Up.
Just two letters, nothing fancy or flamboyant. As the new year ticked over my social media feeds filled with reviews of the year past, and good intentions for the year to come. 2019 was a good year for me and mine, but I'm tired. A year of carrying a baby, first inside the body then outside; and nourishing that baby, first inside and then outside; that will wear you out. My word for 2019 was "connect" and maybe I'll get time to summarise how that worked itself out in another post, and I ended the year satisfied.
However, looking ahead was hard. I was surprised by how hard; how I found myself without even hope for the year to come. My grandest intentions week by week are not to shout (or cry) at the children; to get dinner on the table before bedtime each night and to maybe squeeze in half an hour's crafting. Most weeks I don't manage that so to look ahead to a whole year was honestly overwhelming.
Last Sunday we were finally back in routine at our home church. Hubby was poorly so I was alone with both littles and it turned out there was no Sunday school. Church with littles is hard, even when everyone's friendly! The music is loud, and then it's quiet, there are biscuits within grabbing reach and exciting fire exits everywhere. But there's something in gathering with a family of people and singing that's good for the soul. It took my mind from my own little world and lifted it higher, and I felt a glimmer of hope. It seems I wasn't the only one as word after word came of finding hope and looking forward to spring.
So this year my challenge is to look up- beyond my messes and victories, beyond nap routines and nursery term dates. To remember that outside of my bubble there is a wider world, both in a spiritual sense and a really practical one. That's all I've got for now, although I'm sure more layers will come out as the year moves on.
Do you have "One Word" for 2020? How did you choose it?
