Petals of Friendship

Write your mission statement! In my last post, I talked about purpose.  More specifically, I talked about creating the foundation of your purpose by writing a personal mission statement for your life.  I realize this may sound daunting to some of you, but let's review the benefits of this exercise.  If you had time to consider your spiritual gifts, knowing what those are can be a great help to help you form your mission statement.  Your personal mission statement will: Validate your gifts. Give you direction on what you will and will not do in life. Be an inspiration to yourself, and it will inspire others as they see you working through the gifts God gave you. Give you freedom and clarity, enabling you to live through your God given gifts. Where do you begin? Set aside time for prayer.  Ask God to show you your gifts and talents. Write down moments in your life when you were doing something and you felt most alive. Take note of th...

Purpose.  It’s a word we hear and we can either run to it, or run from it.  If you are drawn to it, then maybe this post is for you.  If you are already thinking this isn’t for you.  Give it a chance.  If anything, you might find a piece of your heart. So, I’m really not going to talk about purpose so much as I am going to talk about the foundation underneath it.   And while we have heard the word purpose a lot, we may not have heard the idea of crafting a personal mission statement. Businesses have them, typically.   But in real life, who really has one and does it resonate the truth of who you are?   I am not suggesting that this becomes a self-serving exercise.   It’s actually the opposite. There is a nudge or stirring in each of us, especially when we reach that midpoint in life that adjusts our focus to look forward to our "second half".   Some people think it's retirement.  Or, maybe you haven't reach that midpoi...

I was doing a little pondering recently and I was caught off guard when I began to think about my journey.   I saw that questions about my journey mostly centered on the direction of my life, what was impacting me, and where I was headed.   Where did the signs lead ME to?    Then the light bulb turned on.  The truth is that the journey is not supposed to be about me.   It’s supposed to be about God.   Yet, so much of the time, I am thinking about myself in the journey.   What really matters is whether or not my journey is leading me to HIM.   Now that really jazzes up my route.   The path that leads to ME vs. the path that leads to God.   Hmmm.   I realized that along much of the way, I’ve arranged my journey so as to have things point to me and not God.   We hear a lot of talk about our life purpose.   Any time I hear a speaker talk about this topic, I am drawn to it with a magnetic force.   I want to k...