Gracious words to begin your new year

I've been thinking a lot lately about the power of words. Not only things that are said out loud, but times when I hold my tongue and don't offer my thoughts. Or the words that are swirling around inside my head that I'm saying to myself. Or the words that come out of my mouth to my children....

At my last Bible study of the year, we passed around a basket full of rocks. On each rock one of my friends had painted a word. Each rock in the basket had a different word and we closed our eyes and drew one out of the pile. 

The word painted across my rock was 'WAIT'.

At first I couldn't think of any way that that little word applied to me. I didn't feel anxious about anything. I wasn't jumping into any decisions. I wasn't rushing anything.

But later that night, before we left, I started to share a few things I hoped my friends would pray about on my behalf. Patience. Wisdom about the things that came out of my mouth. That'd I'd be able to take a deep breath before reacting to emotional situations (Ummm, hello parenting of a preteen?) That I would think before I spoke. And in that instant I knew what my word would mean for me. WAIT. Wait for the right words--or at least better words. For more gracious words. For words that come from thoughtfulness not reactiveness. 

So I've been thinking a lot about words--the ones that come out of my mouth, or don't. And the ones that consume my thoughts. 

I keep a board on Pinterest called 'wise words'. And it is a place I visit often--scrolling through the images and text. Some speak to me in that moment in ways they didn't several weeks ago. Some seem to take anchor somewhere in my heart and I need to write them down or print them out and tack them to the wall. 

So I thought I'd start this year by sharing a few of my favorites with all of you. May your new year be filled with words that are sweet to the soul, healing to the bones. Happy New Year, friends. xo.