“Are you living by default or are you living by God’s design for your life?
Maybe it’s because I’m hitting fifty this year that I’ve been really asking myself what do I want in life.” Maybe it’s because there’s not a whole lot to do when you’re laid up in bed except to think about your life and try to put everything into perspective. Maybe it’s because I finally picked up the book Gems for the Journey that’s been sitting on my nightstand collecting dust for over a year that I finally addressed this issue about my life and I decided to explore this subject a little deeper and see what it really meant.
I found that the dictionary defines:
Default: is a failure to action/inaction or neglect.
Purpose: the reason, for which anything is done, created or exists a fixed intention in doing something.
The book goes on to state that if you are living by default, it means you just let life happen and if your living by God’s design, it means you have a life of purpose on purpose every day.
Wow I thought I really was living by default there hasn’t been any action in my life in a very long time and I was stuck.
Stuck in a job that had no advancement or personal satisfaction, stuck in a relationship that I didn’t know if it was going anywhere or was it just a matter of convenience on both our parts. I was stuck in just living day to day and instead of enjoying a sunrise or a beautiful sunset I was dreading each day. I was stuck living in an apartment that didn’t feel like home but more like a place to just dump my weary body into every night. I was not living on purpose.
Now the question was how do I start to get on purpose again when I didn’t know what that purpose was? As I set there pondering that question I remembered a quote that I had read by T.D. Jakes and it said, “If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.”
But what was my passion; I haven’t felt passionate about anything in ages. So that lead to more questions I asked myself and a few things I realized is that my passion lies in serving God and others, my passion lies in food and creating an open door of hospitality.
Ok now I was getting somewhere, now what? Time to make another list.
- Refocus on the same faith that my parents had instilled in me since birth (hey my dad’s a minister)
- Look for a job in a field that focused on helping others and could lead to more personal satisfaction.
- Have a heart to heart talk with Nick and see if we were still on the same page in what we both wanted.
- Either redecorate or move and find the kind of home I really wanted to live in that would give me a porch to enjoy all those wonderful sunrises with my morning coffee like I use too.
- Focus on putting the dreams of a church soup kitchen into action.
- Get back into the kitchen and do what I love to do, cook and feed people.
So I’ve got my list pinned to my wall where I can see it everyday and I’ve found my passion to start living on purpose again as I hit fifty and make the second half of my life bigger and better than the first half.
If I get off track again all I have to do is just go back over my list and keep this verse in mind, “No good thing will He withhold from you if you walk uprightly before Him.” Psalm 84:11.
Most of all I will always remember that when I live by passion and on purpose my life will be full of good things.
Life Food and Me 