For readers who may not presently be engaged on any social media sites, you may be unfamiliar with the trending pop-up advertisements inquiring, “What’s Your Word?” The basic premise is that a customer can purchase a bracelet, necklace, key chain or other novelty where a special word is engraved onto a metal ring, then the ring is attached to a leather string for one to wear. The word then serves as a special reminder to focus on a particular attribute as one strives for a stated goal, or as a reminder of a memorable or difficult season in life. I’ve even seen some examples with the placement of GPS coordinates for a special location. In the book Present Over Perfect, Shuana Niequest shares her word of “Yes” which she had tattooed to her wrist as a powerful reminder of “how [she] wants to live, with great love and openness.” Words can serve as extremely powerful reminders…so I pose the question, “What’s Your Word?”
As you ponder what word seems to be reappearing in your life lately so that you may share it with us in the comments below, I would like to ask permission to share my word with you; the word that first appeared in the spring of 2019, seemingly in neon lights, and has continuously emerged in the most unusual places over and over again, almost daily, since. That word led to the name of this blog: FLOURISH. Not realizing it at the time the word first appeared, I would soon discover the word flourish is used in Scripture over 33 times. How had this one word that captures the essence of everything I am reading and researching gone unnoticed before? That’s the unique method my Savior uses to communicate with me sometimes, as I mentioned in the post Respectfully Mystified. He waits until that exact moment when we are truly ready to read/hear/understand before he unveils to us What’s Your Word!
Weaving this precious word, flourish, into all forms of communication, from books to sermons to random websites, the Lord has opened my eyes to so many wonderful stories where people are flourishing in various areas of life whether the thriving comes personally, professionally, or spiritually. I look forward to sharing many of these amazing stories with you in future posts; however, today, I hope to share two meaningful explanations of what it means to flourish. The first comes from Laurie Schreiner in Thriving in Leadership when she offers,”’Flourishing’ has emerged from the positive psychology literature as a concept that describes the experiences of human beings who are vitally engaged in their work and in significant relationships, who find meaning and fulfillment in the contributions they make-in short, those who thrive. Flourishing goes beyond effectiveness-it means not only doing a job well, but also experiencing deep satisfaction and a sense of purpose in that role. Flourishing people look beyond themselves to the welfare of others and to making the world a better place.”
Schreiner’s choice of words articulates my feelings as clearly as any I have read so far; however, I have also been inspired by the thoughts in The Flourishing Teacher, where Dr. Christina B. Lake shares, “Since God made us all with different gifts, we should remember that flourishing will look a little different for each of us.” Her statements serve as a reminder that although I might research the Habits of a Flourishing Life in an attempt to help students navigate their transition into adulthood and the workplace, each path God has for them may look differently than mine or even their peers, but I will remain consistent in my belief that a flourishing life exists for them.
So, although I have no plans to follow Niequest’s approach and have the word flourish tattooed in white ink onto my wrist, I will relish each and every time the word appears in my reading or is spoken aloud. It makes me smile! Taking Lake’s advice, I will allow flourish to become my prayer word with the goal “to empty [my] mind of everything and just breathe in and breathe out that word.” Even not knowing where the Lord is headed with this precious word, I will take delight in it and continue to share my new proverb, A generation flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit.
What’s Your Word? Feel free to share in the comments below!
References:
Lake, C.B. (2020). The flourishing teacher: Vocational renewal for a sacred profession. IVP Press.
Niequest, S. & Brown, B. (2016). Present over perfect: Leaving behind frantic for a simpler, more soulful way of living. Zondervan.
Schreiner, L.A. (2012). Thriving as a leader In Longman, K.A. (Ed.). Thriving in leadership: Strategies for making a difference in Christian higher education. ACU Press.
Flourishing @ Life 
Our “word” as a couple for this season: obedience. We are seeking the Lord daily and want to be obedient to the calling He has for us!! Love you MJ!
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My thoughts on “what’s your word” is so true. Often people find the words that give them meaning and get a necklace or even a tattoo of that specific word. For me, the word flourish means to take in this life and live it to the best. I didn’t realize it was mentioned thirty-three times in the bible. I will look those up sometime. Thank you for sharing this blog with us and informing me more about flourish. My word is Enough. Being enough to land your first job, the first relationship, and being completely yourself. You’re already enough in God’s eyes. I try to reflect more on my self-worth and know what I have to offer.
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I loved this post! Recently I have really been paying attention to words and what they actually mean to me. To be completely honest, I have never really thought of the word flourish very much, but after reading what you wrote many things cycled through my head. Especially in this time of being in college, it is so fun to see my classmates, friends, administrators and professors flourishing in the things that they do. I appreciate you sharing what it meant to you and a little bit more about what it meant. I would say I have two words right now that I am trying to live by and that would be the phrase “seek discomfort”. I have tended to be a sort of shy/reserved person, but in the last few months I have done things way out of my comfort zone and although they have been super hard, I have absolutely loved the opportunities it has given and just the ability to allow me to grow.
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Seek discomfort…wow! What a challenge!!! You may have just provided me with a future blog title! I’d love for you to share more via email or in-person, if willing.
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I loved this post! I have come to love and appreciate words and the meaning behind them. There is so much power behind each word. To be completely honest, I have never really thought too much about the word flourish, but as I was reading many thoughts of people flourishing went through my head. Especially now in this time being a college student, it is so fun to see my classmates, friends, and professors just flourishing in what they are doing. When I think of a word for myself I think of Discomfort. I want to seek discomfort as crazy as that may sound. This has really been on my mind the past couple months. I tended to be a more shy and reserved person, but recently I have gone out of my comfort zone multiple times and absolutely loved what I have been doing.
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This post was very encouraging to me as I continue to seek out the Lord’s will and direction for my life. I had not realized that the scriptures spoke so often of this term “flourish,” however, it correlates exactly with His will that we flourish (grow and develop in a healthy and vigorous way) in Him. As I begin thinking about my future work and what the Lord would have me do, I do agree that flourishing and being successful in the workplace can have many benefits, however, I very much appreciate the notion of flourishing with purpose as we look outside of ourselves and towards the way that we can serve others. Because of this inspiration, I believe my word would be “joy.” In Sunday School growing up, “joy” stood as an acronym indicating to always think first of Jesus, then others, then yourself. It helps to keep my priorities in perspective and remember what this life is about as I can take great joy in both serving Jesus first, and then others. I know that God measures success in much greater ways than we do, and I truly believe that living a life dedicated to Matthew 22: 37-39 would be a way to flourish while living on this earth.
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This is a great post and a reminder that certain things no matter how small such as a word can have a great impact on our lives. Before reading this blog when I heard the word flourish I only thought about succeeding or thriving and never thought about flourishing through Christ. He gives us so many opportunities to grow in His kingdom and help those in need. My word would be perseverance, I have seen this word so many times in books I’ve read and even in training seminars through work. Persistence is doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Their have been many areas in life that I have stuck with a long and difficult task and seen it through but their has been equal disappointment. Through this all I have found that to persevere is to have faith. When we have faith in Christ we should surrender all struggles with Him. We should lean on our faith in hard times and persevere through things we are passionate about and make a positive difference in our lives and community. Real faith is built on strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact God will see us through difficult times. To persist through hard times is to have faith things will work out for the better. We
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