Life on purpose

Obviously, the last few months...well, really the last year of my life has been one giant leap of faith and step outside of my comfort zone.  Seriously, it blows my mind all the time that I quit my stable, well paying job in a community that I loved to move 2 hours away and start making other things happen in my life.  If you're tired of hearing me say this on my blog, I promise I'll stop when I stop being surprised that I did that.  But, even through my surprise, I really believe that I had to make the sacrifices to live my life on purpose.

Here's a little background on me that you might not know.  Upon graduating undergrad, I had NO CLUE that I wanted to do anything in the nonprofit world.  I knew I wanted to stay in Boone a little longer so I was looking for any job that would enable me to do just that.  I stumbled upon and into my job at Samaritan's Purse and I am so grateful.  That job changed my heart.  It stirred up my real passion.  It motivated and inspired me to pursue things I never thought I would.  I am now pursuing my Masters in nonprofit management because of it.  Though working at SP wasn't necessarily on purpose for me, it definitely had purpose for me.

The thing about living life on purpose is that sometimes we stumble into our purpose.  I had a friend tell me once that she found her purpose and passion while serving on a short-term mission trip.  Prior to that trip, she had no idea that she'd find what she was passionate about through the medium of short-term missions.  Sometimes, life hides greater purpose in things we're doing temporarily.  While we should probably set out every single day to live intentionally and love people and have grace, the reality is that we are ALL human.  Yes, I, just like all of you, get really frustrated when people in front of me are driving slow.  Yes, I, just like all of you fight battles with myself every day over really silly things.  The truth is, even though I set out to live on purpose daily, I still have to remind myself frequently that purpose can also be in the small, temporary and sometimes mundane assignments of life.

Don't stress over the fact that you are in your mid-twenties, disappointing everyone who thinks you should be married and living life as it comes (I'm preaching to my own self here).  I spend a lot of my time worrying about what's to come and I'm actually missing what's happening right now as a result.  Living life on purpose includes taking each day, wrought with its own challenges, as it comes.   I'm headed in a direction I never thought I would be because I found purpose in something that I regarded as temporary.

Living life on purpose is all about doing what brings you joy and leads you in a direction that satisfies you.  We should all realize that the timing on when we find our purpose is flexible and can't be sped up, despite our best efforts.  So, go today and live life on purpose!  Keep doing what you're doing and walking in the direction of your dreams!