The Word For 2026 Is… Hello weekend readers. As we dive into 2026, Jeannie—a writer friend of mine, sent me an email asking “what word should I use for the year 2026?” I wasn’t surprised because she does things like this often, but it got me musing on a word that could be helpful in 2026. So I called her and we went back and forth on all kinds of words but for me, one stood out and I told her I like the word ‘restore’–it would be just the right word in these trying times. She laughed out loud saying “last night I decided on the same word, but let me tell you why.”  I was curious because her usual happy-self didn’t seem so happy. Then, she told me her story and my heart melted along with my tears. With her permission, here is the story…

“We recently lost our home and all our belongings in a Colorado wildfire. The emotional and physical process of recovery has been daunting. I spent hours creating a detailed inventory for our insurance company of all our belongings–right down to the number of spatulas in my kitchen to the cars in our garage—Cyndy, you know me! Most items are replaceable, but some were not: photos of our kids and family and our wedding album–all in a pile of ashes. Tears flowed as I mourned this and the loss of other precious items. And, the tedious process of listing all we had lost left me despondent and I am still trying to get out of my hole. My cries to God were constant as were my tears and, as you know, my anxiety. 

But then a few days later my sister-in-law knocked on the door at the apartment we were living in. She held a silver-framed photo album with our wedding pictures! Turns out my other sister-in-law, Kathie, who had died a few years earlier, had taken pictures of every page of our wedding album! She also took photos at every family gathering. I never even knew what she did with them—until that day. And that is why the word ‘restore’ came to my mind.”

I wish I could have hugged her through the phone! As hard as the loss was, she had decided to keep on living, to keep on finding the good instead of the bad. She told me that those pictures were such a joy-filled surprise that she could finally recover from the hard process and get back to writing again. And her first writing after one year was this story!

‘Restore’ –what a word indeed! In Psalm 51:12, King David was miserable and that is why the heading of this Psalm says: “A Prayer for Restoration; A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.” Using The Passion Translation, you can feel his misery and the deep hurt he had done–especially hurting the heart of God.

“Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say.”

The Oxford Dictionary for ‘Restore’ [Verb] is: bring back a previous right, practice, custom, or situation, to reinstate, and to repair. Think about this for a minute and think about the times where you needed “a repair, or a full restoration.”

We’ve all encountered losses in our lives. Some can be devastating like what happened to Jeannie. My parents’ home went up in flames on Thanksgiving Eve. Complete destruction, but I learned from my parents that “it’s just a house and we are all OK.” Their faith was strong, they were not tied to worldly things, and it wasn’t long that they were back on their feet and yes, friends and family dug out their pictures and gave them to my folks, how precious!

So, let’s embrace the word ‘Restore’ because not only can Jesus unexpectedly restore lost things, he can also restore our JOY! With Jesus we can keep our eyes open for joyful surprises even in the midst of loss. AMEN.