Knowing your purpose motivates your life, because purpose produces passion. When we do meaningless work, we rob ourselves of the strength and joy that comes from completing a task. It’s just ‘another job done.’ It seems to have no value.
WHAT’S NEXT?
With the recent loss of my husband, I found myself struggling with ‘what to do next’. Do I continue to write although there are days when I’ve asked myself, ‘If I stopped, who would even care?’ The truth is God would care. He has given me this innate drive to put words on paper, even if I only have one reader! He has the unique ability to have the person who needs it most, to read it! Does he always do that? I haven’t a clue, but the belief that he CAN gives me the incentive and momentum to write!
UNOPENED GIFTS
I was reading book recently about eternity and what we’ve done with our lives. The idea that God would look at me and ask, “What did you do with the talents/gifts I gave you?” made me shudder. But the thought that hit even harder? Asking myself if I was using the gifts I knew He had placed in my heart. Not because I feared punishment, but because I didn’t want to reach the end of my life and realize I had left God’s gifts unopened.
As I deal with my personal emotions (and there are days when they are all over the place) I recognize that God can still use me, even during this season of grief. More importantly, He can use the thoughts, insights, and lessons which he gives me, to touch another person’s heart, mind, or soul.
SHORTED-SIGHTED GOALS
Any earthly legacy will be left right here on earth; and as one author put it, ‘It’s a short-sighted goal!’ What good is what we do, if it doesn’t further God’s Kingdom? Ultimately we all will stand before the Throne and account for what we did (or didn’t do) with the gifts we’ve been blessed with.
NOTHING TO OFFER
I can hear it already. ‘I have no special gift.’ Where does that leave me?’ ‘Why am I even still here?’ It’s hard when our lives are shattered to care about goals, dreams, or even plans.
Doing ‘life” alone wasn’t part of the plan. It leaves a feeling of being forgotten, sidelined and often without purpose. These feelings intensify as a widow. What we’ve always known is now changed. “Who am I now that I’m no longer a wife? If I can’t focus on my husband, where’s my purpose? What do I do now?” These questions often plague us, as widows, right to the core of our beings.
WE ALL HAVE GIFTS
We all have gifts! Some are gifted to play sports or music, some can sing, or write songs. Some can cook and feed the hungry, while others can garden and grow food. There are writers of books, and stories (and even blogs), while others publish or edit.
OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE
For every action that you do, there is someone else with a different action in the very same area! We each have a part—regardless of our circumstances! There is not one person who can do it all. But we each have opportunities to share our gift within the environment we find ourselves. We are given people placed in front of us, who need to hear about Jesus! Our story matters!
LEARNING TO BREATHE AGAIN
Sometimes our lives are just ‘learning to breathe again.’ We’re still trying to trust God with today; never mind tomorrow! But because of our loss, we can love others from a place of deep, unique understanding. We can offer compassion in a way we’d never been able before. We can move forward because we realize God is still moving in us!
SHARING JESUS
Sharing Jesus is one of the greatest purposes for which we were created. That one line item should be enough motivation to get us started. From there, who knows what God will do with the seed you’ve planted, or the earthquake you’ve caused with your gift! God is all powerful and totally capable of using whatever we offer, when we’ve done it with the right heart!
Surviving Together In Loss And Love 
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