We have another tradition in our family that was passed down from the Knotts family, who got it from the Paige family and every year that we do this, another family joins us. It’s such a great idea!!

All right…here is how it goes. Everyone in the family is responsible for picking their personal “Word for the Year.” It needs to be something that we really want to work on and develop in ourselves over the next year. You can’t achieve a goal you never set, right?!

Once we have chosen our words, everyone then decorates a page that has their word on it. We then place all of these on the fridge or somewhere else where everyone will see it throughout the year as a reminder. I love these pages too, because I keep them year after year so I can make a scrapbook of our words.

Last year we also chose one family word that we wanted to work on as well.

I’ll give you a run down on the last 3 years word choices for myself. In 2009, I chose DISCIPLINE. This one was two-fold. I wanted to be more disciplined in my work. That year I was able to start my own business and I truly did discipline myself to work harder than I ever had before, with much success. I also chose DISCIPLINE because I wanted to focus on following through on disciplining the girls. (That part still needs more help!)

In 2010, I chose the word HOPE. I was really feeling worn down and knew we needed change and I needed to have HOPE that things could change. That year I was able to win a huge court battle to leave the state of Florida and move to live near family in Arizona. Daniel and I also ended up getting engaged. HOPE renewed!!

In 2011, I chose the word BALANCE. As a single mom working two jobs, it’s very hard to achieve balance. I believe much of the credit for this word coming to fruition is because of Daniel. He brings much needed balance into my life. I’m not staying up until 2:00am working every night. (Yes…I recognize the irony in me writing this…because it is 2am right now, but the point is that it isn’t EVERY night.)

The biggest balancing though comes from the fact that I don’t feel like the weight of every decision is on my shoulders anymore. I have a partner who helps carry the weight and even shoulders it all sometimes so I can get a break. I’m a very lucky woman.

I haven’t yet decided on my word for 2012, I’m still praying about it but I know God will plant a word in my heart. There are plenty of areas to choose from that need improvement, I can guarantee that! I’ll let you know once I pick my word. In the meantime, consider starting this tradition in your family. You won’t regret it!