Perhaps we will just call this week-late New Year’s post a tradition. I thought long and hard this year about what word and verse would make up my 2016 framework. I just could not seem to land anywhere. Between December 1st and January 1st, about 20 different words came into view…and immediately vanished. They just all fell short. Many felt close to being the right focus but still left glaring holes in the vision I am working towards. The funny thing is, my word was staring me in the face the entire time.

The verse came much faster. Actually, it was the first one I thought of and I dismissed it early on. And yet, it kept showing up so I knew, this was it.

Are you ready for this?

My word is SACRED.

My verse is Esther 4:14. “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Why sacred? All of the other words that I had been sorting through were about how I relate to others, to myself, to my belongings. I want to simplify, to listen, to honor. I want to create and explore and rest. It is the sacredness of creation that ties all of this together. To listen to others, to not hold their sins against them, is to treat them and the relationship as sacred. To honor who I am created to be, to not compromise myself, to fight for the life that is in me is to honor the sacredness of God’s design. To create sacred space in my home and enjoy the sacred space of God’s creation, these are not the extras of a godly life. They matter. In 2016, I want to learn to see all of life as it is, set in place for the glory of God.

And Esther? Well, she and I have had a bond since my childhood. (I dressed as Queen Esther for Halloween one year.) To be honest, I’m not sure why this is my verse. I don’t know what exactly the application is for me, other than it is a constant whisper of God’s sovereignty. Our world is a mess, but you and I were born into it at this time…perhaps we have come to the world for such a time as this. I don’t know how that unfolds for you or me. I do know that I want to be a part of relief. I don’t want to abdicate my place in that story because of fear or any other reason.

Building the framework keeps me contained. When life gets hard or I feel disoriented, having a word and verse to remind me of the boundaries that, together with The Lord, I have chosen for myself, keeps me steady. It reminds me not to try to build the kitchen in the closet, so to speak. There is a design to help me decide where moments, thoughts, sorrows, and joys fit.

What about you? What is your framework for this year? Any goals or resolutions?