Thoughts for Thursday: My Prayer for this Year

Hey friends!!!
Happy Thursday!!!

How has your week been so far??
I know I can't be the only one that is doing a little happy dance that it's Friday Eve?!?

Today I wanted to share my "Prayer of the Year." 

I have had years where I have had a "word of the year," other years, it's been a "theme of the year." Other years it's been NOTHING...because I just needed to survive life in the season that we were in!

For the past couple of months, God has placed on my heart that 2019 needed to be different for me.
Last year, while it was filled SO many wonderful things, felt very hard for me. For a multitude of reasons....some of which that I still need to share with ya'll (please...could I just have a few more hours in the day?!? HA!) 

I felt like, a lot of the time, I was in a state of TENSION.

LOVING my life and feeling SO grateful to be a mom of 5 beautiful, healthy children and at the same time- feeling completely overwhelmed, exhausted and stretched really thin by said beautiful children;) And then feeling horribly guilty for feeling that way.

Feeling SO proud of my husband for all he has accomplished with going back to school and having such a GREAT job and at the same time- feeling frustrated that he is at work more than he is home. And then feeling horribly guilty for feeling that way.

Feeling incredible FORTUNATE that I have such a good job that allows me to work a flexible schedule while helping precious little kiddos and at the same time- feeling not fulfilled by my career and wanting to do SO many other things. And then feeling horribly guilty for feeling that way.

You see what I mean?!? It was a roller coaster of a year. HA!

And so I have been praying and thinking and praying some more and initially I thought I was going to have "words" for this year- and they were going to be SERVANT and ENOUGH.

Servant...while I take care of my family (pretty well in my humble opinion), I have not had a servant's heart about it this past year. While cleaning up a spill, I would grudgingly think frustrated thoughts. I would throw mini tantrums (mostly to my husband) about how I JUST CAN'T GET ANYTHING DONE. I would outwardly show my exasperation with my kids when they needed help with "just one more thing." So while I was totally taking care of them- I wasn't truly serving them.

And Enough. I constantly felt like I wasn't enough last year. Like I wasn't a good enough wife. A good enough mom. A good enough daughter. You get the point. 
I knew I was doing okay...but I knew I could be doing better...and that's when I felt like I wasn't enough.

Are you still with me?? HA!
These are pretty deep thoughts for a random Thursday! HA!

And then I came across this prayer last week and I was like, "Ok, Holy Spirit- I GET IT. I HEAR you!"

"Lord, help my heart to be where you have placed my feet."

*HUGE shoutout to my blogging bestie Johannah for creating this beautiful graphic for me. Love you Johannah!*

WOW.
Talk about getting hit with such clarity!!
This prayer has rocked my world and it is absolutely my anthem for the next year (and hopefully for the rest of my life!)

I HAVE to let go of the tension I feel of wanting something different than what is my reality RIGHT NOW.

I have big dreams. I have SO many personal interests and goals. I want to do SO much with my husband. I want to be EVERYTHING for my kids. I want to give more time to others who need me. 

But for now- my feet have been placed at home (while also working a wonderful part-time job) with 5 young children, who each have VERY different personalities and NEED me to be there for them. I have a husband who works himself into the ground...all for his family and he NEEDS me. And I have myself to take care of...because if I don't- I can't take care my people. 

Right now- my feet have been placed right where God wants them and I need to embrace, with open arms, the season of life that I am in.
And I think by embracing right where my feet have been placed, that tension I have been feeling will dissipate and becoming a better servant will happen naturally and I will trust in knowing that by following God's plan for my life that I.AM.ENOUGH.
So that is my "prayer of the year"-

LORD, 
HELP MY HEART TO BE WHERE YOU HAVE PLACED MY FEET.

Here's to living out that prayer and knowing that God has me right where he wants me. 
And I am SO grateful for that truth. 

I'd love to know...do you have a word/theme/prayer for this year??? Please share in the comments if you feel comfortable doing so! :)

Hope you have the BEST day!

One more thing- I wanted to share the Etsy store where you can buy a beautiful print of this prayer. The shop is called Fawnly Prints. I came across this prayer on the shop owner's Instagram feed!! You can find the print HERE!

 Linking up with StefanieKeriMauriSarah, and Lindsay (one day late) today!

Comments

  1. WOW! That is so awesome that you shared this post. I often feel the same way that you did last year. I love that prayer and need to remember it daily!

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  2. Thank you friend💗so glad the prayer is one that resonates with you too!💗

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  3. This is everything! I hope you don’t mind if I share that graphic with others? It’s truly resonating with me and I feel certain it will do the same for many.

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    1. Absolutely!!💗so happy it spoke to you!!☺️

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  4. I just love this prayer, and the graphic is beautiful. I think we all have that struggle of feeling like we are enough and fighting discontent and resentment for all the chores/tasks we do. You have such a positive attitude, and I know this prayer will carry you into a joyful 2019. I'm going to share this post tomorrow on my Friday Faves, if that's ok!

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  5. Love this post - thank you for sharing! This reminds me of a quote I've always loved - "Wherever you are, be all there" which is so much easier said than done, especially when you're frustrated or discouraged with the present moment. This prayer will now stick with me, too.

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    1. YES. Love that quote Courtney!! Thank you for sharing. And yes- easier said than done...which is why I feel like this prayer is just what I needed to move forward in having a different attitude/mindset :)

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  6. Oh how I love this! I can relate so much with all of this post. I have been struggling with some mom guilt and work guilt too. I can relate to this so much Justine. What a wonderful prayer. I love that Johannah made that graphic, she is amazing!

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  7. Love this so much! Thank you for sharing! It spoke so much to how I so often feel, showing outward frustration, feeling like I'm never enough, never reach around, love that you shared. Thank you!

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    1. I am so glad you can relate Katy. I felt pretty vulnerable sharing my feelings...but I just knew I couldn't be the only one with these feelings :)

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  8. Love this!! It would be a great link to my Thinking Out Loud Thursday link up party. If you're interested, please link it to https://pennyspassion.blogspot.com/2019/01/thinking-out-loud-thursday-january-17.html. It's just too beautiful of a post to not share!!

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  9. The words you said are EXACTLY what my rant last night (to my poor husband!) was about. I want to do SO MUCH! but I feel handicapped by the very people/situations I want to serve. I want to be a fantastic mom and wife! but I complain that they take up too much of my time for me to be fantastic. Wait...how backwards is that?? :o) I love the prayer and will write it in my planner to remind me to stay focused. Thank you for sharing. :o) Becky in Oregon (mom of 6, wife of a long-work-hours husband)

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  10. WOW!! Thank you for sharing! This so resonates with me as well. Happy 2019 :)

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  11. Love this post Justine! Honestly I think all moms can relate. In fact, one of the reasons my blog is titled The Queen in Between is because of some of these very struggles. My year in 2018 was Enough and I can't tell you how many times I paused when I was feeling overwhelmed and whispered that to myself. This quote by Brene Brown was my motto "No matter how much I get done or how much is left undone, at the end of the day I am enough." This year my word is celebrate...and somedays I'm sure I will be celebrating that I am enough! Found your blog through Tanya and I know I'll be back!

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  12. Dropping by from Erin's blog and so, so glad I did. Love, love this post and I can only imagine how busy, busy your life is with 5 children and a husband. Sounds as though you have got it figured out and I love your prayer for the year and it should be all of our prayers for sure. My word for 2019 is "trust." Sometimes it's just so difficult for me to place my trust in HIM who has been my Lord and Savior for 60 years. Have yourself a great weekend!

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  13. This is so sweet!! I love your vision for your year and your heart behind it. I'm definitely guilty of taking care of my family, but not always having a happy heat about it. I'd love to be better about serving vs just crossing something off my to do list. Excited to follow along with you and cheer you on this year!!

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  14. Well, if this isn't exactly what I needed to read. Your outlook for the upcoming year is so very inspiring.

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