Instead of making new year’s resolutions, each year I like to choose a key word to help set my direction for the coming year. One year I chose “wonder,” which for me meant being curious, exploring new things, and asking questions. It meant being filled with wonder at God’s creation and work in the world and in my own life. That year it seemed as if the word had chosen me, for as soon as I settled on “wonder” as my word for the year, I started seeing wonder everywhere.

This year I chose “blossom,” and when I asked friends what word they would choose for the coming year and why, I was amazed at the range of their answers: delight, trust, grace, victory, prayer, forgive, harmony, intentional, contemplation, longing, rich, letting go, and more. “I’m choosing letting go to remind myself that s…