Word for 2014

I started seeing "word for the year" posts in mid-January and was instantly intrigued.  Why had I never heard of this tradition before??  It's genius!  Rather than focusing on a bunch of resolutions, why not just one?  A quick Google search brought me to the My One Word website where I was able to read more about the vision behind picking just one word to guide me through the year.

The more I read, the more I liked the idea.  

And yeah, I'm two months late.  But that's okay.  I read that some people don't pick their word until February, trying different ones on for size to see what they're most serious about.  That appealed to me, too.  I know that if I had just picked one word at the beginning of the year it would have been grace.  Even in picking a word at the beginning of March I was tempted.

Not that there's anything wrong with grace!  Obviously.  My whole blog is kind of centered around the concept!  In fact, if I were ever going to get a tattoo (which I probably won't), I'd most likely get that word inscribed somewhere I could see it every day to remind me to have grace, to be grace.

But two months into this year, I've sensed God leading me to a different word.  A bold word.  A hard word.  A word that requires work and sacrifice.  

My word for 2014 is

He's been whispering this word to me for probably four months and it's always been like, "Yeah, I know I need to be more intentional." But then I never take any steps.  That's going to change.  This year, I need to focus on being INTENTIONAL in every area of my life.  Proactive, not reactive.

I'm going to make a list of what being INTENTIONAL means to me and try to work on one item every month.  It's going to be difficult, but if I take it one step at a time, I know I can change.  And I have the whole year to do it.

Wow, why haven't I done this before?!

This year, I made lots of goals.  And I still feel like I should probably make some attempt to complete them.  But they're not going to be my focus.

My focus is on becoming INTENTIONAL.