Words of Hope: Intentions
Dad loved the promise of the new year. He loved journals, plans, and renewal. Yesterday, on New Year’s Day, a group of us gathered around the table to discuss how to enter 2023 with intention. Each of us wrote down the following:
- Our key word for 2023
- A key verse, poem, or saying we wanted for the year
- Intentional desires in the four main quadrants: physical, mental, relational, and spiritual
My key word for the year will be “effervescent” which means light-hearted, vivacious, and bubbly. This is my true personality. When I was young, I walked entirely on my tip toes and sang all the time. Now, my colleagues in the office know when I am coming down the hall. I tend to tread heavily, I think heavy thoughts, I act and interact with life without this buoyancy. I desire to exude effervescence daily.
My key saying is, “Inhale peace, exhale joy.” These are small intentions and decisions, but they inform all that I do.
Grief has been infinitely heavier than I imagined. I am often suffocated with the reality of loss which can permeate my point of view. I can become melancholy about the holidays being over, the speed at which children grow up and leave, the loss of warm weather. Grief can amplify loss.
I can choose, however, to allow grief to provide the wisdom needed to live with buoyancy and hope, to be present now. My mom said to me, “Dad is infinitely blissful right now, he would not want me to be depressed but to keep being intentional about my life all the way to the finish line.”
My intentions this year are to realize I can carry the burden, or I can trust the Lord. I can be bitter and irritated about someone or something, or I can walk in forgiveness. I can spend too much time in my head trying to work out all the possible issues, or I can walk lightly, staying present and realizing God loves me and will provide the way forward. I can truly cast my cares, which include my grief, upon the Lord who will be my buoyancy in 2023.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. – Matthew 11:29
