Tips on Tuesday: One Little Word, 2010

For those of you who don't know about my One Little Word, you should first go to this post to get the background for this idea. Then if you'd like to see what I did in 2009, these posts all deal with my One Little Word.

I've been debating with myself over the word I keep hearing for 2010. When I finally approached Sean to get his take on it, he had brilliant insight and suddenly, it didn't seem like such a silly word after all.


For 2010, my One Little Word is Engaged. Now, I don't mean engaged as in about to get married! I'm happily married and 17+ years into this current marriage and I see no reason to try that over. I mean engaged as in Fully Engaged, totally involved, absorbed in the now.


Sean said immediately when I said engaged, "That makes a lot of sense. Most people go through life in neutral. They never get it (life) into gear. If you live life in neutral, you'll never know the thrill of moving ahead." I thought he had brilliant insight into what I'm thinking.


I look at Rebekah and realize my time to spend with her one-on-one is rapidly dwindling. Everyone knows how fast time goes with kids...but I'm warning you--when they hit school, you go from fast to warp speed. If you homeschool, I think the difference is the easiest to see (and the most dramatic). Whenever you send them to a school (elementary or middle or high school or college), you suddenly realize the warp speed issue.


When I spend time with Rebekah, I know we only have a year and a half until Kindergarten. Then she'll be making new friends--that's good, she'll start finding her own way in the world--also good, but her dependence on me will change--still good. I just don't want to live with any regrets. She's my last baby and I have always tried to hold every moment with every child. It's just hitting home harder that there won't be any more bottles here. Sippy cups are about to leave us. And I want to be fully engaged in every moment.


It goes beyond my children. I want to be living life to the fullest. If you aren't engaged, how can you truly live? I want to be totally engrossed/engaged with my family, my friends and my Lord. I'm working on living in the now not the what if.


Today I challenge you to find a word for your year. I pray about it and the word has come to me both years. And both years if I try to come up with a better word, I'm hounded by the one I end up with. Guess the Lord is telling me to stick with what He suggested. In 2010, I choose to focus on being Engaged.