Blog – Page 22

10 Important Things About Your Purpose

March 9, 2017 by Mary

10 Important Things About Your Purpose

1. As Mother Teresa so aptly put it, “we can do no great things, only small things with great love.” We were each created with different and unique abilities and capabilities. There is purpose in doing those things we do well with great love.

2. Some of us are born with quieter dispositions and happily do things behind the scenes, while others have a greater understanding of leadership at the front and center. Neither of the two personality types is right or wrong. “For we have many parts in one body, but these parts do not all have the same function.” Romans 12:4 We are all created for a different function.

3. Regardless of our physical, intellectual, emotional or socioeconomic standing, each of us is equal to the other in the eyes of God. It does not matter if we are a movie star or a homeless man—the eyes of God see purpose in each of us.

4. Growth means evolving, changing and moving in new directions. Our purpose may change during our lifetime. God put us on the earth to be the best we can be and our purpose must be flexible enough to hear and obey whatever it is he is asking us to do now.

5. When we are still and focus on the beauty of the everyday moments in our lives and give thanks we are more likely to find purpose, rather than searching for it and becoming discontented. The discontented places in our hearts are not from lack of purpose, but rather a lack of understanding that we are truly loved just as we are.

6. Your purpose correlates with what you hold dear in your heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” Luke 6:45. Of what things do you speak? It is normal to feel lost, lonely, isolated and confused from time to time.

7. Spiritual health helps us gain a sense of acceptance, both inward and outward and will supply us with the resource of inner peace and an understanding that God doesn’t judge us by performance, He looks at our heart. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.”Luke 10:27

8. When we put God first and give him everything that we are, he will show us our purpose. Understand that your purpose may change….it is not a life sentence.

9. Being purpose driven may cause a sense of shame, guilt and rejection if the great light bulb doesn’t light up and show you what you have been created for, when in reality, the bible tells us, “you were created for such a time as this” Esther 4:14, meaning that each day holds purpose. Our purpose is driven by our daily choices.

10. It is healthy to aspire to do great things, but important to be happy with yourself just as you are and know that you are loved and valued and don’t have to be anyone other than who you are to be acceptable in the eyes of God.

Spiritual Winter vs. Spring

March 6, 2017 by Mary

Spring is Coming

I planted a dozen baby pine trees around the property at my cottage last fall. We have had a rough winter with very cold temperatures and lots of snow, and as I look around the property, rather than seeing the full baby tree, I can see only tiny shoots here and there poking out from the banks and drifts of snow. I have hoped and wondered throughout this season whether they were going to make it through, and I wondered whether I would be able to have the joy of watching them shoot up like pine trees do in the spring.

This reminds me that sometimes during the winter of our lives we tend to live in survival mode. We do what we can to stay strong under the pressures of our heavy burdens. Sometimes our own sorrows inhibit us from healthy growth. The burdens of our heart and spirit pile upon us, blanketing us, and we wonder if we are strong enough to withstand the weight.

I have had seasons like this in my life, times that I call winter. Sometimes it feels like it goes on and on, and we grow weary. We long for the light, but we are not quite prepared for it to come just yet. Maybe you need to remain just a little longer in survival mode. Perhaps you are not emotionally or spiritually ready to come out of hibernation.

I know that if my tender baby trees can make it through their first winter, their roots will grow strong enough to withstand the many winters that lay ahead. I guess this is true for people too. If we grow our roots during good times–establishing our faith, our belief system, our “God confidence”– then we will be able to withstand some of the seasons of hardship that will inevitably touch us in our lifetime.

This is the one thing that is for certain: Spring is coming! It happens every year. I will look out my window one morning to find hundreds of yellow day lilies blooming. I will hear the sound of mama robin chatting away in the trees. Then as the sun grows closer to us, we experience the big thaw. The ice begins to melt, waters start to flow, and we see new buds on the trees. The plants in the garden begin to spring up from the ground as if they too are emerging from hibernation and are now strong enough to see the light of day. They built their roots during hibernation and are bigger, stronger, and more colorful each spring.

If you have been going through some difficult times and feel like the burdens on your heart and soul will never ease, remember that the coming of spring is always certain. This season of hibernation that you are going through will only last until you are spiritually and emotionally ready to move on. We grow during the winters of our lives, establishing our root system. During these times, we can choose to insulate ourselves in darkness or we can choose to poke our heads out above it to see the light.

After surviving a season of hibernation, young plants are starving. They spread out their roots and absorb every nutrient that the ground in which they are planted has to offer. They are growing strong again, getting ready for new growth. I suppose it is that way for hurting people too. Once we survive hibernation, we are eager to grasp new life, a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing and a new way doing things. We embrace the light, spreading our wings, taking chances and absorbing all that our Creator has for us to learn and see and do. We are hungry. We have a new richness about us. We show buds of new growth in our actions and attitudes and flowering in our heart. The winter that had frozen our soul has now been touched by spring, by new life, and we are ready to embrace the light.

If you are in the winter of your life one thing is certain: Spring is coming! Your soul is preparing for it in the silence.

Your Turn: Have you been through a spiritual winter?

Calming an Anxious Spirit

March 3, 2017 by Mary

When I reflect upon the stressful areas of my life, I come to realize that I too was designed to live a more simple lifestyle. Some of my times of greatest stress have been when I have too much going on and too much around me…too much “stuff”, too busy.

My most complete moments are times of quiet solitude, genuine and tender moments with loved ones, their laughter, absorbing the lines on their faces and the curve of a smile, taking a walk in the woods, watching snow falling quietly, singing a hymn while baking a homemade loaf of bread for dinner, watching the fire dance in our old fireplace and praying. It is while enjoying these things that I can shut out the noise from the rest of the world and I am lifted from the burdens of worry, doubt and fear.

As the days of winter fade into spring, take some time to reflect on the meaning of simplicity. What simple moments do you enjoy? In the midst of a cold winter storm, I often find myself reflecting on the beauty of a single flower from my garden, the sight, smell, feel, and sound as I walked a pathway in the woods, the laughter and conversations of loved ones around a roaring summer campfire, the feel of my mothers hand in mine, or the peace of my time alone with God. I know that I have wandered too far when anxiety starts to set in and I begin to “busy” myself. It is when I meet this fork in the road that I must choose to take the road less traveled.