Tend ~ A Word for the Heart, the Home and the Year Ahead
January got off to a slow and restful start … just the way it is meant to. We holiday-ed and then we cocooned. The re-emergence felt forced (because it was). But, I suppose it was time …
Last week was for catching up, reflecting, and planning ahead. Each year a Word of the Year finds me — sometimes shared, sometimes kept quiet. My 2025 word was Consistency. No explanation needed. I didn’t give it its own write-up, though you can read a bit more in A Cozy January if you’d like. Looking back, I was consistent in some areas, less so in others. But a Word of the Year never ends— it continues, quietly shaping the work in progress.
This year felt like a good time to get really real with myself. My Word needed to embody a few really specific things. My Word needed to sit deeper.
I knew I wanted to focus on health this year, but “health” alone felt too small. I wanted a word that could set my posture for the year—grounding, anchoring. One that would hold physical, mental, spiritual, and financial wellbeing. A word for wholeness, authenticity, and a few quiet dreams.
I considered Nourish or Restore. Both felt close, but not quite right. I don’t feel broken — I do feel tired in certain areas, and ready to care for myself with intention. I also want a course correction. A pause without shame. Space for discernment and redirection, while still holding hope, purpose, and future fruit. A detour – choosing the right road, even if it’s slower at first. “Sometimes you have to slow down before you can go faster.”
Turns out, there’s a word that sits right between Nourish and Restore and it fits perfectly …
This year I need to TEND to a few things …
My definition of Tend for 2026 – “to give faithful, gentle, and intentional care to what has been entrusted to me — with patience, attention, and trust in God for the outcome.”
I’m choosing a slower, more intentional path right now — not because I’m lost, but because I’m listening. This season is about tending my health, my faith, and my direction so that what comes next is sustainable and true.
I am not behind. I am becoming aligned.
The word Tend reframes “less busy” as deeply productive.
- You tend a garden before it blooms
- You tend wounds so they heal
- You tend resources so they multiply
- You tend faith so it deepens
Tend is slow, intentional, hands-on, hopeful and deeply faithful.
Tend assumes something worth caring for, a future worth preparing for, patience without stagnation.
This year, I will ask myself “what needs tending today?” And then I will do one small, caring action in response.
This year, I will stop striving. I will tend to my family and home with the calm energy I’ve always hoped for. I will put down feelings of “not enough” or “I should be,” stop wandering, and allow myself to be fully here, in the now. I will release shame, lean into trust, and let myself enjoy. I will stop feeling guilty for not being some other version of myself. I will let the fog lift around me before I begin moving forward.
For a while, I’ve toyed with the idea of … just putting it down. I’m not even sure what “it” is or what that looks like, but there’s a sureness I haven’t felt in years. For so long, I’ve carried ideas of what I should be doing, what I could be doing, all the “what ifs”— and it’s led to a little discontent and a sense of unworthiness. Slowly, a new feeling has emerged: maybe I don’t have to do any of that. I can focus on what I want, yes, but also tend to my family, my home, my health, my writing and creative pursuits, and let the rest go, trusting that God will guide me when the time is right. That feeling hits now—and it feels really good.
“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” – Proverbs 16:3
I will faithfully tend what is mine to do — and trust God with what I cannot control. Tending is biblical. Care precedes abundance. Choosing TEND is choosing trust over urgency.
This year isn’t about proving anything. It’s about faithful care + deep trust.
I’m tending the life I’m becoming.
