One word of the year

Last year, I selected one little word for the year. It was the word intent. I surprised myself that I thought about that word often and was reminded of it several times throughout the year. I love the word intent and long to remain intentional in my actions this new year, but it's a new year, and I wanted to add a new word for me to focus on this year. 

It was only fitting that the perfect word came to me as I was sitting in church this past week. 

photo credit Josh Byers

My one little word that I want to focus on in this new year is shine. 

On Christmas Eve, my husband and I found some old VHS tapes of our older two kids when they were newborns. We set up the VCR {are you as surprised as I am that we still have one?} ordered pizza and laughed for hours as we watched old family movies.  It's a bittersweet year. A year full of changes for our family and as much as I want to hit the brakes on time moving forward, I'm also so very excited for my oldest son as he gets acceptance letters from various colleges in the mail and starts to think about where he will spend the next four years. There was a video clip of our precocious toddler barely three years old singing DC Talk's song In the Light.  This is the chorus of the song: I wanna be in the Light
As You are in the Light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the Light
All I want is to be in the Light  It was pretty much the sweetest thing ever. I toyed with the idea of uploading the clip, but I am guarding that sweet memory right now as my own and don't want to share it.  For years I have prayed with my kids in the mornings before schools. Sometimes I get to pray with them, sometimes I pray for them. One of the resonating prayers for them is that they would be a light shining in the darkness at their schools. 

Shine

I've stepped out often into the spotlight of vulnerability in the past six years as I have written this blog, but there have also been times when I have hidden and maybe been more dull than I have wanted to be.  I want to shine! We live in a dark world, but God's word tells us to put on an armor of light {Romans 13:12}. I know that I don't always write about my faith but I hope that when I'm writing about even the most mundane things like glitter or craft projects, that my light can shine.  We are called to be a light to the people around us, and I can only hope that in this new year I can shine. Do you have one little word for this new year? I would love to hear it.