Living With Purpose

If you haven't heard of this wonderful lady from North Dakota, here you go; her life is a lesson for us all... work hard and live with purpose! Thank you, Myrtle.

Life is Good!

What's Holding YOU Back?

Some friends gave us a pretty little Christmas package containing a small plastic pot, three Paperwhite bulbs and an incredibly tiny amount of potting soil along with the planting instructions. I was skeptical, there didn't seem to be enough planting medium and the bulbs didn't appear vital but I followed the directions and set them on the kitchen windowsill; more to prove to my doubting self that I was right and they wouldn't sprout than to watch in any hopeful anticipation. Lo, and behold, they took off...seemingly overnight! I was wrong. The bulbs are living out their purpose and I am constantly gauging their progress and cheering them on! The next time I make excuses about not having enough space or time or materials I am going to remember this lesson learned at the windowsill and not hold back, but rather... remember my purpose!

Life is Good!

A New Year, One With Renewed Purpose!

I read an article yesterday that had a profound impact on me. Entitled "Good begets good", and appearing in the January 2011 issue of The Lutheran, is a story about a hospice patient, Sally Warrick, who discovered a purpose while she spent long and lonely days homebound in a remote area of Missouri. At the encouragement of her hospice worker she began to stitch tote bags as a way to pass the time, it wasn't long before she realized that this was, for her, a call to serve. These bags will hold school supplies for children in need around the world through a program sponsored by Lutheran World Relief. In the last four years she has sewn 1,000 bags and been removed from hospice care except for medication to treat persistent pain. She has a new goal, to sew 1,000 more bags! She credits the use of her treadle sewing machine as good therapy for her lower extremities. Today I am inundated by talk surrounding resolutions. I am not going to publish a goal list here. What I have done, though, is fill out a worksheet for myself. I found it online and you can too, by clicking here. My hope for 2011 is to live with renewed purpose. I have identified and rank-ordered priorities and values, I have also made a list of activities I hope to accomplish both short and long-term; but more than that I have a renewed idea regarding living with purpose and know that I have it within my ability to remove obstacles that stand in the way of purposeful discipleship; just like Sally did! Compared to health issues such as these, any obstacles that I encounter are small potatoes by comparison, but that's not the point; the point is purpose and the emphasis is on being all that He wants me to be... here and now!

Mark 1: 29-31 ~ Jesus "came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them."

Happy New Year!
Life is Good!