After two daughters, my parents were expecting a baby boy and had already chosen his name: Lance. But surprise, surprise, I was born as their third daughter, so instead of Lance they named me April after the month of my birth.
Some say that the name April comes from the Latin aperire, which means to open—most likely a reference to flowers that open in the spring in the northern hemisphere. Others trace it to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. But one year I found another explanation of my name that’s become my favourite.
My husband and I were on vacation in San Francisco, and had a fabulous time that included an afternoon at the Muir Woods National Monument, which is north of the city. I loved walking among the towering, centuries-old, redwood trees; finding sanctuary in the quiet of Cathedral Grove; and afterward in the gift shop, I found a small wooden box with the name April that said it means “blossom,” and underneath “you have an abundance of energy and vision.”
As I’ve been pondering and praying over the coming year, that word blossom keeps coming back to me. What will open up for me this year? Where will God channel my abundance of energy and vision? How will this year grow and blossom?
So for the coming year, my one word is blossom, and I look forward to what this year will bring!
Writing/Reflection Prompt: Have you decided on one word for the coming year, and how did it emerge for you?
One Word Links
Find Your Word of the Year – a friend shared this link with 7 questions to help identify your word of the year. I tried it just for fun and got the word hope–a fine word, but it didn’t resonate with me as much as blossom.
My One Word – offers a three-step process to help you choose a word.
One Word 365 – sample words to help you choose, and a search feature to help you find others with the same word, but when I checked no one else had registered the word blossom, and it might still be under the radar as I didn’t register either.
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April Yamasaki 
I love your idea of a word for the year! My word for 2018 was DREAM, as we remodeled our 100+yo farmhouse to make it step-free. My word or phrase for 2019 is BECOMING, becoming the person God created me be. It’s a life-long process, but I specifically want to focus on it for this year. Thanks for your encouragement and enlightenment!
Wow, your remodeled farmhouse sounds like a dream come true, Nancy! And the word becoming seems to extend that forward movement into the new year. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your word, April. Mine is not a word; rather several phrases from Jan Richardson’s poem, “Blessing of the Magi”, namely, “(I) will wonder at how the light you thought you had left behind goes with you…”. This came to me when twice in the same day my Bible Reading was the trip of the Magi
Your comment prompted me to re-read Jan Richardon’s poem, Sue. It’s so rich, with so much to contemplate, that I can see why you would ponder over several phrases. I especially love the image of the magi’s treasures tumbling from their hands “in awe and benediction.”
I loved the picture of the sweet peas, one of my favorite flowers because they always grew in our garden at home when I was growing up, and they smell so sweet just like their name.
My word for the year (we picked words at church) is praise. When I praise someone for the good they have done instead of looking for their mistakes it is positive for me as well as for the person receiving the praise, And praising God helps take the focus off me and brings it to the source of my well being.
I love the multiple dimensions of your word, “praise”! Do you pick words at church every year? I’ve heard of some churches giving out “star words” for Epiphany each year.
Í took the ‘find your word for 2019’ and the word that came up was ‘Gratitude’ which is the word I would have chosen since my world took a rapid change in November with a very sudden onslaught of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Miracle above miracle happened with an appointment with a RA specialist the beginning of January – and these appointments tend to take 12-14 MONTHS to get. Medication has changed my world back again (for the moment and who knows how long….but I choose not to focus on that) because of what I can ALL do again. I pray that I will always continue to be ‘grateful’ for the millions of things I have taken for granted that I could always do and in a flash, so much was taken away for a period of time. Gratitude………my word for 2019.
Pearl, what a story! Thank you for sharing your experience of miracle, medication, and millions of reasons to be grateful. I pray you’ll continue to know relief with your RA even as you continue to live in gratitude this year.