Happy 2024!

One tool I have been using for about 5 years now is a Word of the Year to help me focus both in work and my spiritual life. Past words have been Proclaim, Courage, Serve, Create.

This year’s word is SISU.

This is an untranslatable Finnish word (my grandparents were Finnish) that encompasses the concepts of pressing on, burst of strength, endurance, tenacity, perseverance, fortitude, long-suffering, finding the way through, resilience, – all that is required to keep going.

For me, the foundation of the SISU building comes from my Bible reading just this morning:

(Jesus said) “Abide in Me and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:4)

My only source for SISU is Christ, if I want to bear good fruit that nourishes with God’s love. I am relying on Christ to keep me forward- and upward-oriented, to help me follow the way of love with SISU.

I pray January gives you time to rest, play, read, and love. I pray God will supply you with the SISU you need to walk God’s path for you.