Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
My One Word for 2022
Many of you have heard me talk about this before. But for anyone who is not familiar with this, picking a word for the year is a way to anchor yourself through the days ahead. The word you pick could be something you want to focus on or something you want to keep in mind, as you step into each new day. Just to give you an example, my words from the past three years were: seek, grace, and cultivate.
And in 2022 my one word for the year is … ABIDE!
Some years the word is easy to pick. You just get a feeling inside that this is the word. And that’s how it was for me when I picked Abide. As a matter of fact, I knew in mid-November that my word for this year would be Abide.
According to Merriam-Webster, Abide can mean to remain stable or fixed in a state; to continue in a place. Specifically in 2022, I want to learn to Abide in Jesus. I want to remain stable and fixed in Jesus. I want to continue in the Lord. I want to abide in Him and He in me.
If possible, I also like to have a Bible verse for the year that coincides with my word. And this year my verses will come from John 15:4-5, where Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
In 2019 and in 2021 I loved having the words seek and cultivate, respectively. To me, these two verbs feel very active. And while Abide is also a verb, it feels a bit more passive or peaceful.
One night I was laying in bed thinking about the fact that I have been working for Jesus, learning about Him, writing about Him, seeking Him, cultivating for Him, etc. Yet I feel that I still don’t have the deep connection with Jesus that I should have. I want to know deep down that He loves me and I want to extend a lasting love in return.
I know there is more of Him that I can have in my life. But if I am being honest, then I also know that I am the one who gets in the way. He is always there, waiting for me.
Honestly, I stumble daily. I am far from perfect. There are many things in my life I would like to improve and many things I would like to change. And I feel that if I can truly learn to Abide in Jesus, this could change everything.
What will abiding look like? In January, I never know for sure how the next 12 months will play out. But from here, I plan to lay aside things that distract me from the Lord. And I want choose Him as often as possible. Each moment of each day we are making decisions, whether we realize it or not. When we are turning on the television, we are choosing not to pray. When we are scrolling on our phones, we are choosing not to read our Bibles. Therefore, in an effort to abide, I am going to try to lay aside many of the things that keep me from Jesus.
I also plan to read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) repeatedly throughout the year. When I am done, I will start over. (This doesn’t mean I won’t read any other parts of the Bible in 2022. But the gospels will be my main focus.) I have a new journaling Bible that contains only these four books. I am currently reading a devotional by Andrew Murray called Abide in Christ. And I am also reading Sarah Young’s latest devotional, Jesus Listens. I am excited to see what 2022 holds as I learn to Abide in Jesus.
And if you have a word for 2022, I would love to hear what it is.
© 2022 Bridget A. Thomas
Bridget A. Thomas 
I love the word you picked and what it means – remaining stable and fixed in Jesus. I really like how much you are already working on it by doing devotionals and reading things related. I pray you grow closer to God this year as you dwell more on Abiding in Him.
My word for this year is ‘Surrender’. Like you, this year finding the word that I have to hold onto for the year was pretty straight forward. By the beginning of December I was certain, unlike last year where I could only find it by end of Jan. the word last year was Deepen. As I spent time on deepening my relationship with God , he did show me areas where I was not surrendered completely to Him and so that led me to this word and I hope to see where the Lord takes me with this through the year.
I want to remind and thank you for staring this habit in me. I never did choose a word for the year until you encouraged me to and now I will never go back to not doing so.
Thank you my friend 🤗🌺💙
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love the word you chose! Wow, there is so much we all can learn from surrendering to the Lord, day by day. And I especially love how last year’s word unfolded into this year’s word. God is writing a new chapter in our stories each year as we draw closer to Him. I pray that the word Surrender will lead you to beauty in your relationship with Jesus. Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Thank you for your prayers as well. And I am so overjoyed to know that I helped encourage you to pick a word each year. It does have a special way of helping us grow and strengthen in our relationship with the Lord. Sending you a virtual hug, my friend! ♥️🤗🙌✝️🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
My word is focus. Yes, firstly I want to focus more on Jesus and my prayers to Him. And I pray my word will help me in so many other ways, too. I want to focus on each task I do each day to do it better. I will pray more often and more sincerely by focusing. I will clean my house better, drive better, play with my dog more, listen to friends more, focus on my church ministries more, reach out to my family more…all while focusing. Sometimes tasks become a blur. I do them without thought and therefore do not do them as well as I should. FOCUS!! If my prayers are more focused I believe my whole life will be as well. I look forward to the challenge. An elderly high school teacher once told me, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. FOCUS!
I love your words, ladies. Abide and Surrender! Amen and Amen!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love the word you chose, Lorraine! And I love the meaning behind it. You’re absolutely right. Too often our daily tasks are completed mindlessly. We just go through the motions. But if we choose to focus on our actions, this can bring us new meaning and insight. I pray you draw closer to the Lord as you focus in 2022. Blessings, my friend! 💕🙏❤️
LikeLike
Abide, surrender, focus. I love the one-word concept. Mine is grace. For myself and others. When I ask WWJD? He would show grace. So I will try.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that and the world sure needs more of that. I love that you included showing yourself grace as well. That is important. Many of us tend to be too hard on ourselves. I pray the word Grace is good to you in 2022 and beyond, 🙏♥️🙌
LikeLiked by 1 person
SO many good words that lend themselves to deep study! My word for 2022 is REVERENCE, and the coinciding verses come from Hebrews: “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire'” (12:28-29). I would like to grow in my capacity for worship that passionately honors Him!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing your word and verse. The meaning behind it is powerful. I think we all could stand to show the Lord more reverence, honor, worship, and praise! 🙌✝️🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that word! There’s just something so refreshing about it. And I love the verses you chose, too. They’re perfect!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Michelle! I pray that in 2022 we can learn to draw closer to the Lord and see His love all around us! Blessings, my friend! 💜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Abide is a great word. I admire your devotion to drawing closer to Jesus. This is a goal we should all desire. I haven’t chosen a word myself. I think I may still be in a rest and healingg phase. These were my words last year. I still need to learn to simply rest at Jesus feet. Then maybe I can stop watching the waves of life and truly start to heal and rekindle that fire in my heart. Thanks for sharing Bridget. Blessings my friend. ❤💐
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do know what you mean. Something that I feel God has been trying to tell me is to “Be still and know that I am God.” I am very much trying to learn to “be.” I hope that we both can spend a lot of time at Jesus’ feet this year. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Blessings to you too, my friend! ❤️
LikeLike
Hallelujah and Amen ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person