2021 Word of the Year

It took me longer than usual to get my word for this year.  I thought I had it in November.  

And changed it in December.  

And again in January.  

So I sat on it for a couple of months to make sure it would stick this time.  

It did!

Are you curious?  Or are you so over word of the year stuff now that we are on the back end of March? Do you want to hear what mine is anyway? Am I doing a good job of building suspense or are you just plain annoyed at this point?

My 2021 word of the year is...(drumroll please)

PLANT.

The word has several definitions, but I like the verb one: "to put or set in the ground for growth."

We all had a lot of changes in 2020.  Learning how to do our jobs differently.  Not getting together with our friends.  Trying to remember our masks every time we left the house.  Running out to the store when we saw on the neighborhood link that someone had toilet paper. 

It was definitely a year of change for me.  I went from living and working in Texas, to moving to Oklahoma and doing a completely different "job."  

At first, I thought my word was going to be create because for the first time in a while I had the time and energy to craft (and I loved the shirt a friend sent me that said "Made to Create").  Next I thought it would be embrace, but I think I have already embraced my new lifestyle whole-heartedly.  Then I thought it was going to be develop because I wanted to develop a plan for life after Granny.  But none of those fit for more than a day.

I don't even remember how I got the word PLANT.  I just remember knowing it was the one--even though I have a blacker than black thumb.

For me, plant means to embrace the season I'm in.  I literally, have been planted in new land and part of me died--just like a seed before it sprouts.  But if the seed acclimates to the new soil and accepts the rain, it grows.  And every seed is different.  Even 2 of the same kind of seeds will have different placement of blooms on them.  Like snowflakes, they will not look exactly alike.  

When a seed is planted, it goes into the dark ground.  It's quiet.  It doesn't need to worry about anything else.  It just needs to accept its circumstances and soak it all up.  This time is so important for the roots to grow deep.  It creates the foundation for what that seed will become.  

So, in 2021, I'm asking God to plant me solid in the ground.  To send me the sunshine and rain I need--that I would not only accept those, but that I would flourish in them.  That my roots would go deeper than I ever thought possible.  

I can't wait to see what He does with it.