As an individual we all have an abundant amount of things that we value in life. Along with all the things we value we also have our core values that we act out of and make decisions out of every single day. As I have been taking the time to discover who I am and who the Lord says I am, I’ve realized that I have a lot of values such as: family, connection, strength, security, faith, and so on, but I only have about 5 core values.
My Five Core Values:
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Growth
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Patience
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Justice
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Strength
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Hope
Growth (n.) The process of developing or maturing physically, mentally, or spiritually.
As I have been on the race I have realized that my number one value that I keep turning back to is growth. I am strongly rooted in the growth because I believe that as people we never actually stop growing in who we are and we never stop growing in our relationship with Christ. Every single day I find things I do and evaluate how I actually could have done them better and the same applies to my faith. There are days I fall short and I know that this actually isn’t a failure but is instead an opportunity for growth. I get to become a better person every day by working on loving and growing in patience.
Patience (n.) the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
Since I love growing, I also really value patience. I value patience so much because it has actually always been one of my shortcomings. I have noticed more than a few times that I actually react out of a place of impatience and don’t actually sit and think through what I am annoyed or hurt about. Instead of acting out of a place of impatience or reaction, I want to be a woman who sits with the Lord and ask for a constant state of observation and patience. I know I am a woman who has a very large capacity to be patient, so each day of the race I work on being patient with either my team, the kids here, and even myself. I wanna overfill the capacity of being patient.
Justice (n.) fair behavior and treatment; the quality of being fair and reasonable.
Another one of my favorites, justice. Nothing drives me crazier when I look around and see people acting out of injustice. I have always been that friend who will stand up to others and call them out when they are speaking death about other people or just not respecting the people they are surrounded by. Although this value can sometimes come off as really strong, I’ve actually grown to really love it. I think the reason I love justice so much is that I really hope that since I stand up for others that others would also stand up for me and the others they love as well. I really think the world would be such a beautiful place if everyone respected one another and stood out as a place of justice. I never want to be a woman who sits idly by while others are suffering from injustice. I want to be a woman who sees that something is wrong and acts immediately. I want to stand up for what is right and for what Jesus would want.
Strength (n.) the quality or state of being physically strong; the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great pressure.
One of my favorite names that God is called in the Holy Bible is Jehovah Uzzi which literally means the Lord is my strength. I value strength because I think it is one of the best gifts that Jesus gave to us. How amazing is it that no matter the circumstance I can always rely on the Lord to give me strength in any situation. Since joining the race I have relied heavily on the Lord’s strength to keep me going on days when I wish I could be home. Off of the race, I rely even more on the Lord’s strength by realizing that no matter the situation I am in, I have peace knowing that God is already there and is fighting my battles for me. His strength runs through me and its something I want to live out of every single day.
Hope (n.) a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. A feeling of trust.
Hope in the Lord. One of my biggest faults in life was thinking I could always control every single little thing, I have quickly come to realize that this is not even close to being true and that I actually have to rely on the Lord in everything. Hope keeps me going because it allows me to hope in the Lord that He will deliver all of His promises He has made to me. With hope in the Lord also comes trusting in the Lord.
So yes! Here is a little look into how I operate daily!! I encourage you to sit down and think about all the things you value and then circle the 5 you act out of every day. Cling to these values and let the Lord teach you through each value!!
