Family Word of the Year

For years I would snicker when friends would announce on Facebook that they had a word for the year. I just thought it was really silly.

Then one year, our kids came home with a chalkboard stand from one of my favorite non-profits, This Side Up Family. Along with the chalkboard stand came instructions to choose a Family Word of the Year.

Something about the concept of a Family Word of the Year did not seem silly. I was actually very excited about it! I took no time at all to decide our Family Word of the Year: Kindness.

My favorite scripture and what has become our family life verse (more on that soon!) is Ephesians 4:32.

Be kind and loving to each other forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

All year long, we were reminded by this little chalkboard to be kind. We learned to demonstrate kindness to each other, to our neighbors, to school friends and co-workers. We were focused on being kind to those who were easy to love and those that were not so easy to love.

My favorite part of this process was having conversations with my children, specifically the eldest, about how it felt to be kind, how it felt to experience kindness.

When December rolled along in 2018, I knew that we were going do a Family Word of the Year again! Using an index card and an inexpensive display board I found in the Target Dollar spot, we displayed our new word: JOY.

Thanks to this simple display, we’ve had a constant reminder to live in joy and bring joy to each other! It has been so much fun.

As we approach our third year of having a Family Word of the Year, I couldn’t be more excited! Our word is: TOGETHER. I am hopeful that we will do things with others! If we are going to do a movie, that we would go see a movie TOGETHER. If we eat out after church, we would invite others to join us! If we are getting coffee that we are calling a friend to join us! If we are going through something difficult, that we would be willing to ask for help!

I am so excited to implement this word of the year with our children, in our marriage and in our friendships!

So. What about you? Would you consider doing a family word of the year? Comment below with your word!

I’d love to provide you with a free printable like the one above with your Family Word of the Year printed on it! Just click below for a free printable!