As I’ve mentioned a few times already, this year I am taking part in Ali Edwards’ class One Little Word. I have been following Ali for years so I’ve been familiar with her approach of taking on a word to help guide your intentions for the year, but I never felt compelled to do it myself until now.

A couple of months ago I was going for a run around my neighborhood and listening to a podcast – I am pretty sure it was this one where Jess Lively interviewed Ali. They were talking about the one little word concept and all of a sudden the word LIGHT popped into my head. It felt very clear and I just knew at that moment that in 2015 I would choose a word and it would be light.

Months later, and I don’t feel exactly the same as I did that day but I am still certain of my word. It is extremely multi-faceted; it can be a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb and it has dozens of definitions. Here are the ones that spoke to me most:

>something that makes vision possible

>spiritual illumination

>bright and airy

>cheerful, intended to entertain

>gentle

>capable of moving swiftly or nimbly

>to take fire

>with little baggage

I am entering this project openly, not knowing what to expect. Some of those definitions I want to bring into my life literally. Some are figurative. I don’t have a set plan for my word because I just want it to guide me and be an inspiration, but right now I have a few thoughts:

I want to be a light. I am thinking of this in spiritual terms, mainly. One thing I will be doing to enhance this is to take part in Beth Moore’s scripture memory program. I will be memorizing one verse every two weeks for the next year, and all of the verses I’ve chosen have to do with light in some way. Jesus is the ultimate light, I want more of him in my life, and I want that to be evident to those around me.

I want to feel lighthearted. This is kind of vague, and so not a measurable goal. That’s why this exercise is different for me. But for the last couple of months I’ve struggled with getting bogged down with stuff that really doesn’t matter and I’ve felt grumpy. My attitude lately has been better, but I still want to take action on some things that are weighing me down. For example, my one big goal for the year is to reduce our debt. There are also a bunch of nagging tasks that I want to take care of. Our home isn’t very cluttered, but I definitely want to keep the “stuff” from overwhelming us.

I want to choose light. I want to be gentle in my parenting and my dealings with others. I want to read more entertaining books and watch more funny videos. I want to keep running and get faster. I want to get outside more and see the sun.

As a part of Ali’s class there will be monthly prompts and I’ll be putting together an album that is part scrapbook, part journal. My plan is to share it, along with how I’m interacting with the word LIGHT on a monthly basis. I’ve also ordered a necklace with my word stamped on it, and I can’t wait to wear it every day to keep it visible to me.

I would love to know if you’ve done anything similar to this in the past, and how it affected you. I am excited to see where it leads!