Finding your Purpose

 

 I have been reading a book by Max Lucado called Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot.  I am a huge Lucado fan, but this is becoming one of my favorite books yet.  I am captivated by how he talks about finding your life's purpose in such an eloquently simple way.  I know...it doesn't make sense!  If you've ever read one of his books, you totally understand what I'm trying to say. 

One of my favorite things to do is to challenge people, especially young people, with finding how God can use their gifts for His glory.  This book does just that.  Lucado starts with the illustration of a suitcase that is full of all you need for your journey.  God has packed your suitcase with all the gifts and talents you need for your journey.  He doesn't give you your mother's suitcase or your brother's.  He packs each person's suitcase, uniquely, with the things that make you...you.

As the book continues, he encourages us to do what we enjoy and are good at.  How simple that sounds, but we try to make it so complicated.  We take tests and complete questionnaires to find out if we are doing what we were made to do.  Lucado advises, "See your desires as gifts to heed rather than longings to suppress, and you'll feel the same joy.  So go ahead; reflect on your life.  What have you always done well and loved to do?"

What great advice!  Why do we try to make it so difficult?  Why does a stay at home mother who loves to nurture her children and provide a peaceful home for her family worry that she isn't using her degree and not living up to her potential?  Why does a teenager who loves to bake not consider college for the culinary arts because it's just a silly hobby?  Why does the man who enjoys restoring furniture not consider making it his full time job?

Probably for lots of reasons: fear, uncertainty, finances, insecurity, "common sense".  But what else should you be doing, but what you love doing and are good at.

Here's a personal example.  I am first and foremost a believer in Christ, wife and mother, but I am blessed to have a career that I enjoy as well.  I am a pediatric Speech Therapist.  There are opportunities for possible "advancement" in my job.  I would have greater responsibility, more pay, and some amount of prestige, but it would also mean decreasing or completely stepping out of direct patient care.  I'm sure I could do the job, but would I be happy?  Would I be as happy managing other therapists or programs as I am when I hear a patient say a word for the first time?  Or help a patient return to eating?  Or learn how to interact with others?  Or be able to tell me what they want or need?  Or laugh and giggle when they conquer a challenge?  Or the hugs from these children that have a special place in my heart?

Can you see the disparity in the lists?  When considering the advancement, I came up with 3 pros.  There may be more, but those were the ones that quickly came to mind.  In about the same amount of time, I came up with many more reasons I love what I currently do.  (There were more, but I didn't want to bore you!)

Now, I don't know if I will always work as a Speech Therapist.  Right now, it allows my husband to stay in the ministry he is called to and provides our family with income and good health insurance.  It works for us now.  I am blessed to have the kind of profession that is in demand and is fairly flexible.  Some day, we may decide that we can and should be a single income family.  I would love to be with my family full time.  Right now, this is where God has called me.  I love what I do and feel confident in my skills.

Is it really that simple?  Maybe not.  We don't take the time to assess our skills and the things we enjoy doing very often.  Even if we do, we usually don't take more time to pray about how God could use those desires and talents for his purposes.

I never tire of thinking about these things and helping others to traverse the maze!  Take time to think about what you like to do and what you are good at.  Cure for the Common Life could be a great tool to help you in your journey of self-discovery.  I encourage you with this verse: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).  Not only does he have a plan, but it's a great one!

Remodling, Reconstruction or Rescue

No...it's not an abandoned house.  It is our home, under intensive remodel.  Right in the middle of it to be exact!  This is our 3rd venture into the world of "rescuing" a home.  The debate is always: is it cheaper to tear down and build new or throw an uncertain amount of money into the old house?  For us, we have chosen to rehab the old house for two reasons.  One is very romantic.  There is a sense of satisfaction to taking something broken down and abandoned, something others could not see the potential in, and making it beautiful.  The other reason is very practical.  We can more easily afford to put money in little by little than to afford a loan to cover a demolition and new build.

At this point in the remodel, my husband struggles with the decision a bit.  As the number of "surprises" mounts, his enthusiasm tends to wither.  Then, he makes enough progress and sees the fruit of his labor start to take shape.  As it starts to look more like a house and less like a war zone, we all start to imagine what it will be like to live there.  Where could the couch go?  What about the Christmas tree?  We start picking out paint colors.  That's when we get the much-needed energy boost to continue.

During our current project we have encountered almost any problem you could think of: wood rot, termite damage, water tank failure followed by water pump failure, leaky windows, uneven floors, etc.  Basically, it's a total gut and redo.

We have done it all.  And when I say we, I mostly mean my husband!  He loves to learn new things, to figure out how to work with what we have.  We have remodeled houses from top to bottom: roofing, siding, new walls and drywall, floors, digging out crawlspaces, replacing floor joists, evening out floors, jacking up one side of the house, laying tile, laying wood and laminate flooring.  Sometimes I wonder what isn't new on the houses that we have remodeled!  There are a few things that we don't do: well and septic (though we build an 8 foot retaining wall for the last house so we could put in a mound system).  I say that, but my husband is considering replacing the well pump since we got a quote...Yikes

We have been blessed by so many of our friends and our church's men's group who have helped us along thus far in the journey.  Some are great at demolition, some at clean up, some at roofing, some at drywall.  But they all come with big hearts and a desire to serve where-ever they are needed.  We appreciate everything they have done to help us in this journey!

The journey to the restoration of this 1860's farm house has been full of ups and downs, that's for sure.  But, when it's done, there is such a sense of pride and it's as close to exactly what we want as the structure will allow. 

Keep your eyes out for posts by my husband under "Dave's Corner".  Check these out for specific details of project how-to's and photos.  Some great information from a true Do-It-Yourselfer.