Enjoy!

Normally by this time in the year I have my annual “101 Things” list made and ready to go.
It’s been my approach to goal setting since 2010, helping me break down big goals into bite-sized pieces, try new things, and lean into growth one small step at a time.

I’ve always loved that tradition, but in the middle of 2025, something shifted.

What makes 2026 different for me?

For one thing, 2026 is the year I turn 40 (which honestly still feels like a strange number to wrap my head around). 

However weird it feels, I don’t want to approach turning 40 with fear. I don’t want to treat this milestone like a deadline or a bucket list scramble.

I want to approach it with gratitude. With humility. With awareness of what I’ve been given and what I want to offer back.

That’s what led me to start reflecting on the number 40 in the scriptures. 

The Meaning of Forty

In scripture, 40 symbolizes testing, transformation, preparation, and dependence on God. It marks the in-between spaces, between rescue and arrival, between calling and commissioning.

I thought about Christ’s 40 days of fasting, the 40 days and nights of rain in the ark, and especially the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness

The Children of Israel left Egypt essentially as babies. They had to get to know their Father in Heaven, learn how to live faithfully, and learn to walk the path God had for them. They went through rebellious times when they were sure they knew more than God. There were experiences that helped them realize that God had their backs all along. They learned how to have a relationship with God and to be His covenant people.

The more I sat with these stories, the more I realized: this isn’t just a milestone year. It’s a threshold. And I wanted to step into it with a heart that matched.

The Word That Found Me

That’s when the word came: Consecration.

Consecration isn’t about doing more; it’s about offering what already belongs to God.

This year is an offering, but not one of a polished or perfected version of myself. Instead it’s an offering of my actual lived life.

How I’m Living Out my Year of Consecration

So instead of writing out a new list of 101 goals, I made a different kind of list:

40 practices. Done 40 times. To consecrate my 40th year. 

Not checklists. Not achievements. Just acts of devotion I want to return to over and over.

Some of mine include:

• Write 40 letters or notes
• Go to the temple (inside or out) 40 times
• Declutter or release something 40 times (one item counts, one drawer counts)
• Go to bed at a designated bedtime 40 times
• Do a 1:1 moment with one of the kids 40 times.

On the surface, these seem like checklists, but I carefully and prayerfully chose 40 practices to help me consecrate a part of my life:

My heart.
My space.
My body.
My gifts.
My relationships.
My labor.
My delight.

I’m not chasing intensity this year; I’m choosing intention. Additionally, I’m not chasing outcomes; I’m practicing faithfulness.

The Scriptures Shaping This Year

Two scriptures particularly have become the arc for this year.

Deuteronomy 8:2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.”

This verse honors the wilderness—the survival years, the messy learning years, the identity-forging years of my 20s and 30s.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of a good courage⁠, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

This verse marks the step out of the wilderness and into the next season.

Not because I’ve arrived, and not because it’s easy (I already know neither of those are reality). But because God goes with me.

These verses together remind me:

• To remember what I’ve been led through
• To walk forward in courage
• To trust that what is consecrated, God multiplies.

Undoubtedly, I know I’ll still have wilderness seasons ahead.
The promised land wasn’t the end of the Israelites’ journey, it was the next beginning.

And, if I’m being totally honest, I just hope I don’t fall apart like they did after they entered it 😬

Making Room

Unlike previous years, this year I’m not making resolutions, I’m making room. Room for presence, for return, and for trust. And I’m walking into this year working to offer the first and best of who I am, because what is consecrated, God multiplies.