Each new year for the past several years, I pick a theme word to guide my thoughts and intentions, rather than setting resolutions. The word the Lord led me to for this year is DISCIPLINE. These are some of the key verses and thoughts I’m choosing to focus on this year:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
Hebrews 12:11 NIV
“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV
“The measure of a man comes down to moments, spread out like dots of paint on the canvas of a life. Everything you were, everything you’ll someday be, resides in the small, seemingly ordinary choices of everyday life.”
Kristin Hannah, Angel Falls, p. 149

Some years, it takes me awhile to settle on a “new year word,” but this year, discipline was a clear choice the Lord laid on my heart for this season. Let me give a little background… A week before the school year started in August, I made a decision to return to the elementary classroom for the first time in 11 years (because I’m a little bit crazy, lol… and also because the Lord opened a door and said walk through it), and I spent the better part of the fall semester in survival mode, trying to catch up with myself. And while survival mode is sometimes necessary for the short term, it’s not sustainable and truly no way to live… exhaustion, rush, food choices that aren’t nourishing, untended stress, “numbing out” on Netflix and social media, ignored chores, erratic exercise… you get the idea, because you’ve probably lived there before yourself - maybe even now!

With a semester under my belt and a wonderful break to rest and reset my intentions, I’ve got my feet back under me and am ready to pursue discipline in training my mind and body back to the Lord’s ways that are best for me. Not from a place of legalistic striving (as enneagram 1’s like me have a tendency to do) but rather from a posture of grace-filled faithfulness to steward what I’ve been given, for my good and for God’s ultimate glory. Because I think we’ve all realized more than ever in the past two years, life on this earth is a fleeting gift, with the precious time we have not to be wasted or taken for granted!

In her book, Get Out of Your Head, Jennie Allen reminds us that the process of actively taking our thoughts captive and renewing our minds begins with the the realization that we have a choice. I want this word - discipline - to remind me, as the quote above from a book I recently read states, to pursue wisdom and Truth in the many small choices that make up life. Not to check off a set of boxes to make myself feel good, but because self-discipline is how the Lord tells us again and again through His Word that believers should live… “not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15).

Here are some practical ways I plan to pursue a more disciplined life in 2022, which I’m choosing to share publicly here to both hold myself accountable and hopefully be an encouragement to others to set your own intentions, if you haven’t done so yet:

Actively choose gratitude, joy, worship, stillness, Sabbath rest.
Keep my heart and mind firmly rooted in Scripture through daily Bible reading and memorization, prayer and journaling (a practice very dear to me that I’ve fallen away from over the past few months).
Ferociously guard the worldly inputs/voices I allow in by limiting my time on social media (and who I follow) and news consumption daily.
Move my body regularly - mostly for my mental health and to strengthen my core and fight lower back pain (age 39.5 and really starting to feel it this year…).
Disciple my children in reading and memorizing God’s Word, as well as the art of homemaking, hospitality, encouragement, and service to others.
Cultivate the abilities the Lord has given me by making time to create - including doing it for the process and not just the product.
Be diligent in exercising my spiritual gifts in service to others.
Be faithful in homemaking with an attitude of grateful service (I seriously stink at this in my own flesh, but the Lord has done a work in me in this area before, and I trust He will again!)
Approach my business goals with confident discipline, as I seek to steward well what the Lord has revealed and entrusted me to, for His glory (also struggle big time with the “confidence” part of this, so again trusting the Lord for this)
Boldly pursue ministry opportunities as the Lord leads.
Be faithful and steadfast in the discipline of prayer.
Pursue community and hospitality among friends, neighbors, our church body; fight fiercely for unity in Christ.

I’ve lived long enough to know I won’t attain those goals perfectly - or even come close - and because I’m a hot mess more often than not, I’ll need to give myself LOTS of grace along the way… BUT I’m trusting that the Lord will take my feeble efforts and somehow multiply them for His purposes. I also want to share a disclaimer that many of these are unique to the particular season I’m in and made possible by the resources I have… in other seasons and situations of life, my list has and will look much different, and yours will likely look very different too. My goal is certainly not to compare but to spur one another on in grace and truth… To share my intents in light of my many shortcomings and create a safe place for you to do the same!

I am so grateful for and encouraged by the fellow believers who’ve gone before and are coming along beside and behind me! Although the world and our enemy seek to divide and distract us in seemingly unprecedented ways, I can honestly say that I’m excited to be alive at this time and history to be able to see a small part of what the Lord has done and will do for His Kingdom through His people, through His church. I pray that 2022 is the year we can look back and say we came to know the Lord better and more truthfully than ever before.

Let it be, Lord.