Happy New Year…just a few days late. But it’s still January so I think I’m OK with the greeting.

I’ve never been good with entering the new year with a list of resolutions. One quick fail and I’m ready to call it quits. But a few years ago I read about choosing one word or phrase to focus the year on. Something about that resonated and I took the leap.

In Brave as a Girl Can Be I wrote about my phrase for 2015…Living Bravely…and then how God led me to stick with it one more year. I thought I knew what living bravely would or could look like. Boy was I wrong!

As I began planning for 2017 I also began asking God for direction and for that one word. Weeks went by and I still didn’t know. Continuing to pray I asked Him to show me where He wanted my focus to be. Added to that prayer was asking Him to help me pay attention. True confession: sometimes I can get distracted with my own stuff and I just didn’t want to miss it.

Well, He certainly made sure I didn’t miss it! Within days I received the following gifts.

First this one

And then this one

And let’s not forget this one

Not only did He show me visually what my word should be, but He also used some dear friends to direct my focus. Again within days of each other I heard this: “Deb, I wish you could see and believe in yourself what I do.”

I receive this invitation to believe. To believe more in Him – to learn how to believe in me – to grow deeper to believe in us. I hope you’ll join me on this journey. I’m excited in a tender kind of way to discover where BELIEVE will take me and us this year.

Do you have a word or phrase for 2017? I’d love to know what it is and why you chose it. Comment below and on Monday I’ll randomly choose a name to receive my favorite journal from Life Lived Beautifully.

Until next time…