Happy New Year

Unveiling Our Word Of the Year

A New Year Reflection

Happy New Year, everyone. We hope you found some joy and rest as you welcomed 2026.

As a new year begins, there’s often a natural pause—a moment to look back on where we’ve been and gently consider what lies ahead. One practice we’ve found especially meaningful over the years is choosing a word of the year. Not a resolution or a goal, but a guiding vision—a word that can serve as a quiet companion through the months ahead.

So we’ll ask you the same question we’re asking ourselves:

What do you need in 2026?

Taking an Honest Look Within

As the calendar turns, it can be helpful to take stock of where you are right now.

What changes are you in the middle of?
What have you begun but not yet finished?
What feels unfinished, unresolved, or quietly asking for your attention?
And maybe most importantly—what are the everyday responsibilities you’re tending to, the ordinary work of care and faithfulness that fills your days?

These questions invite honest reflection. Not judgment—just awareness. A gentle examination of the heart that asks, Where am I right now? And from there, What do I need in the year ahead?

A Year of Change

For our family, 2025 was a year of significant transition. We moved from Colorado to Wisconsin. We started new jobs, a new school, and learned what it really means to own proper winter clothing.

Now, as we’ve settled in, it feels like something steady is beginning to take root.

2025 was also the year we started The Twig. What began as a small dream slowly became real—one step at a time, shaped by community, generosity, and trust. It has felt a bit like buying a bus, opening the doors, and seeing who hops on. Then, together, deciding where we’re headed.

We’re deeply grateful to each of you who have climbed aboard. This journey has been a joy.

Our Word for 2026: Till

As we looked ahead to the coming year, one word rose to the surface for us.

Till.

To till the soil—both literally in the garden and spiritually in our hearts.

Tilling is the process of breaking up hardened ground. It creates space where the earth has grown compacted. It allows air to move again. It lets water soak deeper, reaching the roots.

When soil is tilled, it becomes receptive. Open. Ready.

Tilling the Heart

Spiritually speaking, tilling invites us to notice where our hearts may have grown hard.

Perhaps there’s a place where growth has stalled.
A habit that’s taken hold.
A protective wall that once served a purpose but now limits love.

To till the soul requires reflection—and often the help of trusted people who can gently mirror back what they see in us.

For one of us, that hard soil shows up as withdrawal during moments of anxiety. Pulling back. Creating distance. Defending it as necessary or even wise. But in this season, that place of hardness is ready to be broken open.

To till is to create space—
space for air,
space for love,
space for God to work deeply.

It’s an invitation to let the ground soften. To allow connection where separation once lived. To trust that what grows next will be life-giving.

An Invitation for You

So our word for 2026 is Till.

We wonder—what might your word be?

We invite you to spend some time in prayer. Look back over 2025. Gently consider the year ahead. Ask God if there’s a guiding theme—a kind of North Star—that the Spirit wants to place in your hands for this season.

And if you’d like, you’re welcome to join us in this word.

Happy New Year.

We’re grateful to be walking this road together, and we look forward to all that God is preparing in the year ahead.