Early in my journey I saw the value of embracing a personal mission statement to provide direction for my days. I created a profoundly simple version that has served me well.
I exist to serve by stimulating growth for the glory of God.
All around me everyday are many opportunities to fulfill my mission. I have learned that I will be able to carry this mission out to the end of my days because it does not depend on environments or circumstances to flourish. I just need to maintain focus and keep distractions to a minimum.
Now, in this latter stage of my life, I also see the value of embracing a personal dream statement to
provide definition for my life. To this end, I have been working since last summer on a profoundly simple version to capture the essence of the Dream Giver's sovereign intentions for me.
provide definition for my life. To this end, I have been working since last summer on a profoundly simple version to capture the essence of the Dream Giver's sovereign intentions for me.
Looking back I began tracking my dream by noticing the events of my life as they unfolded over the years. Way before I knew what it meant, the Dream Giver began shaping me into a visionary idealist who noticed and appreciated beauty. I longed to bring my everyday physical realities and the beautiful visions dancing in my head together!
I tracked my desire to change things for the better that began appearing in elementary school. It all began with my room, my home, my yard and then out into the community. This was the beginning of the unfolding of my big dream.
I tracked my vision to head out to California that dominated my teenage years and by the grace of God became a reality in 1967. I tracked my desire to make things better around me that found expression with my roommates and the youth group at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California. During that season I tasted greater knowledge of the Word of God and the beauty of Christian fellowship. My quest now incorporated snapshots of emotional and spiritual beauty.
I tracked my desire to provide a beautiful physical, emotional and spiritual home environment for my husband and children. I was driven by an unquenchable desire to make the quality of our life together as beautiful as possible! This beauty revolved around trusting God for His provision and wisdom regarding raising a family.
Then at age thirty I can say I truly fell in love with the Dream Giver in a much deeper way. I became smitten with His plan and purposes for the world. His beauty mesmerized me! This grounding led me to accept a position within women's ministry at Scottsdale Bible Church to coordinate the worship for the Tuesday morning Bible studies. My responsibilities there kept me on an intense growth spurt for several years all driven by my quest to create more spiritual beauty.
My worship experience led me to examine closely how God accomplished His work in the world. I focused in on spiritual gifts and how they functioned in the body of Christ. I pursued creating a structure to see how the gifts manifested themselves. The end result was an enrichment class for women at Scottsdale Bible Church called Women of Substance. As much as I valued the women coming through the doors (and I did), I was fascinated more by how a team of women worked together in leadership.
As a result of my Women of Substance experience, I desired to go deeper in stimulating growth with individual women. I developed a formal mentoring ministry and began organizing materials that I knew through personal experience were necessary for any woman to mature spiritually.
This curriculum grew into SoulWork which provided all manner of opportunities to encourage women to bring order out of the spiritual chaos in their lives. Bringing order out of chaos, I discovered, was yet one more manifestation of my desire to create redemptive beauty in the world around me!
As I continued to grow in my understanding, I found myself challenging the status quo. I wanted to provide a place for the women of our community to be encouraged to be all God created them to be. My visionary idealism became a reality when the Center for Women with Vision was launched at Phoenix Seminary. The peaceful beauty of the center along with genuine caring through life-to-life exchange became redemptive hallmarks of the environment there.
Today as I evaluate the outcomes of my life that have been accomplished by the power of God, I am embracing this personal dream statement:
I was born to be a
visionary idealist
with a Big Dream in my heart to
create redemptive beauty
for the sovereign purposes of God.
From life to death to resurrection to life once again. All visible outcomes in my life will live and die; come and go. 2 Corinthians 4:18 reminds me that only the invisible lasts eternally, We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. As the cycle continues, here is the prayerful question on my lips. What do You want me to beautify next? By God's strength I want to finish well! I want to stay true to my calling. This is the cry of my heart! Amen!
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