If it wasn’t already apparent, I am very inspired by Ali Edwards and her blog. Last year, she had a “word for the year” which she focused on, worked on and used as her inspiration. I’m not doing it justice as I struggle with a decongestant-clouded brain to explain it. Get the skinny here.

So, while I read Ali’s column in CK avidly, and had taken a couple classes with her at last year’s S.A.V.E. and purchased her book and other fun things, I came into the whole blog scene rather late in the game and missed the whole bit about “One Little Word” at the beginning of 2007. An official blog addict as of the start of 2008, I am now getting it…. I’ve chosen my word…. and its a HUGE step out of my box to share it…. After giving the whole project much thought and considering at least a dozen different words, my heart keeps coming back to the same word… as much I try to run and hide from it, I know my word for this year has to be:

FAITH: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty; fidelity to one’s promises; sincerity of intentions; belief and trust in and loyalty to God; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust

While parts of my life are amazing, fulfilling, wonderful and happy… there are also many areas of my life in which I am unsettled, unhappy, worried, fearful, sad… from constant worries over finances and doubts of the future success of our business…. to our 5-year ongoing and painful struggle with infertility… to my mounting concerns over my failed attempts to make faith a more important part of our life and marriage…. and right down to the way I treat my own body. As I said, as much as I’d like to avoid it, I know I will be on a faith journey this year. It’s about so much more than resting on God… its just about everything. Sometime after I got married, I started to lose my grip on my faith and I’m just not whole without it. So, this year is all about me rediscovering my faith and how it applies to my life and makes it whole..

I’ll be talking alot about it this year and would love to know if my readers decide to choose a word along with me, Ali Edwards, and thousands of her readers. Drop me a comment and let me know what your word is, along with a link to your blog so I can keep up on your journey as I walk mine. If you need some inspiration, Ali has posted a huge list of her readers’ words here. And finally, thanks to Ali for inspiring me to do this in 2008 – something tells me life will look very different this time next year and I’ll owe her a big debt of gratitude for encouraging me to reach out and stretch myself in ways I’ve been reluctant to in the past. Y Tracy