This is not my first year picking a word for the new year. Last year it was Mama (2019) which was honestly pretty radical for me because I never wanted that role to define me. Years before have been Hunger (2014) and Intentional (2018) and pretty sure established was my word in 2013 but I don’t have a post on that. I’ve also done verses like Philippians 1:6 in 2015 and again in 2016. And in doing my research through the arcives of Oak + Oats, it looks like 2017 was more of a heart to heart about the new year. So when you look at my tract record, about 50% of the time I pick a word for the year and looks like this year is one of them.
When sitting down to write this, I keep thinking “pregnant forever” and “newborn stage + a toddler” or “never-ending house projects” / “plywood countertops” and things of that nature. But really, this season (while all consuming for sure) is not my whole life or my whole year for that matter. The biggest things that take up all my time and body and mental capasity are not reality for the entirerty of 2020.
They just happen to be what welcomes me to the new year. When evertone else is sitting down with journals and planners having dream sessions, making big goals, laying out projects, and getting their hussle on, I am over here trying to prepare my heart and my home (and my toddler) for a new baby.
Survive? Discover? Engage? What would be the word for the year that our family grows to a family of four and I get to use that nifty saying – two under two! What do I use to describe the year when we meet a new person who will be a huge part of our lives the rest of the year?
I left this post in drafts to have a baby. I typed most of the above paragraphs the night before we went into the hospital for our c-section. I was staying up way too late working on emails and typing thoughts into half written posts to distract myself. I finally made myself go to bed around 1 am. I don’t know if it is better knowing when your baby will come or just playing the waiting game 😉
But now I am back at it while Millie sleeps in her snuggle me organic at my side. Hilde is with grandma today having all kinds of fun so this mama has time to put some more thoughts on paper. Or more precisely, computer screen.
And now the moment you all have been waiting for…. Savor. My word for 2020 is Savor. And according to Merriam-Webster that looks like:
1: to give flavor to : SEASON
2: to have experience of : TASTE
3: to taste or smell with pleasure : RELISH
4: to delight in : ENJOY
What that looks like for me is a year with my two girls and my main man. It looks like adding flavor to “boring” and “mundane” everyday moments of being a stay at home mama. It looks like relishing in the time I am able to spend working on Oak + Oats as well as the time that I hold a sleeping baby in my arms or wipe off peanut butter and jelly fingers.
It’s contentment and joy in this season. It’s enjoying all the times that I get to invest in this space and not dwelling on all the things I am not getting done. It is motherhood and freindship and photography and hitting publish on imperfect posts.
It is enjoying this year and this season because I’ll never get it back.
Hello 2020!
