Well, we’re a week into 2018. Can you believe it?

As I’ve been reading through my last few “word of the year” posts (see the end of this post for the links to them, if you’d like to read them), and as I’ve been working on this years PowerSheets, I’ve realized (or rather, re-realized, if that’s a thing, since I think I already knew) that really, my goals have been very, very similar the last few years. And really, I think they’ll continue to be similar for most of the rest of my life. I’ve really come to know over the past few years that my family, my faith, and my health are what I want and need to focus on. Spending time with Kyle and my kids, keeping a clean and safe home, getting my body healthy, etc. I’m never going to have big goals like run for a political office or open a small business. That’s just not me — my personality or what I want from life. I’ve posted before about my small dreams, and I’ll post about them over and over, but all my life I simply wanted to have a family and all that comes with it. Building a good relationship with my spouse and my kids, continually building my testimony of Christ and relying on him daily, building a solid financial foundation for our life together, being healthy, that’s really all I need or want.

And as I’ve been thinking about this coming year, and the fact that we’ll be welcoming child #3 into our home in 4 months or so, I knew that this would be a year of transition and growth and hardship as I move through that transition and growth. But I didn’t just want to throw it in the bag before it even began. So, I’ve decided that my word of the year will be “CHERISH” to remind me to cherish the life I’ve been given, the stage of life I’m in right now. To cherish my children that are growing up way too fast, despite the sleepless nights and temper tantrums. To cherish my husband and keep him a priority despite the changes a new baby brings. To cherish my faith and tend to it daily, even just for a few minutes. To cherish this body of mine, that, while a bit overweight and not as healthy as it should be, is currently the perfect home for my sweet babe.

So yes, this year of life I’ll be focusing on cherishing all the good in my life. Holding it a little closer, a little tighter. And I’ll strive not to worry about what I can’t control, what’s happening outside the walls of my own home. I’ll simply keep my focus on what I can control (at least kind of, ha!) and create a loving, safe, healthy atmosphere for my whole family, and cherish the time I have with them.

Previous words of the year:
2015 | Engage Intentionally
2016 | Show Up
2017 | Progress, Not Perfection