My Belated Mission Statement for 2016

| |

It’s hard to believe January is winding down already! I’ve always enjoyed Januarys in Minnesota – cold, crisp air (“crisp” is an understatement) paired with glitteringly brilliant sunny skies. But this month has just plain felt COLD. And a bit gray. That kind of cold has driven us indoors, where you can find me wrapped in a blanket, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt and slippers, and drinking hot apple cider simultaneously! 🙂

Perhaps it’s been the cold, along with stresses at work and a focus on other things (like a super fun, secret blog project!) that have caused me to slow down in my approach to 2016. Luckily, this New Year’s Goals Worksheet that really got me thinking in December…but I really did want to craft a one-sentence type of approach to this new year.

My Belated Mission Statement for 2016 - Here's the one sentence motto I want to focus on. Just Bee Blog

I finally settled on it! Not that having just one sentence makes it any easier, but I love having a little motto of sorts that I can continually remind myself of as 2016 goes on. Here’s what I decided:

This year, I will work to have a healthy, strong heart.

Truthfully, I did come up with this motto while at the fitness center, running with my husband. 🙂 I’ve never been a big exerciser, but recently both Bjorn and my conscience have been reminding me that I do need to take my health more seriously! Although I’m not striving to lose weight, I especially want to focus on cardio this year, strengthening my heart muscle!

That’s the literal side of things.

The other side is this: I want to intentionally strengthen my heart emotionally.

I want to develop a resiliency for difficult, exhausting, or otherwise taxing situations.

I want my heart to break for those who are hurting. I never want my empathy-meter to go away.

I want to let my heart for God’s people guide me in situations to act with His love where I’m tempted to act otherwise.

I want to grow in a heart-attitude of equal boldness and compassion.

I want my heart to hold more gentle, mature courage by the end of 2016 that I currently think it could.

A lot of these things require patience, endurance, and intentional practice. That’ll be the difficult part. But I’m stepping forward in trust!

I don’t know what all lies ahead of us in 2016. We definitely have many plans, but my prayer is that the Lord’s plans succeed, and that my heart is strengthened in many ways this year as I follow my Shepherd! (I talked more specifically about the heart-things I wanted to learn in this season here.)

How are you praying your heart will grow this year?

signature

PS – if you’re wondering about that secret blog project I’ve been working on, subscribe here to be the first to know about it!!

6 Comments

    1. I love your “press forward” mentality, Autumn! I hope you have a wonderful year focusing on blessings all around you! 🙂 Thanks for reading along!

    1. Thank you, Crystal! I thought of it as I was pondering a difficult work day…while I was on the treadmill! Gotta keep that heart strong in all aspects! 🙂

  3. I love that line about wanting your heart to hold more gentle, mature courage by the end of this year. That’s a dream of mine too as I become a mom. I’m excited to see how God will break me, challenge me, and show me how brave and resilient I can be in the midst of challenges and trying things. This is beautiful!

    1. Thank you, Lauren! Yes! God will mold you and use you so beautifully as a new mom! It’s good to hear of someone else striving to stay courageous! I’m glad we will be able to encourage each other in that this year! 🙂

Comments are closed.