Each year since 2019 I have selected a word of the Year! This challenge started through a blogging group I was a part of back in 2019 and I’ve continued using it as a reflection tool even after the blogging group dissolved! I use the word selected to reflect on throughout the course of the year and it helps me ground the experiences I have in the year! Below are the words I’ve selected since 2019:
2019 – Moments (Here is the link to the Blog Post for this Word)
2020 – Heart (Here is the link to the Blog Post for this Word)
2021- Rise (Here is the link to the Blog Post for this Word)
2022- Patience
2023- Obedience
2024 – Hope (Here is the link to the Blog Post for this Word)
2025 – Time (Here is the link to the Blog Post for this Word)
Unlike previous years where I had stumbled upon my word of the year, this year’s word Champion has been on my mind since August. As I thought about the word Champion, it was not as a noun, but as a verb. It was a call to action for me as I entered a second half of a transformative decade in my life!
What will I Champion in the year 2026?
This was the question I sought to answer for myself as I reflected on this coming year! Below are the five areas of my life I plan to Champion this year:
1) Champion Christ: Our relationship with Christ is never finished, there are always more ways we can deepen our communion with the Lord. My prayer for 2026 is continuing that journey of richness by finding ways to keep Him evermore present in my daily decisions, choices, attitudes, and interactions. One of the greatest blessings of being in Topeka is the opportunity I have to attend Daily Mass at Assumption.
This treasured time has transformed my day where it comes halfway through the work I do and allows me to offer up all my current projects and efforts to the Lord. It would be easy to say I’ve got too much going on or its too cold outside for the quick walk across the Capitol, yet the peace that surpasses understanding when I partake of the Eucharist and spending time with our Lord is indescribable.
2) Champion Courtship: As Gabs and I look expectantly towards the next season of life together, we are entering a critical phase of our relationship in marriage preparation. As in our relationship with Christ, Championing a relationship calls us towards action, in the case of our marriage, it is the never-ending process of supporting and serving one another.
It means we are taking a genuine interest in each other’s passions and interests — as an example, I am a novice historian and enjoy spending time researching various historical topics. Gabs not only supports my interests by asking about it, but also seeks to help and join along. This allows us to share life together through this little hobby. Then, for myself I would not have considered myself much of an artisan, but I’ve been helping Gabs with all the financial aspects of her business model and it allows me to share the value and interest I have in her own business aspirations. Championing our courtship through the sharing of our gifts with and for each other allows us to grow our ever-strengthening friendship and future marriage.
3) Champion Community: Community is more than just a physical definition, it is a relationally defined term. I am a part of many communities that share in a significant part of my life and growth. Several that immediately come to mind is our family community who we share daily life with, our Young Adult Catholic Community here in Manhattan, my work community at both Kansas FFA and the KSDE CTE Team, the community of Agricultural educators I serve and lead, and our community of patrons for Mustard Seed Dairy and Creamery.
Each of these communities provide a unique way by which I can learn from others and continue my journey of growth. As I think about 2026, Championing Community will look like investing time in deepening relationships and being intentional in how Gabs and I can support the efforts and mission of each community we share life in. This could be being more involved in the leadership and planning of Young Adult events and experiences or finding ways to engage with our Mustard Seed patrons in new ways with our business!
4) Champion Crafting: My thoughts related to ‘crafting’ has shifted over the last few years and I’ve come to embrace a more sweeping understanding and application of that term. Even though I may not consider myself an artisan like Gabs, I am engaged deeply in many ‘crafts’. The craft of writing, the craft of historical research, the craft of mathematics, the craft of entrepreneurship, the craft of communication, the craft of podcasting, and my list could keep going on!
Each of these crafts draw something in me and each of them support one another in ways that I am still learning as I grow in my knowledge of each craft. In Championing Crafting for 2026 it is my hope to stretch further in each craft than I have ever before! Several goals are already starting to bear fruit including in taking a Pre-Calculus course this semester through Fort Hays State or being approved for publication in a national educational journal; the only way I can sharpen my craft is to use them in ways I’ve either been afraid to or not made a priority in the past!
5) Champion Cultivation: The act of cultivation is focused on preparation and nurturing. As I think about what is worthy of Championing in 2026, I am immediately drawn towards this sense that the season I have entered is one of preparation — one where cultivating will be a critical mindset. 2026 is as much about the present preparation as it is about what is to come for 2027. The year 2027 is shaping up to be a HUGE year; not that the moments of 2026 are any less important, actually they will be vital for what lays ahead and will need my utmost presence and attention.
In 2027, Gabs and I will be getting married; in 2027, I will be starting a graduate certificate in Applied Economics; in 2027, I will be overseeing a major revision of Agricultural Education state standards. Those are HUGE events — yet for each one I can begin Championing Cultivation to prepare for them. That could be attending Marriage Preparation Retreats with Gabs in 2026, that looks like completing my College Calculus class this coming fall semester for admittance into the graduate program, or compiling all our current state standards and cross-walking them to our new national standards. By Championing each of those small steps here in 2026 will pay off enormously, not just in 2027, but for many years to come.
So far 2026 has flown by this first month, but it has already presented numerous opportunities for me in Championing the areas I’ve identified above! Thank you for taking the time to read and share!
Have a blessed start to the week and excited for what lies ahead for us all in 2026! -Take care, Anthony
Perennial Educator 