Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose (20 page)

I want to leave you with a prayer
you
can pray as you finish up this book. Feel free to change it up or add to it. Just make sure it comes from your heart!

Lord,

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Thank You for creating me as a unique and special person. It amazes me that there is not another human with the exact same blueprint. You have ordained all the days of my life even before one of them came to be. I surrender wholly to You and ask You to guide me each step of the way.

God, help me zero in on my priorities. Show me what is most important and help me juggle the day-to-day tasks that need to get done. I understand that if I prioritize the macro, managing the micro will be easier and not so overwhelming. I also know that I need not compare myself to others. What will work best for me and my family will look different than what works for others.

Show me how You should come first in my life. Help me put it into practice with prayer, reading my Bible, and befriending like-minded women who will encourage me. Bring those relationships into my life and help me nurture the ones I already have.

Help me to remember that in order to balance my life, there are four areas I need to pay close attention to: my physical health, emotional health, mental health, and spiritual health. I know that my emotional and mental health are closely connected to my spiritual health, so help me not to neglect my relationship with You; for the joy of You, Lord, is my strength.

Remind me to put others’ needs before my own, especially my family. It’s easy to treat the people closest to me the worst because of routine or comfort levels. But reveal them to me in a new light—Your light. Help me see them the way You do. I want to care for the poor and be an example to my children, family, and friends with a heart that overflows with compassion. Bring to my mind creative ways I can be of service to others.

Balancing it all isn’t easy, but I know that I can do all things through Your Son, Jesus Christ, who strengthens me.

Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—help me to think about such things and put them into practice. Help me to remember that when I do this, You—the God of peace—will be with me.

Amen.

Appendix

Recommended Resources

Charities

Skip1.org: www.skip1.org

Compassion International: www.compassion.com/candacecameronbure

National House of Hope: www.nationalhouseofhope.org

Make-A-Wish Foundation: www.wish.org

Starlight Foundation: www.starlight.org

Union Rescue Mission: www.urm.org

Harvest Home: www.theharvesthome.net

Claris Health: www.clarishealth.org

Soldiers’ Angels: www.soldiersangels.org

Operation Christmas Child: www.samaritanspurse.org

Scleroderma Research Foundation: www.srfcure.org

Operation Smile: www.operationsmile.org

Children’s Hunger Fund: www.chfus.org

World Vision: www.worldvision.org

Books

Brokenness
by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Let Prayer Change Your Life
by Becky Tirabassi

Love and Respect
by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

The 5 Love Languages
by Gary Chapman

The Circle Maker
by Mark Batterson

The Excellent Wife
by Martha Peace

The Way of the Master
by Ray Comfort

On Becoming Baby Wise
by Gary Ezzo

Real Marriage
by Mark and Grace Driscoll

Shepherding a Child’s Heart
by Tedd Tripp