I've chosen a word of the year for at least two years. It's a touchstone, a guide post, for the year. A word I refer to almost daily. It is less specific than goals and resolutions, but something much more. In choosing the word, I start by writing a list of possible words, adding to it when something comes to mind. I ponder them and pray over them, always seeking God's guidance.
Last week I thought I'd "ask the Googles" (as my friend says), for suggestions, so I entered "one word 2020." The first search result was for a quiz. I'm sort of a sucker for quizzes, so I went for it. The site was dayspring.com ~ which, turns out, is a Christian website (insert knowing look here). This is from their website:
Dayspring ~ Live your faith
We're here to help you to know and share the life-changing message of God's love.
I took their 7 question quiz and the result was that my word for 2020 is STAND. Once I saw that, I immediately knew that it was right. I wasn't sure what it meant; I'm still not exactly sure what it will mean throughout 2020. But God certainly knows.
STAND...
strong, for, against, with, up, down, fast, apart, in love, in peace, in faith
...the possibilities are endless.
After getting my word, I had the strongest urge to reach out to one of my friends and tell her about this experience and my word. I couldn't figure out why I had the feeling I should do this. We are Facebook friends, in a group of wonderful photographers, and I've never met her in person. But the feeling persisted, so I messaged her this story and my word. Her reply was "Sounds like you'll be 'standing on the promises of God' in 2020. Which, by the way, I found out a few days later, is an old hymn. Whatever other words will follow STAND for me in 2020, they can't be any better than those six ~ standing on the promises of God.
So, unexpectedly, technology had a big part in finding my word for 2020. While it can be a curse, the technology to reach others and find community can have great benefits and blessings. Here's hoping that your 2020 will be a year full of God's goodness for you. May you know all of God's promises.
Click on this photo to see some of God's promises to us on the lower step |
Oh, here's just another example of the "rightness" of this ~ Dayspring sells books and journals, including Promises from God's Heart - A Bible Promise Journal. And, yep, I bought one!
PS - Click here for the Dayspring Your Word 2020 quiz in case you want to try it!