Word of the Month: Connect

You know, awhile back I wrote this blog about my word of the year, which is BLESS. I am still striving daily to bless others--by the words I say, by the things I do. I can honestly tell you that I've received even more blessings personally by being more aware of what I can do to bless others.

So I've decided that to really take this seriously and to a new level, I'll focus on a different way of blessing others--and my Lord and Savior--each month. So every month will have it's own word, relating back to BLESS. I chose to do it monthly rather than weekly, because let's face it--life gets busy. I want each focus to be given the amount of time and attention it deserves.

This month the word and focus is connect. Here's how it's going to look:

I will be connecting with my Creator each week at church. I will try to be more focused on my worship, more attentive to the words my pastor and other church leaders give, and more focused on the students in my youth lifegroup that I help to mentor.

I will also connect with my best girlfriends here in town by calling, texting and making a concentrated effort to get together if not every week, every other. It's so easy for us to say "we'll get together soon" because we know we can--but we need each other. That's why we're friends :0)

I will call or send a personal email to my beloved friends who don't live nearby at least once this month, to let them know that I still love them and still value the connection we share.

I will be sure that my boyfriend knows how much I value him and his impact in my life by making sure that we have real conversations--the kind that truly connect us--even during our chats that seem relatively mundane. I will also let him know how appreciated he is in my life. This should be a good month to focus on that--not only is Valentine's Day in a little over a week, but we also celebrate 6 months later on in the month!

I'll make sure to keep connecting with those friends that I hang out with often--the ones I play rock band with, the ones with whom we break bread with, the ones who ask how things are going and genuinely mean it, and the ones who I'm just getting to know and love.

And for those who I call "friend" who don't see or hear from me often even though we live in the same city...I will try to do better at deepening our connection. I'll return the phone calls, send an email to let them know I'm thinking of them, and try to hang out more.

You know, it all sounds SO simple when I write it out. And once the habit is there, I think the actual practice will be pretty simple too--and rewarding beyond measure.