The Becoming
January 14, 2026
Welcome to the New Year!
New year | Growing Me
Fresh starts, fresh beginnings, fresh dreams, and fresh visions.
At the beginning of each year, I write down my goals and passions tethered to my heart.
I give thanks for the previous year- the goals and the blessings, the hard and the good, the growth and the learning.
Above all else, I spend still, intentional + quiet time with the Lord as I look into this calendar year
Ultimately, it is His, His time, His year
It is because of Him that I have the very breath in my lungs and the ability to be writing right now.
In this process, this quiet + intentional time is where the majority of my time is spent when dreaming about this next year
Who am I becoming + who is He calling me to be
The focus is more in tune with my character rather than my metrics.
The focus is supplemental to the goal
A fitness goal requires discipline
A health goal requires commitment
A career goal requires grit
Growth in relationships calls for love + patience
I never want to lose focus on the person I am becoming in exchange for a temporary goal or achievement
In the moments that require patience, how am I walking in love?
In the moments of success, how do I walk in humble confidence?
In the moments of planning a wedding, how am I preparing gracefully for my marriage?
The depth of the year is found here in the foundation and in the pillars.
I sit in wonder of the areas of my heart that I need to tend to and what in areas He is calling me higher in.
Inviting the Lord into this process allows true growth that produces real fruit. This year is His.
This year, I am working on stewardship.
I am working to be a good steward of the call, of the passion, of the way in which He bends my heart
The Focus
In these deepest parts, I prioritize the very discipline to grow.
The deepest parts of us that often require the most effort, the most intention, while allowing us to live the life we set out to see
This is the focus this year:
Give thanks in all things
Live in grace + mercy
Speak graciously
Look Up, in the valleys and on the hills
Start on my knees
Give the benefit of the doubt
Settle your mind
Clear your mind with stillness
Seek adventure
Run with joy in the mundane
Walk with humility
Open your arms
Keep your palms up
Find the rhythm of rest weekly
Be intentional in each conversation
Keep the heart pure, scrub it often
Follow His Word
Walk in love + love Big
Lean in
Do the extraordinary
The list will grow, and I love it…
I have health + fitness goals. I have career and personal development aspirations.
I write it all out.
While I also write out a few of the characteristics that I will need to grow in this year
Discipline in every single day
Consistency in keeping the priority the main focus
Goals to be intentional
Goals to be patient with my loved ones
Goals to work on my communication with everyone
I write out specific ways to treat the ones I love + the ones I interact with the most- Focusing on how I show up with the colleagues at work + how to show up best for my friends
The Building
And as I find myself on day 14 of the first of the year, these characteristics are being tested and grown.
In the midst of setting goals, something I always remind myself of is this…
In order to get to day 37, I have to be disciplined on day 7, 8, 17 and 36.
Every day counts and every step can be seen as foundational.
I am also expectant of what the Lord will teach me in this year
Most often I have set out goals but was not committed to learning in the process
A goal of mine in these years of my life have been to learn in the process
No obstacle is wasted, no speed bump is unintentional
No challenge is uncounted.
The journey and the learning make the goal, the dream, all worthwhile. It allows me to stay focused + flexible in the midst. Learning settles the pressure + allows true growth to take place.
The Becoming
In the midst, write down everything you learn this year- everything.
The art of communication, what styles of communicating you love and dislike, how certain people in the workplace walk into meetings, what allows you to feel your best + the places that you sit + dream the most in. Learn about the people that make you feel most at home and learn a new recipe (if you want). Learn what makes you excited + learn what maybe requires more of your energy. Learn what rhythms of rest are best for you + learn what an ideal day looks like for you.
At the end of the year, may we be people that see the beautiful moments, relationships. Most of all, may we be people that learn what we need to know + learn how we can love deeper in all things.
This is the overall goal to become all that I am called to be
The goal is about learning + becoming, teaching + observing
The Becoming is not measured by numbers or achieved by checking off a box.
The Becoming is felt in the day to day interactions, the perspectives, the glimpses of hope that sometimes are not seen. Becoming is learning, finding the beauty in the hard + the good, the challenging and the exciting.
To a year marked by building + becoming, I will see you next week!
Always in your corner!
With lots of love,
Makenna