Focus Forward!

This time of year, Bill and I have a life ritual that we have done every year that we are married (so 46 years!) Many call it Word of the Year, One Little Word, Nudge Word, Word of Purpose, Word of Intent—we like to call it Word of F.O.C.U.S:

Follow

One

Course

Until

Successful

God’s Guidance

Each year, around Thanksgiving, we begin praying for God’s direction. And God promises to give guidance:

Psalm 32:8 — “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

Isaiah 30:21 — “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

James 1:5 — “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Unpack & Pack

The first process we take is to ask: What to Unpack?

• What no longer serves me?
• What was just for a season and is now complete?
• What depletes me/my life (that causes negative consequences)?What to Pack In?
• What is lifegiving that needs added in?
• What needs to stay because it supports me
• What are new rituals, rhythms and skills I need to strengthen my life?(Download Unpack or Pack Worksheets)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Work It OutI                                                                                                                                        I then used a series of worksheets I created to choose my Word of Focus and then create goals and decide how I will weave the Word and these priorities into the new year:

Selecting Your Word of the Year

Processing Your Word of the Year

One Thing Goal worksheet – Top 7 Priorities

Vision Board

(Download these)

Bill’s Journey to FOCUS 2026

As Bill looked ahead to 2026, a myriad of tasks  and responsibilities loomed on the horizon: a full schedule of relationship coaching clients each week, speaking engagements, writing projects, plus the emptying out of his mom and dad’s home (Mom was a hoarder- so no small task), upgrade our boat and the home to prepare for sale—plus helping me continue to rebuild after chemo–and a likely geographical move–so life felt a bit overwhelming! One day, as he was sitting in church enjoying a Christmas themed service, God made this verse stand out:

“My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.” (2 Chron 29:11 NIV

Bill felt God assuring him that he, Bill was chosen, and if he (Bill) would STAND and SERVE, and not neglect the long list of tasks and responsibilities, God would be with him just as he was with the priests serving in the temple. Those working in the temple STOOD the entire time they served, which takes a whole lot of strength, stamina and energy. God was with them then, God would be with Bill in 2026, so Bill’s word of FOCUS is STAND

Pam’s Journey to FOCUS 2026

For me, you need to know my life history the past five or so years to understand why I selected my 2026 word. I have used the words: courage, bravery, resilience, strength, stamina, etc. in past years, as I have had many health hurdles to overcome: a DKA that landed me in ICU and into a coma (read the details in Glimpse of God’s Glory; One Woman’s Near Death Experience), and then in 2024 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, had to undergo chemo, then this past year I daily battled excruciating pain…all…year…long…! So, when January rolled around, I completed all these worksheets, and prayed, “Lord, I wake up every day and the first thing I have to confront is PAIN. I need a word of FOCUS that is gutsy, gritty and full of power. I then did something new, I fed screen shots of all my worksheets into AI and added the prompt: Please take all the information on these screen shots, add in all you know about me from the past year that you have learned about my heart and character, then use these synonyms of courage, fortitude, bravery, etc. and give me three possible choices for my Word of Focus.

Then I prayed that the Holy Spirit inside me would confirm the correct word, plan and path. AI selected for the #1 recommended Word of Focus: Lionhearted. I instantly KNEW that was my Word of the Year because it completed a powerful loop from my days in chemo. See, a dear friend, when I was in the middle of chemo, sent me a beautiful necklace medallion of the Lion of Judah. I wore it often—and especially on chemo treatments days and to my speaking engagements. I knew that was the symbol, the word picture God wanted to give me to win and gain victory over my pain. Each day, the power of the Lion of Judah gives me strength and energizes an overcomer’s attitude. My verse of focus is

Proverbs 28:1”…the righteous will be bold like the lion.”

I am collecting my lion memorabilia: a lion tee, book bag, earrings, bracelet, mug, etc. I created a play list and am planning on doing some artwork.

The key to successfully processing a Word of FOCUS is to create a clarifying question. Mine this year is:

Will this strengthen my lionheart? Will this help me build a lionheart in others?

To help accomplish this, I made a list of 52 verses with the words: lion, courage, confidence, brave, etc. and each week I will do a bible study on that verse and ask God how I can apply it to my life. I also add in a quote, a scent, a color,a gem, a flower, etc.

Bill’s clarifying question is:

Will this help me STAND? Will this help me pass on to others the ability to STAND?

Bill will create his own list of 52 verses that will help him STAND firm and accomplish what is beyond him in 2026.

Your Journey to FOCUS

Please download all the worksheets and pray and ask God to lead you to your Word of FOCUS then weave that word throughout your life on a daily basis and watch God empower your life too!

 

Pam and Bill Farrel are the authors of 60+ books and popular marriage and family speakers. They enjoy time on their liveaboard boat, with thier sons, DILs and grand. More helps on Word of Focus, goals, and teaming together as a couple at at www.Love-Wise.com  A popular resource for couples to pull together in the same direction is the His and Her set: Marriage Meet Up: Planner for couples who want purpose, passion and productivity.