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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

You're Not Expected To.



You're Not Expected To.

This morning as I was driving, I began to get down on myself. You know like we humans often do. Going down a mental checklist of things I needed to do and things I have already done. It seemed as though the things I didn't cross off yet, were outweighing all the things I had accomplished. When I think about it, I often find myself in that place. Continuing to compare myself to unrealistic and non-existent expectations of what I should be accomplishing, that I put there. In the middle of me beating myself up, I said "I'm sorry, I can't be perfect all the time. I can't live up to everything every second of every day."

At that moment, I felt in my heart, 
“You’re not expected to.”

Those words were all I needed to hear to reel my mind back into a place of peace.
You’re right God, I’m not expected to be all of this or all of that.
Or to handle everything with no sweat.
I’m not expected to even deal with any of this.
I am not expected to be strong every day.
I am not expected to know the right thing to say in every situation.

I am not expected to be without blemish or spot.
I am not expected to be the source of my own joy.
 I am not expected to hold the weight of the world (my own little world) on my shoulders.
 I am not expected to do any of these things by myself.
 And some things I am not expected to do them at all.

 I am only expected to lay my cares and thoughts on you, Lord.
 I am only expected to ask you to strengthen me when I am weak.
 I am only expected to look to you for all of my answers.
 I am only expected to cast my cares far away and lean on you.
 I am only expected to handle what a full-time working mom can handle,
 and everything else I give it to you.

We’re not expected to be superhuman.
 We are expected to call on the superhuman.
So today, Lord, I call on you.
 I throw all expectations of myself out the window.
I take my worries, my to-do lists and my beluga whale expectations that I could never live up to by myself, sigh, and I give them to you.
 I ask for peace and humility in return.

Sometimes Jesus just has me write it all out. 
Write all my thoughts out to Him and through my writing I am freed from myself.
How amazing! :)

Have you ever done this to yourself?
Put a laundry list of expectations on your shoulders and tried to carry them?
What tips/tricks have helped you?


Have a beautiful day!

-J
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15 comments:

  1. Every single day! I expect myself to be a super mom & wife - totally not happening!

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  2. I love this! And it is SO true. We are only expected to love, to believe and to KNOW that Jesus has it all under control. EVERY aspect of our lives. He's good like that, you know. :)

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  3. Love this, every word is true! :)

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  4. love this! I also expect a lot from myself and get down when things dont go how I expect them too.


    Sophie
    xx
    www.pocockins.co.uk

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  5. Great post! I think everybody does it to themselves sometimes...

    Laura

    Pink Frenzy

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  6. This is so very true, I am sure we have all done this at some time or other x

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  7. We're always most hard on our own selves! It's important to remember that it's ok to not be perfect, great reminder!

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  8. I do this ALL the time. All too often girl. But we definitely have to remain focused so those kind of thoughts don't have room to creep in! -Fal

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  9. First. I love your drawings. Love!! Second. I think everyone has done this. If they haven't, they are lying. My tip for getting away from it is to just look in the mirror and remind myself of all I have accomplished, it helps bring my expectations down. Also a reminder that no one else has that high of expectations for you so you are just doing it to yourself!

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  10. Great post, Jena! I do this often so I know exactly what you mean!

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  11. Oh I do this all the time, I think everyone does actually, It can be hard to keep focused sometimes though and I tend to be really hard on myself when I don't get everything done x

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  12. LOVE this post. I struggle with this a lot, but my biggest struggle honestly is realizing that they're unrealistic. I'm a goal-driven dream chaser so I feel like my hopes are always high. But it's realizing that they are too high that I have a problem with. I always feel like I need to go faster, do better, be stronger and sometimes, it gets really hard to keep up with that mentality.

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  13. so true! i always set high expectations but then fail. need to learn to make sure it is more doable next time

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  14. That is such a cute drawing! I find myself mentally doing the checklist all the time lol especially in the shower, it's like my thinking time haha

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