34 Why You Need a Mission Statement: Moving from Exhausted to Empowered in Motherhood

Are you constantly overwhelmed by decisions and drowning in the chaos of special needs motherhood? What if one simple tool could help you find clarity and purpose on even your hardest days? Could having a mission statement be the anchor you've been searching for?

In this episode, I'm getting vulnerable about my journey from infertility and miscarriage to discovering my God-given mission as a mom. I share how that moment of surrender in the shower changed everything and how advocating for my son's dismissed difficulties led me to the work I do today. More importantly, I'm walking you through the exact five steps to create YOUR own mission statement—one that will filter your decisions, give you grace on hard days, and help you move from survival mode to purposeful living.

Five Steps to Create Your Mission Statement:

1. Pray and ask God for clarity about what He's calling you to in this season
2. Identify your 3-5 core values as a mom
3. Think about your unique calling and what you're passionate about
4. Consider what your family needs from you right now
5. Write your 1-3 sentence mission statement that's clear, specific, and meaningful

While you're here, please leave a quick rating or review! I pray this episode blesses you! Remember, you don't just have to survive mama- you can thrive!

Connect with the host: Elyse Scheeler

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Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guests and hosts and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Speaking Life Into Motherhood. None of the advice or discussion on the podcast is medical advice. Always consult with your medical provider before using any supplements, essential oils, or therapy methods.

Transcript

Elyse Scheeler (00:00)
When you don't know your mission,

Every decision feels equally important and equally overwhelming. Should you do this therapy or that one? Should you join this group or volunteer for that thing? Should you try this diet change or focus on sleep first? Without a clear mission, it all feels like too much. We end up paralyzed, unable to make any decision. But when you have a clear mission statement, when you know your why, it becomes a filter for every decision you make. Does this align with my mission?

Hey, mama, welcome back to Speaking Life into Motherhood. I am so glad you're here today because we're talking about something that has absolutely transformed the way I approach motherhood, ministry, and honestly, my entire life. We're talking about mission statements. Now I know what you might be thinking. Mission statements, isn't that for business? I'm just trying to survive over here. And I get it, I really do, but stick with me.

because what I'm going to share with you today might be just the clarity that you've been craving. Recently, I was asked to share with my church about my mission, specifically the mission behind this podcast, my work with families, and my business and my private practice. As I was preparing, something hit me. My mission outside of the home is directly connected to my mission within my home. My mission, the thing that God has called me to do,

is to nurture the faith of my husband and my kids, to advocate fiercely for them, and to create the foundations for a physically and mentally healthy family. Everything I do in ministry, everything I share in this podcast, flows from what God has called me to do first in my own home. When I look at the mission of the podcast, which I hope is to empower Christian mothers of children with additional needs by nurturing their faith,

providing the tools they need to advocate for their children and helping them to build healthy foundations for their families through natural and low toxic living and simple systems. It's really just an extension of what I'm doing at home. I'm not being called to do something out there that I'm not already living in here. But we've got to be real. I did not always have this clarity. Getting to this place of knowing my mission

It came through some of the darkest seasons of my life. My husband and I struggled with infertility and miscarriage. And if you've been there, you know the weight of that. The hope that builds and crashes month after month. The questions, the grief, the feeling like your body has betrayed you. I hit rock bottom. I remember that moment so clearly. I was crying in the shower and I literally said out loud,

I can't do this anymore. God, I am handing over the control. Now, let's be clear. Things didn't magically change after this moment. There was no instant healing, no immediate pregnancy,

I truly believe that was the start of my healing. That moment of surrender opened the door for God to begin working in me in ways I could never have imagined. I was able to heal my body. I grew in my marriage. My faith deepened in ways I had never imagined. And slowly, God brought me to this place, to motherhood. Yes, but also to this mission.

Then, once I had my son, another layer was added. When his difficulties were dismissed by providers,

When I knew something was not quite right, but kept being told to wait and see, when I felt like I was screaming into the void, trying to get someone to listen to me, that's when I started taking the deep dive into holistic approaches, natural alternatives things like myofunctional therapy, tongue ties, trying to understand all of it I became my son's fiercest advocate because I had to. And in doing that, I realized

This is what I meant to do. Not just for my son, but for other moms who are in that same place. Moms who know their child needs support, but don't know where to turn. Moms who are exhausted from fighting to be heard. Moms who want natural alternatives or just something different than what they're being told at the doctor's office, but feel overwhelmed by all of the information out there. All of those hard things.

the infertility, the miscarriage, the struggle to get help for my son. I realize now they weren't wasted. God was shaping my mission through every single one of those things. He was preparing me for what he was calling me to do. So why does having a mission statement even matter? Especially for us exhausted moms who are just trying to make it through the day. Here's the thing. When you don't know your mission,

Every decision feels equally important and equally overwhelming. Should you do this therapy or that one? Should you join this group or volunteer for that thing? Should you try this diet change or focus on sleep first? Without a clear mission, it all feels like too much. We end up paralyzed, unable to make any decision. But when you have a clear mission statement, when you know your why, it becomes a filter for every decision you make. Does this align with my mission?

Does this help me nurture faith, advocate for my kids, and build a healthy family? Yes? Then it's worth considering. No? Then it's okay to say no to without guilt. This is the lens that I have now taken since really embracing my mission statement. Your mission statement becomes your anchor on those hard days. And let's be honest, we have a lot of hard days, don't we?

those days when we're exhausted, when we're questioning everything, when we wonder if we've done anything right that day. On those days, you can come back to your mission and remember what really matters. It also helps you see your purpose in the pain, in the challenges, in whatever struggle you're going through in that moment.

When I look back at my infertility journey, at the dismissive doctors, at all the times I felt alone and lost,

I can now see how God was writing my story and shaping my mission. Your hard things aren't wasted either, mama. They're part of what makes your mission uniquely yours.

Here's what I see happening with so many of the moms I work with. And maybe you can relate to this. We're living in reaction mode. We're responding to whatever crisis is in front of us, whatever email just came in, whatever behavior just happened, whatever therapy appointment is next on the calendar. We're so busy. We're so busy. But are we purposeful? Are we building towards something or are we just surviving? And listen, there's absolutely seasons when survival is all we can do and that

is okay. But even in those seasons, having a mission statement can give you hope, a vision of what you're working towards, even if you can't get there that day. Okay, so let's talk about how you can create your own mission statement. I'm going to walk you through this step by step. And I want you to know this doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it won't be perfect. The first time you write it, your mission statement can evolve as you grow and as your family's needs change. This is totally okay.

Step one, pray and ask God for clarity. Before you do anything else, take this to the Lord. Ask him, what are you calling me to do in this season? What matters most to you for my family, Lord? What gifts and passions have you given me? And how do they connect to my calling as a mother? Here's another really important question. What hard things have I walked through? And how might you want to use those for your purpose?

Don't rush this part. You might need to sit with these questions for a few days. Write down anything that comes to mind as you pray. For me, it's been recognizing that my infertility journey taught me to surrender and deepened my faith. My son's struggles taught me advocacy and opened my eyes to a whole world of alternative thinking and questioning and pursuing. Those hard things became the foundation of my mission.

Step two, identify your core values. What matters most to you? Not what you think should matter or what matters to your friend or your mom or that influencer you follow. What matters to you? Maybe it's faith, maybe it's health, maybe it's connection or advocacy or creating a peaceful home or raising independent kids or teaching your children to love others well. Write down three to five core values.

These are the non-negotiables for you as a mom. For me, those values are faith, advocacy, and health. Physical and mental health for my whole family. Step three, think about your unique calling. What has God specifically called you to do? What makes your family unique? What are you passionate about? This is where your mission statement becomes yours and not just something generic you could copy from Pinterest. For example,

I'm passionate about natural health and low tax and living. I'm passionate about helping moms advocate for their kids with special needs. I'm passionate about speech therapy and myofunctional therapy. Those things are part of my unique calling. Your calling might look totally different and that is beautiful. Maybe you're called to foster or adapt. Maybe you're called to homeschool. Maybe you're called to create a home where your kids' friends always feel welcome.

Maybe you're called to show your children what it looks like to pursue your dreams, even as a mom. Think about what you've walked through and what you've learned. Those experiences aren't random. They're shaping your unique mission. Step four, consider your family's needs. What does your family need from you right now? Not what they needed five years ago or what they might need in five years from now. What do they need today? Maybe your kids need you to be their safe place.

They're advocate in a world that doesn't always understand them. Maybe your husband needs a partner who's present, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. Maybe your family needs someone to create structure and systems so life feels less chaotic. Step five, write your mission statement. Now take everything you reflected on and put it into one to three sentences. Your mission statement should be clear enough that you can remember it, specific enough that it actually guides your decisions.

and flexible enough that you can apply it to different situations, as well as meaningful enough that it motivates you on those hard days. Here's mine again, as an example. I strive to nurture the faith of my husband and kids, advocate fiercely for them and create foundations for physically and mentally healthy family. Yours might sound like I'm called to create a peaceful Christ-centered home where my children learn to love God and love others well, or

My mission is to be my children's biggest champion, ensuring they have the tools and support they need to thrive while teaching them to depend on God's strength. Or I'm building a family rooted in faith, joy, and resilience, one system and healthy choice at a time. There's no wrong answer here, mama. This is between you and God. So what do you do once you've written your mission statement? Put it somewhere you'll see it every day.

I have mine on a card in the kitchen and I read it when I'm feeling overwhelmed or when I need to make a big decision. Use it as a filter for opportunities. When someone asks you to volunteer to join something, to try a new therapy or intervention, ask yourself, does this align with my mission? Will this help me fulfill what God has called me to do?

Use it to give yourself grace. On the days when I'm feel like I'm feeling it everything, I come back to my mission. Did I nurture faith today? Even if it was just saying the scripture of the week during our homeschool time. Did I advocate for them? Even if it was just having a conversation with them about ways that they can advocate for themselves. Did I make one healthy choice today? Even if

dinner was still gluten free chicken nuggets. Then I'm living my mission.

When we focus in on simple but specific points within our mission, we're able to find purpose. When you're in a hard season,

and we all have them, remember that God is still writing your story. He's still shaping your mission. Nothing is wasted. Creating a mission statement isn't about adding one more thing to your to-do list. It's about finding clarity in the chaos. It's about knowing your why so deeply that it can carry you through the hard days. I think about that moment in the shower when I truly surrendered control to God. I had no idea where he was taking me.

I had no idea that my pain would become my purpose, but he knew. And mama, he knows your story too. He knows what he's calling you to. So here's my challenge to you this week. Carve out 20 minutes, maybe during nap time, maybe after the kids go to bed, maybe in your car and the school pickup line and work through these steps. Pray, reflect and write your mission statement. And then I want to hear from you.

Come and share your mission in our Facebook community. Let's encourage each other. Let's remind each other of what we're building, even on the days when it feels like everything is falling apart. Because you are not surviving. You're building something beautiful. You're living out a calling that God has handpicked for you. that matters so much more than you know. Thanks for being here today.

I'll talk to you next week.