_{The pictures for this post will be of things I made in 2022. The collection is not exhaustive; but it is probably the best 95% of notable things I made.}

I am thrilled for my 2023 theme verb! As 2022 was winding down, I still had no idea what I wanted to have as my next theme. So, I decided to have a good pondering session about my general life hopes, goals, and aspirations, in hopes that it would guide me to the perfect word that could encompass them all while not being overwhelming. (Perhaps too lofty of a goal for a single verb for a single year…)

I thought of many words that were quite good; but none of them fit the bill exactly or got me really excited. And, for me, it’s immensely satisfying to inaugurate (so to speak) my new year with enthusiasm and momentum, so I needed assistance.

I decided to pray about the word. I know that Heavenly Father likely doesn’t particularly care which verb I select, so long as it is something that can help me come closer to Him and His Son. So I prayed, not for Him to tell me what verb I ought to choose, but rather for Him to enlighten my mind such that I could select my own perfect word. And, I am delighted to report that it absolutely worked! I had the ideal word pop into my head!

This experience gave me a delightful insight I’d like to share about the numerous ways that God can direct and inspire us. I liken our search for Heavenly guidance to us seeking an item in a dark room. We ask Heavenly Father to help us find the item and He can respond by simply retrieving the thing and bringing it to us and putting it in our hand. He gave us what we asked for. Another way He might approach our request for help securing the item is that He might tell us where to walk, where to put our hands, what drawer we ought to open, etc. He guides us to the thing we asked for. The final way I’ve found He can answer our request is to simply turn the light on in the dark room and we find the item ourselves. It is still thanks to Him that we have the item, because all light is His light. But we happened to do the finding.

I feel like the Lord blessed me to find this 2023 theme verb by turning on the light for me!

Anyway, my word for the year 2023 is…

Beautify

I love SO many things about this word! I feel like adding beauty to the various parts of life is a thoroughly enjoyable pursuit, for one; I don’t want my goals to feel like drudgery. But also, it is all encompassing in a fun way! There are so many ways to beautify life and the world around me. I can think beautiful thoughts, make beautiful music, dress beautifully, decorate beautifully, have beautiful experiences. And though that might sound kind of just like stamping a giant “HAPPY” sign on everything, that isn’t how it feels to me.

I have three specific areas of my life I want to beautify this year.

• Myself
• My Home
• My Yard

For myself, I want to beautify my mind and body with exercise, choosing to actually get ready for the day more than 1 time a week, choosing to think beautiful thoughts and do kind things for others, and work on the skills I desire to have.

For my home, I want to add beautiful music, decor, order, kindness, peace, scents, etc. Anything that will make coming home just a little more of a beautiful experience.

For my yard, I want to add the beauty of nature and shade, such that it is a place where our family will want to spend time together making beautiful memories and beautiful connections with God. All this helps me understand the idea of “Beautiful Savior” a lot more.

Anyway, there you have it! I am, again, thrilled to embark on this beautiful year!

Ever since Christmas 2021 when I realized that Christmas 2022 would be on a Sunday, I have been looking forward to it as a big milestone for myself. You see, it was in 2016 that Christmas was last on a Sunday. And that was the day I realized that there was hope for my life to be better. (If you want to learn all about that experience, you can read this post.) I had grown so much, learned so much, become so much stronger in the years between 2016 and 2021, and yet, last Christmas, and especially through January, I was in a very dark place again. After the two diagnoses of Type 1 Diabetes and the stress of around the clock shots, and dealing with Portia’s grief along with my own, I felt completely crushed by the stress of each day. I have always tried to look to the Savior for help and strength; but I needed Him more than ever this time.

One day when I was feeling particularly broken, I remembered a talk by Sharon Eubank. In her talk she mentioned that sometimes “life hurts so much we can’t breathe” but “Jesus comes along.” I felt like I really understood the idea of life hurting so much I couldn’t breathe. But I wondered how to get Jesus to “come along” right now. Sister Eubank gives the answer to that in her talk as well. She says “But what are the practical steps? What is the key to reconnecting to the power of Jesus Christ when we are flickering? President Russell M. Nelson said it very simply: ‘The key is to make and keep sacred covenants. … It is not a complicated way.’ Make Christ the center of your life.” So my covenants were the answer? But I thought “All these things I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” (Matthew 19:20) But as I earnestly sought an answer to my overwhelm in my covenants, Heavenly Father showed me a way in which I could allow more room for Him in my tired heart and mind. As I made efforts to follow through on the prompting I received, I felt a change. A big one. It was hard to put a finger on exactly what the Savior had done for me; I just knew that I felt Him and His love and His strength.

And countless, tiny promptings that led to countless, incremental changes in my life and heart have given me so much more joy, hope, and determination than I had at the beginning of 2022.

Christmas of 2016 was unforgettable for me, and it was special for me to celebrate the past 6 years of the Savior working miracles in my life on Christmas 2022. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel in my life! I am grateful that these years of difficulty and growth have strengthened my testimony that Christ’s power to heal is real! It is such a privilege, in this modern world of chaos, to have an anchor of hope. And I was blessed to remember that extra this year.

I feel like Christmas Sundays will forever be a special day for me to reflect on the ways the Savior of the world, whose birth we celebrate that day, has saved me. I feel like every day is a day I enjoy reflecting on that; but I also like having extra milestones. 🙂 I’m excited to see what Christ makes of me by 2033 when we get a Sunday Christmas again!