Like most people, I go through the rituals of the new year. I purchase new planners, create a vision board, and re-visit my goals. But my favorite part of the annual reset is selecting my word of the year.
For me, a word of the year is more than a word. It is a directive for me to honor throughout the coming days. One word turns into 13 words and scriptures to guide my thoughts, study, and next moves. It even drives my writing whether I post my journal entries online or not.
My word for 2023 is prudent. According to Miriam-Webster, prudent has four definitions:
- marked by wisdom or judiciousness
- shrewd in the management of practical affairs
- marked by circumspection: DISCREET
- PROVIDENT, FRUGAL
While most people who know me well would say that I’m prudent, I know there is room for improvement. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 31:16, “She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” The Proverbs 31 woman is prudent. She doesn’t just go out and spend money on a field. She considers it—she thinks about the purchase and concludes that a nice field can become a vineyard with a suitable investment.
The right field must be cultivated, providing work for her and the people she could employ. She creates opportunities for others.
The right field, tended adequately, yields a crop—it is fruit-bearing. She nourishes others.
The right field and its yielded crop make her a producer, providing something for her to sell in the marketplace. She is a businesswoman who contributes to the economy.
I want to be the kind of woman who considers and then buys. I want to be the kind of woman who respects every resource at my disposal and deploys them in ways that keep me moving toward my purpose. These wants bring me to my scripture of the year.
“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.” – Proverbs 8:12
What’s your word of the year?
