Focus Word 2026: Together

When I started thinking about a focus word for this year, a few words came to mind almost immediately. Together, relationships, building… Those words all lead to the same thing for me, but I settled on together.

2025 was not a particularly bad year, but we did face many health issues, with multiple weekly appointments (up to eight a week at one point). As I look back on the year, I see a lot of progress, but I also feel like I became a secretary and chauffeur and lost focus on relationships.

For me, together is about building relationships and not letting the to-do list overrun that focus. We are still dealing with many of those regular appointments (though hoping to cross a few off the list this spring). So the schedule won’t miraculously become more open, but I’m planning to prioritize relationships even during these busy times.

It’s not just an individual relationship, but many relationships that I want to work on. In the words of a book I’ve been reading this year, we are better together. I want to make sure I’m prioritizing my Bible study so I can walk with the Lord. I want to continue to grow together with my husband. While I spend my days with my children, I want to make sure I am binding my heart together with them. Finally, there are other friends and relationships that I feel God is leading me to invest time and focus in.

I am finding ways to make sure my husband and I spend time talking and reconnecting after busy days (or weeks). I have put some things into place to help focus some attention on my relationships with my children. My husband and I are planning a “date night” with my oldest son and his girlfriend to chat and build that relationship without the chaos of having all of us together.

My middle child has been feeling a bit stuck in the middle and needing some extra attention, so as part of his Christmas, we gifted him one date a month with mom at a fast-food restaurant of his choice after one of the weekly appointments. I felt like having time already set for it would make it easier for me to implement.

In addition to these specific times, I really plan to focus on making sure I prioritize relationships in the day-to-day. For example, that may mean the laundry backs up some days (let’s be real, it already does) or that I spend time folding laundry while chatting with one of my children.

I have not worked out the specifics, but I’m trying to come up with a plan that lets me intentionally build other relationships and not let the to-do list keep me from doing so. I know that if God is leading me to those relationships, they need to be a priority. I’m in prayer as to exactly what that looks like in this season.

My prayer for 2026 is that I can grow closer to the Lord, my family, and others He has put in my life. Do you have a word or a focus for the year? I’d love to hear about your plans.

Focus Word 2025: Intentional

Last year, my focus word was Savor, and it was perfect for the stage I was in. We had highs and lows last year, but overall, it was a year of many beautiful changes.

We had baby number five on January 11th, 2024, we took an epic seven-week road trip in March and April, my oldest graduated from our homeschool in May and began college in August, my daughter got her driver’s license in January, began dual enrollment in August, and so much more.

Through it all, I tried to savor and enjoy the experiences and make memories with my family. It was a good year, but I want to focus more on being intentional this year. With the baby and so many things going on last year, I feel like I let some things slide (out of necessity). However, as we begin a new year, I feel like I am in a place to begin to be more intentional.

What Does Intentional Look Like For Me?

I am making conscious decisions about different areas of my life where I want to grow and spend time, and instead of just hoping to get to those things, I am making intentional plans but still holding those plans with an open hand.

Bible:

While we continued with our family Bible reading last year, I feel I was not intentional about spending personal time in the word. So, this year, I started a very simple Bible plan to read through the New Testament in a year. It should take me about ten minutes daily, which is doable even with the baby.

Family:

Making realistic but intentional plans to spend time with my husband and children. I know I can’t plan weekly date nights out at this stage of life, but we can plan to walk 4 or 5 days a week and do something special together once a month or so. I can’t take each of my kids out one-on-one each week.

Still, I can make sure to spend a few minutes checking in with them each week and be diligent about finding opportunities to spend one-on-one time, even if it’s just taking one of them with me to run errands or grabbing a quick treat together.

Hiking with My People..Savoring the Moment and Intentionally Focusing on my Health.

Health:

Complications from my pregnancy caused me to really focus on my health in 2023, and I was doing a great job eating well and getting in movement. However, the busyness of life with an infant and teenagers caught up with me last year, and I noticed I was not as intentional about making good choices.

So this year, I want to get back on track by being intentional about drinking more water, staying active each day, and getting plenty of protein. When I do those things, I feel better and have more energy for the other things on my list.

Social Media:

I believe that social media is a double-edged sword. I love being able to keep up with friends who aren’t physically close to me anymore; I enjoy learning from other homeschool moms and seeing encouraging posts and scriptures. However, it so easily becomes lost time.

When the baby was born, and I was up with him at night, I felt too tired to read, but I hated just sitting there, so I often would watch silly videos on Facebook. However, I really want to focus on intentionally using social media to keep up with the people in my life and to share and learn from other homeschoolers.

So, I will limit my time on social media (using an app on my phone) and be intentional about what content I view while using social media.

Blog:

Finally, I want to be more intentional about sharing ideas and resources on the blog. I was very quiet on the blog for the first half of 2024 because I needed to focus on the baby, my other children, and our travels. However, this year, I am intentionally putting work time back on my weekly calendar to be more consistent about sharing in this space.

My seventeen-year-old daughter will be babysitting a few hours each week in exchange for car insurance and gas, and I will be able to return to sharing new content with you each week.

I am looking forward to 2025 and continuing to savor the time with friends and family while also being more intentional about how I spend my time and making sure that my priorities are getting the attention they deserve.
I would love to hear your word of the year or your resolutions or tips on how you are intentional with your time.

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Focus Word 2024: Savor

For several years now, I have participated in the trend of choosing a word or phrase to focus on for each New Year. I like the concept because it helps me stay focused without the pressures of goals and resolutions. Last year, it was Making Space, and while that is an ongoing work in progress for me, it helped me last year.

I thought about many different words for this year, but the one God kept laying on my heart was Savor. This will be a year of changes and growth for our family, and I need to focus on savoring the time and each stage as it comes.

Miriam Webster gives the following definitions of the verb savor:

a : to have experience of: taste

b : to taste or smell with pleasure: relish

c : to delight in: enjoy

Over the last few months, I’ve been experiencing part b of the definition often, as I enjoyed one or two bites of desserts or treats that I enjoyed. I experienced some gestational diabetes with this pregnancy that limited my intake of many treats. While it was a challenge at times, it did help me to savor the one or two bites I enjoyed better. However, I plan to focus more on part c of the definition in 2024.

While we do not know exactly what this New Year will bring, I have a high school senior who is slated to go off to college in the fall, and I am due with baby number five in about two weeks. We also have a big family trip planned in the spring, which should provide many opportunities to savor the memories (and hopefully not to stress out about what doesn’t go as planned.)

I can be a bit (or a lot) like the Biblical Martha, worried about so many things, making all my plans, and getting the details just right. While God designed me to be a planner, and it is a gift, if I let the planning stop me from enjoying what is in front of me, I miss out on the important things in life.

This year, I aim to ensure that I hold those plans in an open hand and savor what comes, even when it isn’t “picture perfect .”While we will still make plans and preparations for the future, I won’t let my worries about what comes next make me miss out on what is right in front of me.

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