, after such a trying 2016.

R O O T E D : firmly implanted. a part of the body of a plant that develops from the radicle (plant embryo) and grows downward into the soul, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutrients and moisture. to implant or establish deeply.

Here are some thoughts from my journal that came into my mind after reading these definitions:

secure
established
anchored
growth
nutrients - healthy
flourishing
connected
reliant on the sun (or the Son)
needs tender care
quits growing when the roots are severed - stay connected to Jesus!

F R O M T H E W O R D

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him... Colossians 2:7 (NLT)

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by water that sends out it's roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; it's leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV)

If you read my goals post from a couple of days ago, maybe you saw this theme. I'm asking God for spiritual, emotional, physical and mental wholeness. More time in the Word. More time reading. More margin. More grace for my kids and husband. Depth in friendships. Anchored and secure in who God made me. Free in His love for me. I'll be honest, the first few days of this year have been trying. It's not like January 1st happens and magically everything changes. I sense the trials of the past year bleeding into a new one, but am still trusting that despite the wind and waves, I may be anchored securely into the depths of the Earth, trusting in God no matter what comes.

Do you have a word for the year? I'd love to hear it!