Walk
My word for 2026
Twelve days into the year I finally got the new kitchen calendar for 2026 out of the plastic wrapping. I started filling in the boxes with the busy activities of four people. Looking ahead to the next few months, I was tempted to start planning in all the activities we knew about, including expeditions, work experience, and summer camps. It is my tendency to run ahead and try and plan for the future. Unfortunately, that often leads to sleepless nights and time wasted researching and worrying about them before I even need to.
Each New Year there is a growing trend for people to choose a ‘word for the year,’ usually something related to their resolutions. Words like ‘courage,’ ‘thrive,’ and ‘joy’ can be a bit cheesy or motivational. I’m not one for following a trend but a word came to mind as I spent time thanking God for 2025 and looking forward to 2026.
The word was ‘Walk’ and it came to me as I was, unsurprisingly, walking.
Micah and Lydia both had the opportunity to go on a youth weekend over New Years. It was up in the Yorkshire Dales so Drew and I seized the opportunity for three days on our own walking in the Dales. For Drew this means more than just ambling in God’s beautiful creation, it means poring over the OS map and plotting a route involving caves and potholes. It means yomping over the bracken while out on the walk to explore and find the caves and potholes. Our walk was punctuated with Drew’s cave explorations, which gave me time to sit and read and pray. I am not keen on caves, I prefer to be in places where I can see the sky, and the sun if the British weather is being kind!
On New Year’s Eve we had the entire day free to explore the countryside. The sun was shining and reflecting off with sparkles on the frosty ground. We were well prepared with our OS map, a picnic lunch, and a flask of hot chocolate. It was a joy to be out walking on the fells.
The night before we watched the film, ‘The Salt Path,’ based on a book I really enjoyed reading. A middle-aged couple lose everything including their home. Not knowing what to do next they start a long distance walk along the Southwest Coast Path. They learn to value nature, each other and those who are kind along their walk.
As I was thinking about what walking meant to me, it wasn’t about changing our lives and starting off on a big physical challenge. It was recognising that we were already walking a big challenge, just not necessarily a physical one.
Trying to live a life of faith as an individual, as a family and as part of a church is a journey. It is a journey of mountains and valleys, times when the path is easy and times when it feels rough and rocky. It is a journey that we have different moments that we share the path with different people and times when we feel we are walking on our own. It is a journey where the path is not clear, but the destination is certain.
As I sat staring at the empty pages of my calendar wanting to flip forward through the months, I had to remember that I am walking and not rushing ahead worrying about tomorrow. My walk is day by day knowing God is by my side and he will give me the strength and the wisdom daily. In 2026 my goal is not to run after a bigger bank balance, a fancy holiday, or a waistline. My goal is to walk through each day knowing God more and remembering that my future is secure in heaven.
I leave you with a beautiful song based on Psalm 116. The song talks about how God has rescued us to walk in the land of the living, a beautiful picture of walking in a life free from sin, pain, suffering and death. I hope it encourages you as you walk through 2026.
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Thank you for reading my little musings!