Reflections Courtesy of Baby Einstein

I have been thinking about my purpose in life. My recent contemplative outlook has been brought on by the sad news of friends and family facing their final days on this earth. In one case it has been expected. In other case it has been incredibly sudden.

What is my purpose? As a believer in Christ, I know what I have been commissioned to do. I must share my faith in word and deed. I must reflect the characteristics of Christ to those around me. I must love God and love people. I am pretty useless in doing this on my own, thus I must desperately depend on God's Holy Spirit and surrender myself to Him so He can complete His work in me. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it! And it is formidable. But how does this translate in the everyday? How does this intertwine with our secret desires and dreams that haunt our souls?

Here are some of my current reflections on the above purpose and questions. Be present in the moment. Last night I was rocking my son to sleep. And my mind was wandering to what I needed to do in the next half hour. Then I was convicted. I need to be present in THIS moment. My little boy will not want to cuddle like this in a few years. Thus, I need to enjoy this time NOW. This is how I can love my son during this very short stage in his life.

Enjoy your occupation. It is called an occupation because it occupies most of your time. Do you enjoy your job? If not, why are you doing it? I understand that some jobs are done out of necessity. We need finances to meet the needs of our family. And there are some moments in our jobs that are difficult or undesirable. However, if you are stuck in a position that you detest most of the time, you must ask yourself, "Is this how I want to spend my life?" By God's grace, I am very thankful that I am doing what I love 80 - 90% of the time. I love being a mom. I loved being a teacher. And I think this connects with my greater purpose. I am sure God desires me to invest time in what I was designed to do. He wants me to use my gifts and talents to spread His love to others.

Fulfill the dreams that are of eternal value. I admire many people in my life. And one of them is my sister. She is a mother of two and she is writing a novel. This has been one of her dreams for a long time. And she is working to fulfill it. And when she leaves this world to go home, this work of fiction, inspired by the real life stories of family, will be a lasting legacy for her children's children. WOW. Admittedly my "dreams" of late have been focused on non-eternal items, like renovating my kitchen. After hearing about a friend's diagnosis of terminal cancer, I looked at my kitchen as said, "It if died today, nobody would care about my kitchen. Even if it was spectacular, I am sure it will not be mentioned in my eulogy! But it would matter that I was a loving mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and child of God." So, while I will renovate my kitchen some day, I aim to keep it all in perspective. I will not break the bank and go into debt over it. Instead I will save the funds that I would have spent if I went "all out" and fulfill dreams of eternal value. For instance, I would love to take my husband and children on a heritage tour to visit Europe and Asia. I desire for my children to know where there are ethnically from. And I want us to serve in some capacity in these countries during our tours.

This felt good to write! I guess I should go back to being a mom. My daughter has been plugged into a couple of Baby Einstein DVD's so I can blog. Oh my... :)

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