Unpacking My One Word for 2022

Beth Vogtchange, choices, encouragement, expectations, Faith, hope, Life, New Year, One Word, perspective, prayer, Quotes, words 11 Comments

@bethvogt   I’m five days into focusing on my One Word for 2022. A quick reminder, because you’re not responsible to remember my One Word: I’m focusing on the word pray. Pray, not prayer. I’m specific about the difference between the two words. Prayer is a noun, a word referring to a person, place, or thing. Pray is a verb, …

It’s Not Too Early to be Thinking About 2022

Beth Vogtchange, choices, Christmas, encouragement, expectations, Faith, goals, hope, Life, listen, New Year, One Word, perseverance, perspective, prayer, Quotes 8 Comments

@bethvogt A lot of people are counting down the days until Christmas. There are 73 days until December 25, my friends. But did you know there are 80 days until the start of 2022? If those 80 days race by like the other 285, then January 1, 2022 will show up on our calendars before we’re ready. I’ll admit I’ve …

What to Do When You’re Heavy-Hearted

Beth Vogtanxiety, brokenness, challenges, choices, emotions, encouragement, expectations, Faith, Fear, Friendship, grief, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, strength, stress 10 Comments

@bethvogt I’ve heard the term “heavy-hearted” quite a bit recently. People are heavy-hearted about their life circumstances – from family struggles to friends’ setbacks. People are heavy-hearted about life “out there” – events playing out across the world via nonstop news headlines every single hour of the day. How do we counterbalance the ongoing challenges that weigh our hearts down? …

What Do We See When We Focus on the Haze?

Beth Vogtchallenges, choices, crisis, encouragement, Faith, hope, Life, opportunities, perspective, prayer, Quotes, Reality, suffering 13 Comments

A heavy brown haze has hung over my hometown of Colorado Springs for several weeks now, often completely obscuring the view of Pikes Peak. Smoke has blown in from the wildfires in western states, particularly the Dixie Fire, which is now the largest single fire in California history. The weather app on my phone includes an air quality alert, just …

Today … Tomorrow … Every Day … Let’s Focus on Hope

Beth Vogtchallenges, choices, confidence, encouragement, Faith, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, strength 6 Comments

@bethvogt My friend Jeanne and I have May birthdays. We’ve developed a funny tradition around our birthdays: we never celebrate them with each other during our birthday month. Don’t get me wrong – we’ve tried many, many times to celebrate during May. We make plans to meet for breakfast or lunch or dinner. Inevitably, our plans get pushed back again …

Choosing to Value Others By Listening to Them

Beth Vogtchoices, Faith, family, Friendship, hope, kindness, Life, listen, Love, One Word, perspective, Quotes, Relationships 14 Comments

@bethvogt   Listening, truly listening to another person, is both simple and hard work. I’ve focused on listening to others for the past 18 months, ever since choosing “Listen” as my One Word in 2020 and then again in 2021. The one lesson I’m going to remember when 2022 arrives and I move onto a new One Word is that …

Choosing to Believe in More Than Fairytales

Beth Vogtabuse, Beth K. Vogt, brokenness, Faith, Fear, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, suffering 8 Comments

@bethvogt I was the little girl who loved to get lost in books. I loved fairy tales. The magic of them. No matter the dark forests to be traversed or dragons to be battled or evil queens to be outwitted, each story had a fantastical happy ending. The authors of those stories, with their imaginary characters and magical overcoming of …

Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Choose One Word to Focus on in 2021

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, change, choices, Faith, family, Friendship, goals, grace, hope, Life, New Year, One Word, perspective, Quotes, Relationships, Scripture 12 Comments

I abandoned the tradition of New Year’s resolutions 15 years ago. Instead, I select One Word to focus on. I always look forward to sharing my annual One Word with family and friends, as well as finding out what One Words others select for the coming year. For only the second time in all these years, I’m repeating a One …

Learning a Life Lesson from a Mission: Impossible Movie

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, perspective, stress, trust 8 Comments

@bethvogt Let’s talk about the movie Mission: Impossible 3, shall we? No spoilers, I promise, although the movie released in 2006. My family’s been watching the Tom Cruise series and my son-in-love says the third movie is his favorite. I’m all for a good chase scene and you’re guaranteed at least one of those in an M: I movie, plus …

Recognizing That Healthy is Hard

Beth Vogtacceptance, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, change, choices, expectations, failure, health, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes 14 Comments

@bethvogt I was talking with my daughter-in-love, Meagan, when she said, “Healthy is hard.” Her three-word statement was one of those “This is so true!” moments. You know what I’m talking about, right? You’re in the middle of a conversation with someone and they say something that reverberates inside you as if someone hit a massive gong with a hammer. …