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I Am Enough

6/2/2019

10 Comments

 
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Each year, as the New Year approaches, instead of a list of resolutions, I seek and find a Word for the New Year. This has been a wonderfully freeing experience. 

Gone is the list of resolutions that are broken by mid-February if not sooner - lose weight, exercise every day, get out of bed at 5 am, spend two hours a day with God. (Did you know that only 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions keep them?) Instead of bound-to-fail resolutions, I’ve chosen One Word for the New Year since 2012 when I first heard about this concept, and I’ve loved it!

The process of choosing one word is fairly simple. Basically it involves reflecting on the past year, praying, and thinking about the year ahead. I’ve included the questions  that help me reach this new word. So, if you haven’t chosen a word and it sounds intriguing, you can do this for yourself anytime.

I seek my word prayerfully, asking God to guide me to my word, to please make it obvious to me. And I find He usually does through songs, scriptures, truths, themes that keep popping up. 

As I reflect and mull over questions in my mind like those below, I usually come up with a word…In fact, it really seems the word finds me. It just becomes very obvious. 

This year, my word is Enough. I wanted a scripture to go with this. 

You have circled this mountain long enough: Now turn north. 
Deuteronomy 2:3

One of the things I learned over the past year is that I have a root belief that I Am Not Enough. How does this translate?
I wrongly believe:
  1. It is not enough to be, my worth lies in what I do. The fact that I exist, that God says I am fearfully and wonderfully made, is not enough. What I do, what I offer, the way I serve and show up and help out is where my true worth lies.
  2. I am not good enough to be loved…I have to earn love. I have to perform. For example, I have to bring value to a friendship. It’s not enough for me to just show up as me. I have to always bring something to the friendship table…or risk losing the friendship.
  3. I am not a good enough mother. The decisions I’ve made in the past, the way I’ve raised my kids was so flawed, because I am so flawed. I have disappointed them and even hurt my kids through my brokenness.
  4. She is enough, and I am not. When I hear of someone publishing that book, running a successful organization or practice, getting their masters, facilitating a life-changing retreat, I hold myself up to this standard, and inevitably fall short. (Comparison is a thief…but that’s another blog post!)
  5. Since my value comes from doing and not being, I can never serve enough. I have to say yes, or risk being left out. Feeling not enough is fertile ground for major FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), being way overcommitted, and being unable to say no.

As you can see, this belief that I Am Not Enough has wreaked havoc in my life. And trust me 
when I tell you, the list above is just the tip of the iceberg. As I looked back over 2018, I could see more clearly than ever that this belief is a big lie. And since God is a God of Truth, I know He wants to rid me of this belief. God desires us to be free – It is for freedom that we have been set free!

Even before I had determined that my word was Enough, I had been talking about this root belief with a friend who challenged me to write “I Am Enough” on my bathroom mirror. Honestly, it took me about a month before I took the challenge and boldly wrote out this proclamation. I finally wrote it, as you can see from the pic. I gotta tell you…this has been a daily powerful reminder. It’s one of the first messages that greets me every day. 

So, my One Word for the New Year is Enough. Because I Am Enough just as I am. Right here. Right now. And where I am lacking, there is a God who says He is My Sufficiency. A God who says He is my Helper. A God who says He Provides. 

I Am Enough! How about you?


Questions to Ask to Seek and Find Your One Word
1. Think about this past year. What is the One Word  that might fit or define this past year? Or if you did One Word for the New Year in 2018, what was it and how did it play out in a sentence or two? 

2. Now think about this next year. What do you need to help you be your best? What do you want to be better at? What would you like more of? In what areas do you desire to grow, change, develop? What do you need or desire? What is in the way? What do you need to focus on? 

3. Has God been speaking to you about anything…sometimes He sends us a neon sign and you just get a message everywhere you go – in music, in the Word, in a study, in a conversation. Sometimes He whispers. Do you sense God saying anything to you? 

4. What’s your word? And if you haven’t come to one…any possibilities? If not, it will come! Just continue to keep your eyes, heart, and mind open.

5. How about a scripture? Do any come to mind? You could search your word. Where does it show up in scripture? 

How do you mark the New Year? Do you make resolutions? Choose a word? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 

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10 Comments
Mary link
6/2/2019 08:04:53 pm

So glad I decided to read the HLS Blogs tonight! I loved the workshop I attended that you facilitated on choosing my word for the year. I sat there thinking I have had the same word for the past few years. It was Forgiveness. Year after year I chose the word and I thought and prayed about it. Read scriptures and books about it. And discussed all about how and why to forgive. Bottom line nothing has come of my efforts to forgive. First I felt like a miserable failure, a sinner that just can’t forgive. And thought about what would happen when God judged me at the end of my like. I felt defeated and trapped by my hurt, pain and suffering. As I receded deeply into my mind and stared into the ceiling above everyone working feverishly on their words. I heard someone say, How can you forgive if you still haven’t healed from a life time of anxiety and suffering as th result of trying to survive in a disfunctional Family, my family. It was such an Ah Ha moment for me. I knew the voice was God’s! He answered my prayers that afternoon when I begged him to help me see what was holding me back. That moment gave me such clarity and motivation to begin the journey back to finding myself. The self ! My childhood I lost when I was parentified at a very young age of ten. My mother had just given birth to my youngest sister born premature. It left my mother broken and in terrible mental and physical condition. My dad was bipolar and my mother didn’t have the strength at that time to confront his anger. So I stepped up and became my family’s protector. The cost was great and it left me anxious and broken into my adolescence , 20’s my married years, child bearing years, middle age right into my 60’s. It was then that I found Jesus again and I am now on my way to healing and hopefully forgiving. Thank you for being a part of my journey, Elyse and HLS Women’s ministry.

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Elise link
6/3/2019 04:38:51 pm

Oh dear friend! What a powerful story of healing. It’s as though the lord just reached down from heaven as you were looking up to say I love you, I care for you, I know what you’ve been through, and I can help you. Amazing! Thank you for sharing your heart. God loves you...he is not judging you for the pain you have suffered. He just wants to heal you. He knows you’re willing to forgive and he will make a way. Because when we forgive we are free from the captivity of unforgiveness. Just keep your heart open and the lord will continue to make a way for you. You will find the weight of unforgiveness lift soon. Praying for you in Jesus name amen!!

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April
6/8/2019 07:34:05 am

Beloved, Mary, What a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing it. I'm thankful for seeing how God is pursuing you at this stage of your life. He is so faithful and full of love and grace. He will honor your desire for wellness and healing. That's what he does! Praise God. You are my Titus Woman (Titus 2), Mary. I'm thankful for you in my life! xx

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Mike G
6/3/2019 10:56:05 pm

Beautiful blog post Elise! Such inspiring word. My word of the year is Empathetic. Maybe I have to focus on my empathic expression so that certain people realize it. I Am Enough

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Elise link
6/4/2019 08:04:17 am

Thanks Mike! As you know those words on that mirror were a proclamation that wasn’t easy for me. But I did it because someone challenged me. And it remains there because I still need the reminder. Empathy is tricky. I’m still not sure how we get in a true empathy place. Hearing beyond listening maybe? Really sitting with someone else’s feelings and trying to feel them? I’m thinking about a recent time when I felt judgy toward someone. When I realized what I had done I think I felt some of the pain I may have caused...if that makes any sense?

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April
6/8/2019 07:39:26 am

Through my own brokenness, God... not me, changed my heart from judgement to love to empathy. Most recently he did this again with a friend when I realized I'm nothing without him and can take nothing with me. I felt honored that God put me in a position to love on someone he put in my path.

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April
6/8/2019 07:45:02 am

Thank you dear Elise for sharing your heart. I am a witness to how God has changed you and continues to move you forward. You are an inspiration to how the willing and open heart can change our thought process and lies to release the chains of bondage.
*
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Thankful for the FREEDOM Jesus offers us!

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Elise link
6/12/2019 01:19:35 pm

Amen to that friend and sister!!

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Dee
6/14/2019 10:23:55 pm

Dearest Elise, I have to confess I read your blog when it first was posted, but wanted to wait on the Lord before I replied on the word that keeps coming up for me. Actually 2 words--contentment and self-care.

Contentment in the season the Lord has me; it's been a season of healing, praise, in awe of our Lord, but also a season of financial anxiety and insecurity as Chris' treatments of 9 years continue to deplete. The Lord gave me the word contentment, and I''m reminded what Paul said, how he learned to be content in plenty and in want. I desire that contentment!!!

The second word, self-care ......something I rarely do for myself. Today I actually sat on our patio and just looked up as the trees were swaying in the cool breeze. I Emptied my mind and focused on the cool breeze and the clear sky; I was surrounded by God's masterpiece. Need more of these moments!

Lastly, thank you for being so real and candid. Yes, indeed, you are enough. If you're enough for the Lord who designed you, you bet you're His masterpiece, His heir!! So blessed to have known you. Love you, Dee xoxo

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Elise link
6/15/2019 09:50:07 am

Dear Dee,
It sounds like you're a bit weary. And understandably so. It is hard to persevere day after day. And I know you work very hard both professionally and personally. I pray that as you continue to rest in the Lord, you would find deep rest for your soul that only God can give.
I love that scripture Philippians 4:11-13. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

I believe all of us desire this level of contentment. Some of my struggles have helped me learn to dwell in contentment no matter what. But sometimes I'm not content because I feel so empty.

We can't pour anything out of an empty cup. I think the way you sat and just enjoyed the beauty of nature, God's creation, is a good way to fill your cup. As you take just a few moments each day to dwell in God's presence in quiet, that will really help replenish you. Praying that is so.
Love you dear friend and so happy I have gotten to know you!! Elise

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