Somewhere on this blog I have a list of each Word of the Year since I started. While listening to the Abiding Together series on CultivatingPeaceBeautyUnityAs I listened Cultivate leapt out at me like a dodgeball to the face. Cultivate: to attend to, water, fertilize, weed, prune, be patient with. And then while looking for … Continue reading Word of the Year 2026
Tag: word of the year
Word of the Year – a Reflection on Surrender
The overarching theme of the last six years is, "it doesn't mean what you think it means." A wee bit more pondering brings me to the place of realization that this is very much the theme of life. This is often affirmed in expected places. At the parish I'm part of the Discipleship University team, … Continue reading Word of the Year – a Reflection on Surrender
Meeting Elizabeth of the Trinity
Intimacy. Language is fascinating. Words have meaning and many words have more than one meaning. When we look back at the etymology (origin and original meaning) it is something other than its current usage. The WORD though is the same through all eternity. How utterly unfathomable is this, and yet it is precisely this WORD … Continue reading Meeting Elizabeth of the Trinity
Word of the Year 2025
Here it is the end of the third week of Advent, which also happens to be the shortest day of the year. As I am a short woman this is highly appropriate that I share a few snippets of the year and the twenty-twenty-five word of the year. Institute for Spiritual Direction - is as … Continue reading Word of the Year 2025
On the Eve of Lent
Oh this morning the words are hilarious. I desire to pull several things together that seem disparate yet coherent. And I suspect I'll be working backwards this morning. A couple of friends and I use the Marco Polo app to chat with each other. One friend recently went through a major job change and move. … Continue reading On the Eve of Lent
Fallow & Struggle
What an incredible joy it is for Twenty twenty-three to begin on Sunday. New week, new year. I have a new planner coming soon that will in some sense continue Cultivate and begin the year with Tenacity. Well done me for tying these two words together. Since beginning this post the new planner arrived, to … Continue reading Fallow & Struggle
a second and necessary word of the year
of or related to Elizabeth Scalia's Little Sins Mean a Lot Often when I'm teaching I point out mistakes, missteps, wobbles, imperfections in the quilting, places where I wasn't paying attention, yada yada. I do this for specific reasons- to show that even beautiful things have flaws- to show that someone who has thousands of … Continue reading a second and necessary word of the year
Open the eyes of my heart
Instead of making resolutions for a new year I choose a focus word. Failed resolutions tend to highlight those places in life where both faith, and actual work are needed but do so in a way that invites shamed, and humiliated thinking. Each "failure" has the opportunity to be a stumbling block, or a stepping … Continue reading Open the eyes of my heart
Like a Tree Planted
Jeremiah 17: 7 & 8 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord; the Lord will be their trust. They are like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It does not fear heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still produces fruit. … Continue reading Like a Tree Planted
2015 Word of the Year
Bilbo sings: The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. Here I … Continue reading 2015 Word of the Year
A Quilter's Heart 