In my last blog post, I talked about setting goals for the new year and how some friends and I got together and made BINGO cards with our goals for 2025. Well, my FREE space has my word-of-the-year in it, and that’s what I want to discuss in this post.
I’ve done the word-of-the-year thing since 2018, so this is my 8th year and my 8th word. Some years I really focus well on the word all the way through the year, and then, other years, like last year, I lose steam part way through the year. Honestly, when I started to think about my word for 2025 in December of 2024, I couldn’t even remember what word I had chosen for 2024. How sad is that, and the word was “love,” so that makes me feel even worse, like I failed with my word-of-the-year.
Well, it’s a new slate and a new year, so my focus this year is on “gratitude.” Why? Great question. I guess whenever I have focused on showing gratitude, my life changed for the better as did my attitude and outlook. So, that’s what I want for 2025: a positive attitude and a thankful heart full of gratitude!
I’m going to kick off my focus on gratitude by listing some things I am grateful for. I am grateful for penguins. I mean, aren’t they the cutest things? I recently learned about blue penguins who are the smallest penguin species, and they are blue in color. They live in Australia and New Zealand, which is where my son’s cruise ship will be for the next few months, so I am hoping he will get to see these little guys! Penguins are amazing, and I am grateful that God blessed us by creating them!
Another thing I’m grateful for is chocolate. It may not seem like something that I should spend time writing about, but think about how incredible chocolate is. It starts with a cacao tree with fruit pods that contain seeds, and these seeds go through a very long and arduous process that includes drying, roasting, winnowing, grinding, tempering, etc. There are SO many steps in making chocolate, but oh, it’s worth it. The taste and texture of chocolate make it one of my favorite things to eat, and there is some talk that says dark chocolate might also actually be good for me! Win-win right there!
So, there you go, just two things I am grateful for in our world! God blessed me in many ways with my family and my friends and my church, but I wanted to think outside of my normal gratitudes and focus on the less obvious things. I Samuel 12:24 says, “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” There are so many great things He has done for me—thank you, Lord!
You can all help keep me accountable this year, and honestly, I would appreciate the help! You might ask me if have written down any gratitudes for the week. I’m doing a weekly prayer journal this year and each week I plan to list some things I'm grateful for each week of 2025. Here's to a new year, a new word, and a renewed sense of gratitude!
Thank you for reading friends.
Love,
Julie
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