// Purpose

Today I find myself being completely grateful and in awe of God's love for me. The Lord prepared today for me and put so much thought into it even before I was born. Every day of my life is a part of the journey he has laid out for me, and every day I become more aware that I have no control over it.

A few weeks ago in one of my classes (which is basically an "Intro to College" class that all freshmen are required to take), my professor gave us a homework assignment that required us to write down five goals we want to accomplish within the next 10 years. There were maybe one or two things I had in mind such as "have a family" or "travel" but then I thought to myself, "yes those would be nice things... but what I really want to accomplish is what God has planned for me. So how can I write those down if I don't even know what that is?" The next assignment had us take those goals and implement them in writing our "mission statement." Our textbook said that this would help us create our "purpose in life." To me this was a little silly. Here I am, reading a textbook telling me that I need to write down the plans I have for my future, to ultimately write down my purpose in life.

Being a girl that follows Jesus, I learned about my purpose when I first gave my life to Christ. Jesus says that my purpose in life is to follow Him, love Him, and love others. So when I did my homework assignment that night I wrote about what Jesus says my purpose is. The next day in class we were required to read our mission statements aloud for the whole class to hear. When it was almost my turn I was getting a little nervous because every one else's mission statements were about their careers and how "successful" they wanted to be. But why was I so nervous? Because I was going to be different and talk about my faith? Then I reminded myself that God sometimes calls us to be uncomfortable in situations when it comes to sharing our faith; but we must boldly speak truth.

Anyway, when it was finally my turn to share I said something along the lines of "My purpose in life is to serve those around me by giving my life away every day and loving others well." My professor looked at me like I was insane and there was an uneasy feeling in the room. And the beautiful thing is: I had never felt so honest in my life. She then said "Okay, but what is your purpose? What do you want to do with your life?" I smiled and said "This is it. This is what my purpose is." We then awkwardly moved on to the next person.
                                               
I'm not saying that it's bad to have long-term goals or career aspirations- that's great! But for me, I really don't know what the future is going to hold. I just know that I have to be present. I have to live every moment for my Creator, simply because my life isn't about me. It's all about Him and giving him all the glory, day after day. I used to be scared. Always worried about what I was going to be when I "grew up." Where I would live, who I would marry. But I'm not afraid anymore because I leave it up to the Lord. I trust that God will provide for me no matter where I go in life, and that gives me the courage to live in the present. How can I know where I will be in 10 years if I don't even know what I'm going to wear tomorrow? God is bigger than it all. I am truly blessed to be free of the burden of constantly having to worry about the future and to be able to live today fully for Him.