Quiet...My 2020 Word for the Year

QUIET…My 2020 Word for the Year

As many of my readers know, I choose a word each year. It’s a practice I picked up from author Debbie Macomber. I don’t always know how it will play out in my life, but that’s part of the fun.

Last year I chose the word “hospitality.” It came from my study of Romans 12 where we are instructed to practice hospitality. It was a great year. I enjoyed having people in my home for breakfasts, dinners, parties, and desserts. I appreciated cooking meals or dishes for others in need and for friends at Bible study. I found myself reaching out to others more. I made new friends. I opted to be more generous. I started a collection of books for women in prison. I visited people who were sick or hurting.

Sure, some of that I would have done anyway, but clinging to the word “hospitality” brought focus to my actions. As I said, it was a great year.

Now a new year looms ahead. I’ve been thinking and praying about the word I would choose. The one that keeps coming to mind is…Quiet.

   

It’s a scary one for me. I am anything but quiet. What will that mean for me? 

To listen more? 

To lead a quiet life? 

To be still?  

Perhaps I will find time to be more reflective. Perhaps I will guard my calendar so as not to overbook my time. Perhaps I will finish the book I started writing based on a passage in I Thessalonians.

I Thessalonians 4:11-12.

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”

There’s a lot to consider in that quiet life: minding your own business, working with your hands, consistency, respect, independence. 

I don’t know exactly how the word will play out for me. I do know it is a journey worth exploring.

A new decade. A new year. A new word. 

Have you claimed a word for the year? Share your word if you dare. And keep me in the loop. I’m anxious to hear how it works for you.