My Word for 2026

Hello friends! The Lord has once again given me a word for the new year. This is year number five of praying and asking God for a word. Year number five of my word serving as a landmark that I can keep coming back to to reflect on throughout the year. And every year, my word always sums up the year beautifully in ways I cannot imagine beforehand.

The Lord told me my word for this year in September, which was really early, but I think it was really fitting. You see, I had heard the Lord whisper this word in my heart on the day that we found out where we would be moving and when we'd be moving. (As I tell this story keep in mind that this has all changed and as of now we don't know when or where we will be moving, but at the time I didn't know this would change). As a military spouse who the Lord uproots and re-plants somewhere new every 3 years, moving is something I am used to, but this moves feels, and is, different.

At the time, my husband was in the process of changing his job to recruiting, so this means we will have a little more control over where we will live next. It also means that we'd be living in this new place for several years, longer than usual. Because of that, we had been praying pretty hard for guidance (and we still are).

We want to be where the Lord wants us to be. This has always been the case, but there is even more at stake with this move. This new place is going to be where my son will spend his early years of walking, running, and learning so we need God in the driver's seat all the more here.

We had hoped (and are still hoping) we would be close to family, near Tennessee, so we were praying over every state on the east side of the US, from as far north as Virginia to as far south as Florida. Anything west or north was out of our prayer radar, but ultimately, our main prayer was (and still is) - "Despite what we want, we need Your will to be done."

When the day came that we got the call to choose our new home, we were given limited options. Every state that we had been praying for was taken. Even Washington State, which we have come to call home since 2023 was taken. New York, California, Pennsylvania, and Maryland was all that was left. After some quick praying, my husband called them back and told them, "We choose Maryland," and they gave us a report date of March 10th. At the time, I was bewildered that we would be moving before my son's first birthday. (Now we know that isn't the case.)

That night, after the call, in the quiet darkness where the only sound that could be heard was my son's soft breathing, I found myself pondering the upcoming year. What would my new home be like? What would 2026 look like? All this led to the question: What will my word be?

I began to pray and dump it all at the Lord's feet. This was much better than letting it all spiral in my mind and keep me awake. That's when the Lord whispered, "Find." "Find?" I had repeated silently, but I knew what He meant. My word for 2026 would be this word - Find. My mind instantly went to, "What will I find in the new year with this big move?" Then, the Lord planted this verse on loop in my mind. I could practically hear it being spoken.

Matthew 7:7:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (ESV)

"Seek and YOU WILL... find."

The Lord had started leading me to Proverbs 3:6 when I was pregnant and had suddenly become nervous about being responsible for a baby and He has still been reminding me of it:

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (ESV)

This gave me assurance that, as long as I seek Him and submit to His will, He will lead me.

"Seek and YOU will find."

If I seek Him, I will find (fill in the blank). Direction. Provision. Goodness. Joy. The list goes on and on and... I believe I will find something even more amazing.

So, the last couple of years I've been documenting where I found my 'word of the year' in a journal and I want to do this again this year. I've been really into designing things on the Canva app on my phone, so I designed this for my 'find' journal:

I love this look right now. Elegant looping cursive with messy lines that add character. I added the arrow purely for decoration, but then I took a closer look at what I had made. The arrow is pointing at the cursive loop of the 'd' and there, if you look closely, you can find the Jesus fish - Ichthys! I highlighted it here:

You know what I think I'm going to find this year? I think I'm going to find Jesus. Yes, I have technically already found Jesus when I was saved, but what I mean is I think I'm going to find Him on a much deeper level. I'm going to expand my relationship with Him in a way which I couldn't even fathom before, or even now.

I'm going to discover more about my Jesus this year. This has already started and I can just feel this truth shaking my spirit. Yes, I believe I am going to find some amazing truths. This word, which isn't the typical 'word of the year' like 'hope' or 'joy'; this word, though seemingly simple and small is actually POWERFUL.

And I can't wait to see what all I will find in this new year.