My Word for the Year

Last year, my word came easy.  FIGHT.  For a girl who lives with four sons, two of which are teenagaers, that seemed appropriate.  There is plenty to fight for (and okay, I'll say it... plenty to fight against).   I fought for my husband, my sons, my precious family unit and everything else that mattered to me.  I fought on my knees and as often as I could, with my mouth shut.

What a great year it was.  So much growth in our family relationships.  I loved looking back at 2015.

And now, it's January. Time for a new word to give me a little direction. Let me say upfront, I hate this word.  It goes against everything in my firstborn nature. I'm not sure I'm capable of following through. But I'll have to, if I want to survive until 2017!  My word took shape when Lysa TerKeurst hurt my feelings...(read this post)

RELEASE.

My hands started man-sweating just typing that. My blood pressure rose before the last E.

RELEASE. Oh my word. CAN I GET A NEW WORD? Lord, c'mon. Play nice.

Yet I know in this season, it's for me.  I live with a white-knuckled grip on things I think I can control.  I'm resistant to change. I fear failure. I like the predictable and I adore routine.

The call to RELEASE is an invitation to peace. I know it. If I want to live the abundant life and experience all God has for me this year, I must release my grip on some things.

So, the 'pact' I'm making with myself is this...

I will release the ones I love from unrealistic expectations.
I will release myself from the tyranny of perfectionism.
I will release my need to please everyone, because I simply can't.
I will release my fear of failure and let Christ's power be made perfect in my weakness.
I will release my tendency to over commit when I'm all out of energy and time.
I will release my worry over tomorrow since tomorrow has enough trouble of its own.
I will release past hurts and let wounds heal.
I will release my brain from entertaining 'what-ifs'.
I will release my irritation over the woman who lets her dog pee in my yard.
I will release my obsessive need to control my curly hair.  Just to lighten this up...

I know there are more.  And let's be clear, when my oldest son moves to college later this year, I may have a hard time releasing him to his next chapter in life so I'm not ready to put THAT on the list. Don't judge me. :)

R-E-L-E-A-S-E.  Picture me singing that like Aretha Franklin, attitude and all.