Life Motto Hasn't Changed

The following is an excerpt I found from a paper I wrote for Senior Seminar...
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           "The question of, “so what are you going to do with your life?” did not just begin when I started telling people I was graduating soon. No, it started back in my early teens when conference, after service, after book challenged me to figure out how I was going to change the world for and with Christ. I have, and most certainly others in my generation, been faced with the challenge to “do something big with your life,” or the well known, “go in the name of Jesus! Change the world for his glory!”
            Now that may sound a little charismatic – a little far-fetched or dramatized – but the truth is that those statements rang in my ears for many years. Echoes of those phrases followed me to Moody. After times of confused prayer about my vocational calling, I had a conviction that no matter what I did in this life I am simply called to love people. For many years when someone has asked me what I am going to do with my life that is the response I give, “I want to love people.” Sure, this statement may seem overly simplistic in response to the charge to go change the world. Whether the answer is an extremely simplified response to echoes of extreme charges, my life motto has stayed the same: “love people”.
            That being said, I understand that God has created me to be uniquely me, with giftings and talents that ought to be used to bring him glory. I am not disqualifying the legitimacy of career goals or ambitions. However, I do find it important in my life to make the distinction between being and doing. The value of my life is not dependent on what I do, but on who’s I am..."

It goes on to say a lot of other things about where I hoped I'd go after graduation. But it also says more about that type of person I hope to become. I'm re-posting this because I am so grateful that my senior seminar class made me write something like this. I am finding that it is so valuable to have mission, purpose, and values that guard and guide your life. It's so cool to look back and feel the words strike a chord - one that rings deep and true. One that reminds me, "yes, keep going!" One that challenges me to stay rooted in who I am and to keep discovering that truth in Christ.

I am still just past the starting line of life. But I am forever grateful for mentors, leaders, professors and friends who challenge me to be intentional about my daily living. Make me write it down. Talk it out. Evaluate it and re-evaluate again and again. It's in these moments that life is lived. And where we can fully love and be loved.

​I'm grateful that I stumbled across this today. It's a good reminder of who I am and that I need to find someone to love today. Even if I'm currently bed-ridden due to illness. There's always a way to show someone love. Time to hop to it.