Words impact us. Encouraging words lift us up. Hurtful words can sting for longer than we think. Words can mark us.

I came up with a word for 2013 that I felt would be fitting for the direction our family was headed and it was change. 2013 ended up being a big year of change and that word couldn’t have been more perfect. As someone who can resist change having that word in front of me all year, gave me a sense of focus and purposefulness to embrace the things as our changes rolled out.

We sold our house and moved a little further north from Atlanta.

We were trained as foster parents and opened up our lives to this ministry as a family.

We started homeschooling with a Co-op.

We joined a new church.

We started new ventures in Spoonful of Imagination with the Labs and Tribe.

Matt transitioned jobs and is working more out of the house.

2013 held a lot of change for us. When I sit back and process all that we have gone through and where we are at, one word comes to mind for 2014 – “Shine”. As we have settled into our changes I think this idea has slowly been building, I want to shine. We are in a new neighborhood, making new friends, new church, new co-op, new work, and new ministry…and I want to shine where God has us. I want to be about shining love into these areas of my life. I want to shine as a good mom to my kids and a good wife to Matt. This is my life and I want to not just survive, but I want to live with purpose and shine doing it the best I can.

Now that Christmas is over, the new year is upon us. Have you started thinking about new year resolutions or goals? I can get overwhelmed with lofty goals. A word is something I can grasp and hold onto. Shine is my word for 2014. Do you have a word?

I made a little sweatshirt to capture my word. I want to share the steps with you, so you too can make an inexpensive garment that holds a lot of meaning and inspire you as often as you wear it.

I started with a blank, inexpensive sweatshirt like these, and used a simple stencil, white paint, and paintbrush to complete an inspiring piece for me to wear.

Once I had my stencil laid where I wanted it in the center of the sweatshirt, I got a little white paint and started dab painting in my stencil.

I got a little paint on my brush, and then dabbed the bulk of it off onto my plate, so the paint did not ooze under my stencil. I dabbed the paint into my stencil rather quickly to fill in the stencil yet not create a “solid” look. I think this technique creates a more worn, yet intentional screen print look.

One tip to keep in mind is to hold your stencil down tightly as you dab the paint in. This will help prevent any ooze of paint outside your stencil.

That is it! The next step was to let it dry and wear it proudly! I personally just wore this for like four days straight. 🙂

I love anytime you can make something with a personal meaning for less than $10! Can you see making a sweatshirt with your word?

I pray that I look back on 2014 and I see areas where I put my own desires aside and I loved well as I choose to shine for Christ and be about more than myself. May this be a marking year in all our lives. Please, please tell me your word so we can encourage one another. Leave me a comment here or tag me on instagram and twitter so I can keep up you as well!