Picking a Word for the Year is not a new thing. Remembering my Word for the Year beyond January 21 is a new thing. I remember my word for 2018. My word was Grow. I remembered it all year long!

Three ways I was able to remember my word.

1. I had a verse that went with my word. The verse I selected for 2018 was 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.” I wrote the first bit of that verse in the margin of my planner so each week I would see the word, grow.
2. My goals were all worded and associated with my word, Grow. As I reviewed my goals, I would see that I wanted to grow.
3. I wrote quite a bit about growth here on the blog, growing through abiding, growing in the Fruit of the Spirit. I kept the word in my thoughts of what I wrote.

As I thought about my word for 2019, I wanted another word for the year that would be one that would help me sum up my desire for the year. I wanted a word that would challenge me at least a little bit. After thinking about praying about this, I decided on my word for 2019. My word is

CONNECT

Connect – to join, link or fasten together unite or bind; to establish communication between; put in communication. That is the slightly boring dictionary definition.

As I think of connect, I think of it as more than just acquaintance but as a deep, real relationship. Connect gives me the idea of knowing people and growing in the knowing. It requires me to be real, honest, and open to people both people I currently know and new people.

The verse that I have selected to go with this word is Hebrews 10:24-25

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Using my word for the year I have worded my goals with that word. Here are some of my goals:

Connect with God

I have shared my spiritual goals here. My goal is that at the end of the year I will connect with God in a deeper way. I want to stretch myself and grow in knowing God. I want to be connected in a deeper way.

Connect with Others

This is the section of goals for relationships. I will admit that when I came to this goal, I about threw away all my goals and my word for the year. It was overwhelming to think about this. It is overwhelming but I feel that this is an area where God wants to grow me and use me this year. Some of the specifics for this goal include:

• A monthly date with my husband.
• Time individually with each of my children each month.
• Skype and text with my extended family.
• Hospitality monthly.
• Coffee or walks with local friends 3-4 times a month.
• Continue to build relationships with neighbors.
• Other ways of connecting with people — commenting on Facebook, commenting on other blogs, etc.

I feel that I am in a season of life where I am able to connect with others in deeper ways. I have a bit more time in my week. This is a goal that is forcing me to seek God for wisdom and direction.

Connect Through Hobbies

Yes, I can connect with others through my hobbies. Through scrapbooking, I connect with my children and give them memories. They enjoy sitting and looking at the scrapbooks and remembering various things that we have done through the years. I am hosting a craft afternoon and connecting in that way with others. Bring a project you are working on, have a cup of tea or coffee, chat and work on your project. That is helping to motivate me to get projects done. Some of my goals in this include:

• Keep scrapbooking caught up.
• Less unfinished projects
• Read 120 books
• Knit
• Reduce fabric

Connect Through my House

The goal with our house is that it is organized, tidy, and easy to maintain so that we can use it for hospitality and our own enjoyment. I am basically looking to use what we have and have what we use. It means some decluttering and organizing. I have to be willing to let things go and limit what comes into our house.

Connect with Me

It might be a strange way to word this but it was the best I could do. This is where I put the physical goals. My number 1 goal in this area is to get to my target weight. Once that is done, I want to sort through my clothing. I also need to exercise regularly. To give me a bit of a challenge, I am also adding the goal of running a 10K. I did that in 2016. It will be a good goal and reason for exercising. I need to get a personal best this time.

This area also includes some intellectual goals for me.

• Do the two Great Courses courses
• Read 12 classics
• Read a few of the home education books we never used.

When I wrote these goals, I felt like they were the same as my goals for 2018. Honestly, in some ways, they are the same. I struggled through this and decided it is okay that they are same. I am looking at them a bit different. Looking at connecting. I want to grow a bit more in deeper ways this year.

I decided to add some fun to my life I would make a list of 19 things that I want to do in 2019.

1. Clean and organize my computer
2. Play every game we own
3. Reduce Food waste
4. Cook with a new ingredient
5. Cook a new recipe out of each cookbook
6. Visit a new country
7. Do 12 of the 111 Things to do in our city (We were given a book of 111 things to do here.)
8. Do something I have never done before

I need more items for this list. Do you have any suggestions?

I am planning to do a monthly wrap-up. That keeps me accountable to you, keeps me authentic, and hopefully encourages you as you work through your 2019 goals. This matches what you can expect from this blog in 2019.

It took me a bit of time to just work through my goals for 2019. You know what, that is fine. I needed time to think and pray about what God wants me to do this year.

I am excited about 2019. Leave me a comment with a suggestion for something I can add to my 19 things in 2019.