Preparing Your Heart For God's Plans: Trusting God's Timing

Preparing Your Heart For God’s Plans

Preparing your heart for God’s plans is the most crucial step we can take before entering a new season of life. Happy New Year, Mama! We made it. Can you believe it? Another year brings a new opportunity to slow our pace, seek God first, and trust Him with what lies ahead.

My word of the year: Preparation

I wanted to share something with you that’s been on my heart for 2026. My word for this year is “preparation”, anchored in a deeper truth: “Be still and know that I am God.” So before I dive into any goals, schedules, or checklists, I’m reminding myself to pause..to let God lead not just my calendar, but my heart.

I know the holidays can leave us feeling overwhelmed- so much joy, but also so much noise and overstimulation. I thought it too! But mama, isn’t it amazing how God carries us even when everything feels messy? He got us through, just like he always does!

This year I’m doing something different. I’m not rushing into goals. I’m not chasing resolutions that burn out before February. I want something that truly lasts- a pace that brings peace, a heart that’s aligned with Him, and moments I can actually enjoy along the way.

So here’s where I’m starting: before making plans, setting goals, or filling my calendar, I’m choosing to prepare my heart first. I’m slowing my pace, seeking God, and trusting him to lead what’s ahead- because when my heart is aligned with Him, everything else flows from peace, not pressure.

Just as I shared in ‘Out with the Old and In with the New’ https://spectrumspecter.org/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/ about refreshing our toy rotation, we can apply the same principle to our hearts. Letting go of what no longer serves us- old habits, clutter, or unnecessary busyness- creates space for God’s plan to unfold.

Finding Stillness After a Full Season

After a season that felt loud and full, the holidays can leave our hearts needing rest and our minds longing for quiet. When everything around us is moving fast, it’s easy to forget that our spirit needs pause, calm, and space to breathe. Stillness matters because it creates room- not just to rest, but to be aware of God’s presence and hear His voice!

I’m learning that reflection isn’t laziness at all. It’s intentional. It’s choosing to slow down before rushing ahead. It creates room for God to reveal what needs healing, what needs releasing, and what he’s preparing us for next.

Allowing yourself to reflect is an act of trust. Trust that God will meet you in the quiet. Trust that slowing down won’t set you back, but will actually move you forward- aligned, grounded, and led by Him.

So before the plans, before the goals, before the noise of a new year begins, I’m choosing stillness. Not to escape responsibility- but to hear God clearly and walk into what’s next with purpose and peace.

Preparation As Trust

I’m learning that preparation isn’t about having everything figured out; it’s about trust. It’s about preparing my heart before I ever begin planning my days. Before the lists, the goals, and the expectations, I’m choosing to place my trust in God.

Preparing my heart looks like surrender. It’s asking God to shape my desires, quiet my fears, and guide my steps before I decide where I’m going. It’s acknowledging that He sees what’s ahead even when I don’t.

Trusting God with what’s coming next isn’t always easy. There’s comfort in control, in knowing how things will turn out. But I’m realizing that my need to control often gets in the way of God’s peace. When I release the need to manage every outcome. I make room for faith to grow.

Letting go isn’t giving up – it’s handing things over to the one who holds it all. Preparation, for me, is trusting that God will lead, provide, and carry me through whatever this year brings.

So before I plan, I pray. Before I decide, I surrender. And before I move forward, I trust God to go before me.

What Preparing My Heart Looks Like Right Now

Preparing my heart in this season looks quieter than I expected. It’s less about doing more and choosing what truly matters.

It looks like prayer over pressure. When the weight of expectations starts to creep in, I’m learning to pause and pray instead of pushing through. I’m choosing to bring my worries, my plans, and my unknowns to God before they turn into anxiety.

It looks like space over busyness. I’m allowing myself to slow down, create space in my days, and to say no when something doesn’t align with the season I’m in. Space allows me to breathe- and more importantly, it gives God room to move.

And mama, it looks like gentleness in motherhood. Gentleness with my children, but also with myself, I’m reminding myself that progress doesn’t have to be loud, and growth doesn’t have to be rushed. Some days, love and presence are the most faithful things we can offer.

This season isn’t about perfection- it’s about faithfulness. About choosing grace in the middle of real life. About trusting that God is working, even when things feel slow or unfinished.

A Word For The Overwhelmed Mom

Mama, if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, I want you to hear this clearly: you are not behind. Not behind in motherhood, in your faith, and in life!

The world tells us to hurry, to keep up, to prove ourselves- but God isn’t in a hurry. What feels like slowness may actually be God’s protection. What feels like a pause may be preparation.

Quiet seasons are purposeful. They aren’t wasted or empty. They’re often where God does His deepest work- deepening our foundation in Him, restoring our hearts, and preparing us for what’s ahead.

If your days feel small or unseen, know this: God sees you. He is present in the quiet moments, the long nights, and the ordinary rhythms of motherhood. You don’t have to strive to be enough- you already are.

So breathe. Trust in His timing. Trust that where you are right now is exactly where he’s meeting you.

A Final Encouragement To Seek God First

As we step into this new year, I want to leave you with this: God prepares us quietly. He works in the stillness, in the pauses, and in the moments we might think are “too small” or “too ordinary.” His preparation isn’t flashy- it’s faithful.

Before we chase goals, checklists, or expectations, let’s pause and seek Him first. Even a few quiet minutes of prayer can realign our hearts, calm our minds, and remind us that he is leading every step.

Right now, I’m choosing to pause- and I hope you’ll be still with me. Breathe. Pray. Ask God to guide your heart, shape your desires, and show you what truly matters this year. When we let him prepare our hearts first, everything else- our plans, our schedules, our dreams- flows from a place of peace and not pressure.

This year, 2026, doesn’t have to be rushed. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It only has to be God-led, not goal-led. Let’s start here together!

With love, hope, and encouragement, Anna.

Preparing Your Heart For God’s Plans: Trusting God’s Timing