Live With Eternal Perspective Podcast Episode 040 Personal Mission

Welcome to the Terri Hitt – Live With Eternal Perspective Podcast
Episode #040 – Personal Mission

Thank you for entrusting and investing your precious time with me to grow in Jesus together. I am blessed to be back with you today to discuss more ways to live with eternal perspective.

This morning Brooklyn, my youngest, and I were working together in the kitchen. As I diced vegetables, we discussed the pattern inside the cut head of cauliflower. Have you ever scraped off the top layer and viewed the detailed pattern underneath? It reminded us of a snowflake, which led us into a discussion of how intricately God formed all things and how much intelligent thought and purpose is witnessed in all of creation.

Beauty in cauliflower? Yes, the curiously-shaped vegetable!

God is the expert in originality. I am awed by such unique and original creations of God. We see Him through all of nature, in animals, in humans. Throughout science and math, in His plan for humanity, His sovereignty, and in His plan of redemption. Everything holds the thumb print and signature of our glorious God. Even cauliflower.

Do you love those moments where we can find God’s glorious artistry in something so simple? Naturally including God in simple life events is crucial to growing our walk and advancing the journey of our children for Jesus.

Ephesians 1:17 says, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”

God has not only extended us beautiful spiritual riches. Our Heavenly Father also gifted us with the ability to intimately know Him through Jesus. We can seek and reach God through His Son, allowing us access to the intellect, emotions, and will of God.

When we acknowledge and exclaim the beauty in something as simple as a vegetable, we allow ourselves and those around us, in the circle of our influence, to proclaim the majesty of God for themselves and carve a deeper understanding and appreciation for themselves. I believe it causes us to yearn more for our Heavenly Father and His presence in our life, even in the smallest of details. We recognize the abilities and style of God in new and personal ways.

On the podcast last week, we discussed the specifics my family worked together to establish in creating our set of “Hitt Family Principles.” The activity held a very special and eternal significance for each of us. It seemed a small task, but brought us together as we prayerfully considered and verbalized what we wanted to use as a template to move our family forward on a united path to God.

Establishing such a set of principles is not necessary for a family to grow together in Christ or to have a strong relationship with God, but it is a very intentional move in ensuring that each of us clearly knows and understands what our family believes and how we desire to accomplish specific Christian growth.

I bring this activity up again this week because I believe it is also a beautiful and significant exercise for each of us to do individually, as well. Yes, it can be argued that the family principles should be personal principles, as well. However, I expect that any of us who spend time working on such a task with our family would also want to elevate and clearly keep personal goals in the forefront of our mind and heart, as well.

Let me pause here and do a recap for those who listened to the podcast last week and give a brief rundown of what we did for anyone who did not listen to last week’s episode.

If you would like to listen to the full podcast where I discuss what we did in full, please refer Episode #039 Family With A Mission.

My family and I brain-stormed together to design a set of what we call the “Hitt Family Principles.” We used a business model to generate the framework we build for spiritual goals in our relationship with Jesus.

We created it to guide and keep us connected with the same purpose in deepening our walk with God and reminding ourselves and others who and what our family stands for as a united group. I will share what we established.

Core Value: We strive to live with eternal perspective through Jesus.

Vision Statement: To love, trust, honor, and obey Jesus and grow in faith through Him.

Mission Statement: Our family strives to honor God, intentionally pursue God, and show love and respect to Him, and others, while remaining obedient to Him.

Key Verse: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5

Again, going from how a business usually works to create how they want their business to grow and exist, our family used the same basic framework to pattern the direction of our principles.

Let’s begin with the vision statement. It describes what the organization will look like in the future.

A mission statement, on the other hand, describes what an organization does, and for whom.

How greatly these tools can be used to guide and grow families together in the same, eternal direction! If the vision statement describes what the family will look like in the future, it offers us an opportunity to establish exactly who and how we want to be for Jesus. It gives us the ability to have a clear vision to move forward, enabling us to advance our walk with purpose.

How often do we set goals, but fall short because we do not set a clear vision for how to get there?

We definitely have a much greater chance of pleasing God with this clear plan in the front of our mind and heart. It serves as a guiding compass straight north to the heart of our Father.

Next, is the mission statement. It is used to establish what the family does and for whom, and we know that there is no greater “whom” than the Great I AM!

Also shaped at the same time were the core values that completed the statements we created. Core values are what support the vision, shape the culture and reflect what our family values.

Our core values also educate others outside our home, those we come into contact with during the course of different days, showing what our family holds dear. The core values also help to clarify the identity of our family, hopefully brightly shining Christ and our desire to be more like Him.

We also chose to add a key verse that we each agree sets the heart and tone for our family, as well as for each of us, as individuals.

Although we have printed out our set of principles, I am looking for a special way to beautifully display them in our home so that the words, like promises to God, are visible and noticeable for each of us daily.

Because constructing the principles together was an enjoyable and blessed activity for each of us, I want to go further in depth with personal principles. Although I have been a Christian for many years, I have never set my heart on a purposed set of standards that I have prayed over and recorded as a guide to deepen my relationship with God.

I know in my heart what to do and purposely work toward that goal with intention, yet I want to experience time alone with God to see what He may reveal to me as what He has individually purposed for me. I desire for my family to do the same. Quiet time with God is never wasted, and I wonder what deeper treasures He may offer us in our walk with Him. How much deeper will we know our Heavenly Father through intentioned pursuit in this special, detailed way?

Just as some people make new year resolutions, our family usually starts the new year with a word for the year. I love how it causes us to focus with determination on experiencing God in new ways through that word.

But now I desire to take that deeper with a set of personal principles. I plan to use the same basic guidelines with finding a private core value, vision, mission, and key verse. How will God work through this? I don’t know yet, but I’m excited and know that I will be blessed to discover what He does. Will He give me words that I will use forever or will He have me change yearly as I continue to progress in my walk with Him?

How about you? Let me know if you have already done this and how you set your standards or constructed your personal principles. I urge you to make time to sit with God and let Him guide you in selecting your own set of family and personal principles.

I suspect that what I think might be the words and verse I choose may be quite different after prayerful consideration. Who knows what God might lead me to. I’m excited to see and growth in spiritual and personal depth with my Heavenly Father.

Luke 2:52 tells us, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Jesus, even as a boy, intentionally increased and strengthened His relationship with God in every area: mental, (with His wisdom), spiritual, (with His favor from God), and social, (as He displayed God in every way). Jesus advanced His walk with God daily and purposefully.

What a perfect role model we have in Jesus. What a gift God gave us through His Son, His Holy word, and our lifeline of prayer.

Developing personal principles seems such a simple action. Jesus always took common and simple aspects of life that should have been obvious to the Jewish people and made short stories, or parables, to teach and reach people as nothing else could. Jesus worked and still works, through divine, but straightforward methods that cause us to pause and ponder, and often be convicted. I pray I am convicted in new ways as I delve into creating this personal set of principles.

He looks for those of us with hearts open to seek Him, who desire to be influenced, and changed by Him. As I pray for His guidance and truths to craft a personal principle framework to specifically guide me in new ways, I believe God will unveil new realizations or perceptions to me in unique means specifically tailored for me and where I am in my journey with Him.

I am ready for more growth. How about you? Would you join me in seeking Him for a set of personal principles that exist to advance your relationship through Jesus? I would be blessed to hear what you allow God to create through you.

Father God, please work through each of us to expose more of what You desire from and through us. Help us to crave you in the way Jesus did. May we allow You to shine in all areas of our life. Please peel away layers of humanity and shine Your holiness through us. Help us to realize daily how far we are from You and may we intentionally advance our dependence on, and wisdom through You. May we honor You with every thought, word, and action and continually find new ways to live with our mind set for eternity with You in ways that are pleasing to You right now. Amen.

Thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoy this podcast, you might like to hear that the terrihitt.com website launches within the next few days! Please visit and subscribe to be a member so that you gain access to all the podcasts housed in one convenient location, as well as receive access to blog posts, and free resources that will be added to weekly.

I deeply desire to allow God to cultivate a strong community of women through the work He has given me. May we all be inspired and equipped to live with an eternal perspective and be influenced to raise children for Jesus, not this momentary world.

Did you enjoy this episode? Would you like others to hear weekly encouragement and learn how to live with more eternal perspective? Can you think of a friend or family member who might enjoy encouragement? If so, please share this podcast with them and take time to leave a quick rating and review wherever you listen to this podcast. Until next week, keep looking Up and finding new ways to Live With Eternal Perspective.