One Little Word

Happy New Year! If you've followed me for awhile on my blog, you will know I pray for a word, song, or verse to claim for the new year. I've been doing this for many years when my friend Debi challenged me way back in 1983!

The word I have chosen for 2016 is SIMPLIFY: I was really thinking it was going to be "slow", as that was something I have felt I needed in my life, but in the back of my mind "simplify" kept repeating itself and I knew that I needed to go with this word. 

Simple Definition of simplify 
to make (something) easier to do or understand

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Full Definition of simplify

sim·pli·fiedsim·pli·fy·ing

1. :  to make simple or simpler: asa :  to reduce to basic essentialsb :  to diminish in scope or complexity  c :  to make more intelligible :  clarify
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3. 1. I have also been thinking about this word and how I can break it down into an acronym and work on separate words that can be "simplified" in my life. I would like to look at this word each month and see how I am doing in the ares that need simplified. It could be that some months I change the acronym. I'm not sure right now, so we will see how it goes.
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   3. {SIMPLIFY} one of the biggest things that I want to simplify is my home. I have way too much stuff! I would like to take a month to work on each room/area of our house a month and declutter and simplify! The rooms/areas I have are: porch 1 & bathroom (I am putting these together because they are so small), porch 2, kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom 1, bedroom 2, bedroom 3, craft room, office/man cave, upstairs landing, basement (our basement is just cement and is where all the canning food and supplies live)
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   5. For January, here are the words I have come up with using the letters of {simplify}that I want to work on:
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   7. S: slow...here I am going to use the "slow" word. The past 3 months have seemed so crazy! There has been so much to do. But then 4 weeks before Christmas I ended up with sinus infection which turned right into bronchitis a couple days later (which it usually does). But then WHAM! on top of that I came down with a viral infection that took me out! 3 weeks out! I wasn't "ready" for Christmas and by the time I felt even remotely "human", I had a week to get ready. All "my"  plans were NOT going to happen and you know what? It was OKAY! We still had a very nice Christmas and all the baking and whatnot that I thought "had" to happen didn't need to.
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   9. So for the month of January, I just want to take it easy. I am still pretty weak, get tired easily, and just need to slowly get back into "life".
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   11. I: invest...I am pretty frugal, but I would like to look for ways to save even more. I found this picture on facebook and it is something I want to do.
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   14. M: Me...oh my! This is the hardest, but I have read so many blogs and sites that have shared how important it is to take care of  and make time for ourselves. I love to do for others so much, that this is hard for me to do. But when I do it, I am so much more refreshed and ready to take on anything. I'm not sure yet, what this looks like for January, but several weeks ago when I wasn't feeling very good and a friend wanted to get together to paint, I wasn't sure if I was up for it. I almost backed out, but I didn't have a fever, was able to get a good night's sleep for the first time in many nights, so decided to just do it. I am so glad I did! It was just what I needed to get out of the house and enjoy being crafty with a friend I hadn't seen in awhile.
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   16. P: pray...I do pray, but there have been so many hurting friends and family lately, that I want to be very purposeful and intentional in naming these friends and loved ones on a daily basis in my prayers.
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   18. L: ladies....every month a friend and I host a ladies night out. This is something that is very important to us and something that we plan to continue again this year.(if you have any theme ideas, please share as we are always looking for something new to do) Some times I do way to much and I want to "simplify" by letting others do more.
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   20. I: intentional...I want to be more intentional in every area of my life. To stop and think, do I really need to do this and if it is, then do with passion, but also know that it is okay to say "no". Some of these things I need to be intentional about are quiet time (time reading my Bible), health (eating better, staying on top of my thyroid disease, etc), exercise (because of my knees there is so much I can't do, but I want to add more time to the exercise bike)
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   22. F: food...if you read my blog, you will know that food is what I call my {love language}. I love baking for others and I want to bless others with what I love to do.
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   24. Y: yellow...you are probably thinking what???!! But a couple of years ago, I saw on Pinterest an idea to make "sunshine basket/boxes". It's where you fill baskets with all things {yellow} and give to someone who just needs some sunshine in their lives. I don't know if this will work to do each month, but I would like to be sensitive to others and be ready to give some sunshine to someone when led to do so.
   My plan is to check in each month to report how I am doing. Do you have a word for 2016? What is it? I would love to hear about it and what it means to you.