Truth clicks in 2026!

We are an entire month into 2026 and I, (to the chagrin of friends)  have not yet chosen my ‘Word for the Year”.  As I looked over last year’s note on 2025’s word,  I noticed I started out strong. I journaled,  I jotted scriptures and quotes,  I was all in.  The last entry about the word in my planner/journal was mid-February.   Clearly the word didn’t resonate with me long term.
In my New Years eve journal entry,  the one where I evaluate the past year and look to what I’d like to accomplish in the coming one,  I was reluctant to pick a word of the year.  I kicked around the thought of doing a word a month or week.  My enthusiasm lasted the first week of January.  I picked a word and lost interest in it immediately.
As the days of January dragged on,  choosing a word flitted through my mind randomly and I decided no word for 2026.  What did it matter anyway?  Why do I need a word for the year?  What’s the motivation behind choosing a word of the year?
Three weeks in,  that question started haunting me.  Motivation,  the cause, incentive or inspiration for doing something.  The reason for doing something.   This isn’t the first time a stab in my conscience asked me for my motive.
  Last October at our Writing Retreat,  I was struggling through a manuscript that I really wanted to write and had good reasons for needing to share the info I had researched.  A major publication had given me the go ahead to write it for them on speculation.   (for non-writers,  that meant they like the idea and might or might not publish it after I perfected the writing).  What a coup,  that would be real publicity.  After hours of garbage on the paper,  I laid the pencil down and prayed, “show me where this going south.”   The light of Heaven shone down illuminating my. . . MOTIVE  for the piece.  I wasn’t writing out of passion to teach or encourage my reader,  I was looking for the publicity.  I knew my topic did not fit this editor’s magazine or her style.  This piece wasn’t for her audience.
  I could tell lots of stories,  not only about my writing, where my motive was not pure, very targeted and not very Christ like.  There are many journal entries where I’m struggling with the ‘why’ behind my actions.  So. . .
I’ve decided MOTIVE should be my Word of the Year.   The motive behind that is to get me to stop and think about my purpose behind any decision.   It extends far beyond my writing, into my life.  What is my reason to read my Bible?   Participate in daily devotions?  Add an event to my calendar? Send that email?  Make that phone call?
At the very least,  I might make better decisions about my calendar, my spending and my emotions.   Come travel 2026 with me and be motivated,  Truth clicks in 2026!