One word 2012

I'm just a little late(17 days, if we're counting), but I wanted to share my one word for 2012. I don't do resolutions. Occasionally I'll do short term goals, but I don't like resolutions. They've been the same almost every year for the last almost 20 years, so I feel like making resolutions is setting myself up for failure. I do love one word to focus on for the year, though. My word for this year is COURAGE. I've lived a lot of my life scared. Scared of not being accepted. Scared of ridicule. Scared of not being loved. Scared of failing. Scared of broken relationships. Scared of people that I love dying. Scared of pursuing my dreams. As I started thinking about something I wanted to focus on and change about myself this year, the word fear kept coming to mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 says For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. So, if God does not want us to be fearful, I need to change that! I will be working on that this year and also working on cultivating an attitude of gratitude. I am starting my list of 1000 gifts on this post. I am thankful for: 1. A baby walking out of the room with an empty bowl on her face after eating popcorn. 2. Three of my kids looking for the fourth one that is hiding(playing hide and seek). 3. The sound of the dishwasher, washing dishes from a warm lunch. 4. The sunlight streaming in through my bathroom window. 5. My fourth child laughing loudly, because she was found. 6. An unexpected phone call from my brother this morning. 7. My mother in law blessing me with a huge, beautiful, expensive framed picture to go over my mantle. 8. My mother in law helping me to decorate my mantle, since I have no decorating sense. 9. A huge pile of clean clothes and towels that are overflowing the basket onto my bedroom floor, because that means we are blessed with clothing. 10. New friends in a homeschool group here in Texas. They have sure helped me not feel as lonely.