Purpose

Do you know what yours is? It's amazing how much purpose drives us. We need a purpose in life. Some core value to live for. Now as a believer definitely we have the"macro" purposes to live by. For example Matthew 22:37-39 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There are others like "Be fruitful and multiply", but my participation in that command isn't quite for this moment in my life. So how do we use the gifts we have been given by the Lord? What has He created you to do here?

You see this last year was pretty big for me. First I hit the ten year anniversary at my work and subsequently received my first ever sabbatical. A great blessing, but also a time marker. You see that sabbatical had always seemed so far off, and in my mind I would have accomplished so many things by that time in my life. It was an important year of reflection. Also it was a year marked with a very intense project, long hours and exhaustion. And what was it for? You see, my purpose, what I was created for....it's not what I am doing in my day to day job. That began to gnaw at me. I knew shipping shoes, improving processes, and making sure you could buy NFL jerseys was NOT what I was passionate about. I am good at it, and for years that success and the idea that I had time lulled me into complacency. But that is not what I want my life defined by. So what was my purpose?

After my year of reflection I realized this purpose this calling has been incubating and growing in me for some time. I just needed to articulate it. Here it is...

I am called to encourage, give rest, restore and lift up those that have died to themselves and have committed to a life spent in service to their God and savior. With the goal of keeping them healthy so that they can continue to live out their purpose and calling.

This is what I am passionate about! Now that it's articulated I can't wait to see how God shepherds me in it and where we will go. I have visions but God is the real vision caster and Creator. My prayer is that I will see the next steps one at a time. For now though, I have that core value to go back to. That is who I am. That is how I define myself. I am no longer confined to being defined by my job or my success at it. This has brought me so much freedom. I hope you find and articulate your purpose and calling in life. I am praying you will. Here is a quote that really speaks to the place I am in. Honor your purpose.

"When salvation comes to your house, first you think differently, then you act differently. First you shift the imagination with which you perceive this world then you enact gestures with which you honor it." Mark Buchanan The Rest of God (2006)