When We’re Searching For Purpose In Every Season of Our Lives

My birthday’s coming. It’s right around the bend.  

My husband threw me this beautiful shindig to honor the occasion.On a perfect late summer evening with the perfect sky, he gathered my favorite people along with some beautiful music and food, to help celebrate.

Fifty is a big birthday.A hallmark, they say.

One of those moments that causes you to pause and re-evaluate everything – the beginning from the ending, to determine where you are in the middle of it all and what it all means anyway.

Birthdays are markers of purpose, marking more than just the passing of time, but marking the quality of time, whispering in our ears if we’ve lived well, walked well, stayed close to the side of the One who has called us and is guiding our journey.

I believe birthdays are like the days leading up to New Year’s Day.They are times to reflect, to be thankful, to heal, to dream, to cast new visions, and to open ourselves to the blowing wind of the Holy Spirit in order to measure our steps and appoint our days.

This birthday has been particularly challenging.The number itself means little.I’m proud of the fifty years I’ve traversed this meager little corner of the universe.

What’s been particularly difficult has been the pressure from external voices around me.I keep hearing people describe being 50 yrs old like the best is over, like life is winding down, like I am now living the denouement of my story.Somehow I’m supposed to be settling in, relaxing, surrendering as I meander quietly into the sunset.

That’s what gets all over my wiry, 5ft 7inches of grit-and-girl self.

This birthday as I see it, is a beautiful gift of humility and gratitude, for the older I get the more I realize my story is more about the people God has miraculously infused to teach me, encourage me, to build me for the work to which I am called today. These are the heroes of grace, who willingly poured themselves into my life to befriend, to accept, to make a difference.

So as I stand here on the eve of this birthday season, I need to declare —I’m not done.

God is still at work in my life.The story of my life is not yet finished.I have no need of a beguiling stallion to ride me off into the sunset.

Moving in the direction of healing will always be the cornerstone of my life.And God’s healing doesn’t come with an expiration date.His purpose doesn’t end with a number.It doesn’t.

If you are struggling with purpose today, here are a few things I’m discovering about God’s purpose for my life through the seasons, even at fifty years old!

When we are seeking Him, His purposes are being accomplished in our lives

I used to live feeling the weight of the world on my shoulder.I was young and naïve, believing that I had to work, to strive, to do in order to accomplish His purposes for my life.

The older I’ve become, I’m learning that God never intended that I carry such a heavy weight.Jesus says to take His yoke, that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

My job is to walk by His side, to follow in His steps, to move in the direction of Him.He accomplishes the rest.Though I can’t know what that will look like, can’t predict the end result, I can rest knowing that, The one who calls [us] is faithful, and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24,NIV)

Philippians 2:13(NIV) adds, For it is God who works in [us] to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

What peace, what relief!His purposes for me are not dependent on me, but on Him, and we can trust Him because He is faithful and He will do it.He is doing it.Rest. Trust Him today.

We can trust His purposes for us are good

I spent a huge part of my twenties believing that God was playing a trick on me, trying to dupe me out of His blessing, making His will like a corn maze that never had an ending, but always left me lost and in a state of perpetual confusion.

Growing to know Him, His character, His heart towards me as His Beloved, I now know His plans and purposes for me are good.He loves His children.His desire to bless us, to give us a hope and a future is sure.

Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) says, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Do you believe God is trustworthy today?Do you believe in your heart that His plans for you are good? If not, what stands in your way?

When we look at God, we will either see our wounds or we will see Him.Our scars or His beauty.Our cynicism or His faithfulness.

What do you see?

His purpose for us is always to pursue holy

We live in a culture that tells us constantly that God has BIG things for us, that our greatest dreams are right at our fingertips.I just don’t know that I buy it anymore.Or want it, for that matter.I can’t find it in Scripture.

At times I’ve fallen victim to believing God’s purpose involves a stadium, a book tour, my name in lights.That is seldom His desire.His desire for each of us is simple.Pursue holy right where we are.Embrace holy.Become holy.

Joshua 24:15(NIV) states that we will each have to make a choice, saying, But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

In 2 Timothy 1:9(NIV), Timothy describes God’s calling, He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

Micah 6:8(NIV) echoes this by saying, He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humblywith your God.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, are you pursuing holy?Do you wake up in the morning with the heartbeat to live and serve the Lord?Do you make it your aim to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly?

It’s really that simple.

What has God given you to do today?  Do it. Do it with all of your heart.

We don’t have to wait until we’re fifty, sixty, or even seventy years old to discover His purpose.We can live it right in this moment.

Turning fifty is a blessing.I know I’m not done. I know God’s not done.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for each of us.Whatever it is, I know it is good, because He is good. Yes, good.

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About This Community

Don't we all want a little peace?  My heart for this community is to provide just that - a needed refuge from all the burdens that weigh us down, some encouragement and inspiration to keep us weary travelers moving forward on our journeys, and some practical advice to help each of us navigate the challenges of life and relationships.  Whether in our parenting, our marriages, our faith, or the broken places in our hearts, this place is for anyone who dares to reach beyond the hopelessness that surrounds us and embrace a lifestyle of emotional abundance and peace!  

About Peace for a Lifetime

In my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, I share the keys to cultivating a life that’s deeply rooted, overflowing, and abundant, the fruit of which is peace. Through personal and professional experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I've discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with myself, God and with others. Through my story and other’s stories you’ll realize that you can experience the life for which you long. You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine. You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow. You can experience peace —for a lifetime!

Peace for a Lifetime is available on Amazon.com.

www.lisamurrayonline.com

Book Trailer: https://vimeo.com/155392891

What To Do When You Are Waiting For Your Life To Bloom

I waited every spring for the peonies to bloom.

Tracing the edge of an earlier autumn sun, I remember so carefully digging a home for them in the soil.

I waited, anticipating their gracious blooms.My heart was desperate for their beauty.Sometimes we need beauty to remind us that our journey has a purpose, that weeds won’t ultimately betray our pain, and that life will spring forth from the dust.

Each year I tended the soil, removed any weeds from their surroundings.I watched the greenish-red shoots as they shot up from the ground.And yes, the plants grew big, though year after year they yielded no blooms.

It’s as if the night brought no morning, and these heavy labor pains bore no grace, no fulfillment for this awful stirring in my soul.

Something inside me wanted to uproot these delicate, brave stems, to find the soil of validation and comfort for my meager plants to grow.I saw other bushes in the garden swell with blossoms and desired my fragile gifts to unfurl brightly and boldly.

The purposes that God plants in our heart sometimes feel barren and fruitless.It can feel painful to hold onto unseen and often unrealized dreams, to miss the watering of tender soul-roots or the birth of their expected harvest.

I am learning, sometimes slowly, sometimes with an ache in my step and a strain on my brow, to surrender my expectation for the harvest, to reclaim my steps beside the Master.Yielding to His ways, His timing, His process for this cynical and stubborn heart of mine, forces me to remember this sacred pilgrimage is not even in the tiniest way about me.

Just as I can never force or cajole tender blossoms from my peonies, I can never coerce or demand my own vision or destiny for my life.

God knew finding my destiny would pale in comparison to finding His presence.Exercising His joy in each and every moment.Pursuing holy.

Henri Nouwen describes, Joy and laughter are the gifts of living in the presence of God and trusting that tomorrow is not worth worrying about.

He knew I’d have the tendency to rush the miraculous, to manage this internal metamorphosis that is transforming me into His image.Perhaps that is why He so loving spoke to me,

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (Matt 6:25-30, NIV)

He understood the most beautiful of nature’s gifts could not satisfy the eternal cravings in my heart.He gave me the one thing He knew would fill me, heal me, mold me, and complete me.He gave me Himself.Utterly and completely.Arms spread open wide.

Practicing His presence, I’m discovering He is enough.Period.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that the subtle surrender of our ways, our wants, our hopes and dreams, frees us to settle in and enjoy the surroundings.

And on that lovely, bright, spring morning when I stepped into my garden, I discovered the most brilliant, beautiful peonies had appeared right before my eyes.

When I least expected it.Right on time.

I wait every year for the peonies to bloom.

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About This Community

Don't we all want a little peace?  My heart for this community is to provide just that - a needed refuge from all the burdens that weigh us down, some encouragement and inspiration to keep us weary travelers moving forward on our journeys, and some practical advice to help each of us navigate the challenges of life and relationships.  Whether in our parenting, our marriages, our faith, or the broken places in our hearts, this place is for anyone who dares to reach beyond the hopelessness that surrounds us and embrace a lifestyle of emotional abundance and peace!  

About Peace for a Lifetime

In my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, I share the keys to cultivating a life that’s deeply rooted, overflowing, and abundant, the fruit of which is peace. Through personal and professional experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I've discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with myself, God and with others. Through my story and other’s stories you’ll realize that you can experience the life for which you long. You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine. You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow. You can experience peace —for a lifetime!

Peace for a Lifetime is available on Amazon.com.

Book Trailer: https://vimeo.com/155392891

Four Key Elements To Discovering Your Purpose

And how to make the days ahead the most meaningful ever 

Delores had always been a vibrant, passionate woman. She had been active in her church, taught Bible studies for more years than she could remember, and routinely invested herself in the lives of the women she taught.

Sitting with her, her eyes welled up with tears. She seemed lost.

Ever since she retired and relocated to be near her children, she hadn’t been able to find a church community in which to invest herself. Every church already had their programs, their teachers. Her children and their families were busy with their lives and she struggled to nurture the kind of relationships she had always dreamed of with her grandchildren.

Her husband was now passed and this woman who had lived with such strength, passion, and purpose, now struggled to make sense of her life. She ached to have a place to plant herself. Her spirit was parched for soil in which she would thrive. Lonely, she began to sink into depression. Was this it?, she wondered. Was there a purpose at all to her life? 

Katie is in her late 20’s. Though she has a job, she longs to find her purpose in life – God’s unique calling to which she can dedicate her life. She searches to find her purpose every day in her career and her relationships, yet ends up feeling more confused and farther from her pursuit than ever.

Without a compass to give stability, direction, and meaning, she remains locked in a cycle of emptiness and wandering. Some days life feels overwhelming, almost unbearable.

Most of us can recall similar feelings at some point in our lives—the emptiness, the yearning, the confusion, the lacking, and the depression. They all merge together, and they always seem to present themselves in the dimmest moments of twilight.

We all need purpose. 

Viktor Frankl, an Austrian existential psychologist, created a school of thought called logotherapy. Frankl believed that our dominant driving force is to find meaning in life.

In the 1940s, Frankl was held prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. He felt the horror of losing everything only to be tortured and terrorized. With all the agony and brutality, what kept Frankl from giving up his relentless fight for his life?

Purpose. He was able to find meaning in his struggle, and that’s what gave him the power to push forward through unimaginable pain.

After escaping the concentration camps, Frankl published a book called Man’s Search for Meaning, which explores his experiences and includes an overview of logotherapy. A quote by Nietzsche nicely sums up his philosophy on how people were able to survive the camps, without losing the will to live:

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.

[clickToTweet tweet="'He who has a 'why' to live for can bear almost any 'how'.' Viktor Frankl" quote="'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.' Viktor Frankl"]

That is the power of purpose. We can find meaning and purpose in our relationships, we can find it in our values and beliefs. We can find purpose in our relationship with God, and we can explore our God-given passions to cultivate potential purposes for our lives.

In my book, Peace For A Lifetime, I explore three things that must align for you to discover your purpose: identity, beliefs and values, and passions. However, there’s one vital piece to the purpose puzzle that’s missing.

God’s purpose will always be connected with giving, not getting.

We tend to look for something external that will provide direction or purpose, that will fill the void inside. It’s counter-intuitive, but our search for purpose will emerge from what we are giving of ourselves to others.

Viktor Frankl describes,

Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.

Do you want to be loved? Love someone. Would you like more joy in your life? Give joy to people. Sounds so simple, right? The more we learn to serve others, the more fulfilled and satisfied we become.

[clickToTweet tweet="Do you want to be loved? Love someone. Would you like more joy in your life? Give joy to people." quote="Do you want to be loved? Love someone. Would you like more joy in your life? Give joy to people."]

God’s purpose will always align with how He has made us.

As we define our identity (our core strengths and weaknesses) and our most deeply held beliefs and values, our curiosities used in service to others will explode into a relentless passion that emerges into a vibrant dynamic purpose.

1. Know your identity – write down a list of strengths and weaknesses.
2. Define your beliefs and values – write down your beliefs about life, faith, relationships, work.
3. Explore your passions – write down a list of things that interest you or make you curious.
4. How can you use the above three to serve a cause, a person, a community, or an organization other than yourself?

Once you identify these things, you will have a map to begin discovering your purpose. It may not include fame, it may not have a giant salary attached to it; it may be different than you had ever dreamed. Yet finding and engaging the purpose for which you were created will provide the greatest meaning and satisfaction you can imagine.

Do you enjoy talking with people? Where can you begin volunteering to talk or read with people who perhaps are lonely and would love a good conversation?

Do you enjoy cooking? How can you identify individuals, families, or organizations within your community for whom you can begin cooking meals?

Are you gifted at teaching, writing, organizing, helping? There is no right or wrong. Get creative and try out several things.

Your purpose today may look different than it did twenty years ago. God is always growing us to develop new passions and purposes for every season of our lives.

Explore the things you love today and begin to look for ways you can use your gift to bless someone. In the end, you will be giving yourself the biggest blessing of all. You will be living your life on purpose with purpose.

How have you struggled to find your purpose in life? What is God showing you about Himself and about you along your journey? 

I’d love to hear!

If you haven't joined our community on Facebook, I would LOVE to have you be a part of our little online family!

Facebook: Lisa Murray

Blessings,

Lisa

About Lisa

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, author, coffee lover, and wife. My online community lisamurrayonline.com provides a compassionate place in the midst of the stresses and struggles of life. At heart, I am just a Southern girl who loves beautiful things, whether it is the beauty of words found in a deeply moving story, the beauty of a meal cooked with love, the beauty of a cup of coffee with a friend, or the beauty seen in far away landscapes and cultures. I have fallen passionately in love with the journey and believe it is among the most beautiful gifts to embrace and celebrate. While I grew up in the Florida sunshine, I live with my husband just outside Nashville in Franklin, TN.

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About Peace for a Lifetime

In my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, I share the keys to cultivating a life that’s deeply rooted, overflowing, and abundant, the fruit of which is peace. Through personal and professional experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I've discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with herself, God and with others. Through my story and other’s stories you’ll realize that you can experience the life for which you long. You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine. You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow. You can experience peace —for a lifetime!

Peace for a Lifetime is available on Amazon.com.

www.lisamurrayonline.com

Facebook: Lisa Murray

Twitter: @_Lisa_Murray

Book Trailer: https://vimeo.com/155392891

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What To Do When Bad Things Happen and We’re Rocked To The Core

We’ve all experienced tragedies beyond our control that seemingly come from nowhere. They devastate us, they rock us to the core, they leave us feeling too overwhelmed and disoriented to muster the courage to get up and face this big, chaotic world for another day. Sometimes it seems it would be easier just to stay in bed and pull the covers up high so we can pretend that nothing at all has happened. Perhaps this was just a bad dream after all.

It seems the magnitude and frequency of tragedies in society today challenges our deepest emotional and spiritual fortitude. Are we safe? we wonder. Will it ever end? How do we make sense of all this anguish and terror? What do we do to keep moving forward?

These questions reverberate in our souls. We can ignore them, we can push them into the shadowy corners of our minds, but when another tragedy happens, when another life is senselessly lost, they reappear and force us to face this harsh reality once again.

Whether it is a national tragedy, whether it is a tragedy in our communities or in our homes, the reality is that bad things will happen. They are an inevitable part of life this side of heaven. I’ve found four things we can do when we are faced with tragedy so we can move forward productively in our lives, no matter the circumstance.

Recognize the need to feel your emotions.

Though we may not have been directly affected, sometimes we experience significant emotions in response to tragedies around us. We are tempted to run, to distract ourselves, to minimize the importance of what we are feeling. We dismiss. Sometimes we shame. Sometimes all we feel is the numbness of the shock.

Because Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NIV) tells us that , There is a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, we know that it is important to allow ourselves to connect with and feel our emotions. We cannot heal if we cannot feel. It is a requirement for us to deal with all of the tragedies in life, to grieve them, and be able to move forward from them so we can rebuild our lives as well as our sense of direction and purpose. We must grieve each and every loss. We need to grieve.

[clickToTweet tweet="We must grieve each and every loss. We need to grieve." quote="We must grieve each and every loss. We need to grieve."]

Learn to talk ourselves off of the ledge.

Extreme thoughts bounce around in the confines of our minds. They are relentless. They tell us that we are next, that there is nowhere safe, that this would have never happened if…. These thoughts are normal in the context of our grieving, yet it is vital to recognize our deepest heart-fears and learn to talk ourselves through them to a better place.

2 Corinthians 10:5b says that, we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Not every thought that flows through our minds is true, not every thought is rational, good, or balanced. We must learn how to balance our thoughts, how to soothe our fears. We must become practiced at maintaining a hopeful, truthful dialogue with ourselves. Doing so will prepare us to live life to its fullest and be as grounded as possible for whatever challenges will come.

Choose to cultivate meaning and purpose in our lives.

Viktor Frankl once described how Holocaust survivors were able to endure their horrific suffering because they were able to find meaning and purpose for their lives and their suffering. Their faith gave them a greater foundation for deeper understanding and human compassion.

We can never prevent evil men from committing evil acts. In the midst of our sorrow, we can choose to allow these situations to transform our faith and take us into deeper communion with God. We can glean every measure of meaning possible from these horrific, violent experiences and honor the beautiful lives lost with the gift of remembering them, their stories, their accomplishments and their humanity. We can bind ourselves together and corporately purge the evil residue of hatred and sorrow to create a greater vision and purpose. 

Release to God what we cannot control.

Tragedies serve as a reminder that so much in life is beyond our control. As advanced as our technologies have become, as sophisticated as modern systems of reasoning and understanding have brought us, in the end, there is nothing that can entirely protect us or prevent future tragedies from happening.

We will drive ourselves to despair trying to control that which is helplessly out of our control. Part of being able to move past our grief and rebuild our lives lies in releasing to God the things we cannot clutch, force, or mend. The more we are able to exhale and surrender our fear, the more we will be able to heal what has been torn into a thousand pieces and begin to reclaim our future the best way we know how. Surrender allows us to move further towards acceptance as we gather together the pieces of sorrow and joy, and begin to once again take steps forward towards life. Life will come again. Though it will never look quite the same, in time life will come.

[clickToTweet tweet="Life will come again. Though it will never look quite the same, in time life will come." quote="Life will come again. Though it will never look quite the same, in time life will come."]

Blessings,

Lisa

About Lisa

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, author, coffee lover, and wife. My online community lisamurrayonline.com provides a compassionate place in the midst of the stresses and struggles of life. At heart, I am just a Southern girl who loves beautiful things, whether it is the beauty of words found in a deeply moving story, the beauty of a meal cooked with love, the beauty of a cup of coffee with a friend, or the beauty seen in far away landscapes and cultures. I have fallen passionately in love with the journey and believe it is among the most beautiful gifts to embrace and celebrate. While I grew up in the Florida sunshine, I live with my husband just outside Nashville in Franklin, TN.

About Peace for a Lifetime

In my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, I share the keys to cultivating a life that’s deeply rooted, overflowing, and abundant, the fruit of which is peace. Through personal and professional experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I've discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with herself, God and with others. Through my story and other’s stories you’ll realize that you can experience the life for which you long. You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine. You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow. You can experience peace —for a lifetime!

Peace for a Lifetime is available on Amazon.com.

www.lisamurrayonline.com

Facebook: Lisa Murray

Twitter: @_Lisa_Murray

Book Trailer: https://vimeo.com/155392891

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Why Authentic Living is The Perfect Place To Thrive

A wise friend once told me, “Lisa, don’t listen to what a person says, watch what they do; what they do will tell you everything about what they believe.”

All of us have encountered people in our lives who have said one thing and done something completely different. These encounters leave us feeling shocked, disappointed, confused.

We like to be with individuals who live out their values and beliefs. They are consistent. What they say and do matches up. Their attitudes, their choices, their behaviors are natural extensions of their most deeply held principles. We feel safe with these people. We trust these people.

Here is an excerpt from my new book, Peace For a Lifetime, that shares why living out our values and beliefs is necessary for us to thrive.

Experts have said what you believe (perceive) becomes your reality. You do not believe what you see; rather you see what you already believe. Knowing ourselves requires us to look inside and carefully examine our beliefs and values because they hold the keys to unlocking and creating the reality for which we long.

All of us have an inner system of beliefs and values we have developed over the course of our lives. They are an accumulation of everything we have experienced in our lives from our parents and families, our religious heritage, our friends and peers, education, work experience, and more. If we take the time to identify what we believe, the things we value and why, we are closer to understanding ourselves at a deeper level and gaining insight into what drives and motivates us.

Beliefs are core convictions we generally hold to be true. Our beliefs grow from what we experience, see, listen to, or reflect upon. They can be spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, financial, or political in nature. From our experiences, opinions are formulated and developed.

Sometimes our beliefs are based on truth and sometimes they are not. Nevertheless, they can have a profound impact on our understanding or misunderstanding of the world around us. If we grew up in an abusive household, we might form the belief that love equals pain. Those of us who didn’t grow up with abuse can identify that belief as untrue, but until the abused can recognize that truth and heal from their wounds, that misbelief will impact how they experience themselves and everything around them.

As we appraise our beliefs, we can determine their worth or value in our lives; hence values are a natural extension of our core beliefs. Values are traits or qualities that we deem worthwhile. They comprise our top priorities, and our most deeply felt driving forces. Values can include concepts such as equality, honesty, faith, family, education, courage, effort, determination, loyalty, faithfulness, hard work, integrity, responsibility, excellence, respect, teamwork, freedom, beauty, happiness, empathy, wisdom, security, independence, challenge, learning, compassion, discipline, generosity, optimism, innovativeness, and service.

Emotionally-abundant people take the time to understand historic influences in their lives and begin to identify and develop a clear, meaningful set of beliefs and values. Living according to an internal code of values brings meaning, purpose, and direction to our daily lives. Decisions become easier as our understanding of ourselves becomes clearer. Choices are easier and our stress is reduced. Life feels calmer and more stable.

Do you find your behaviors betraying your most deeply held principles? Do you wonder why you struggle to discover your passion and purpose in life? Do you long to find peace and calm in the midst of the storms in life?

God desires for you to know your identity. He longs for you to find the deep meaning, purpose and direction that come from knowing your beliefs and values and living them out not perfectly, but consistently, day by day.

I share simple, practical life steps in my book, Peace For a Lifetime, that can help you understand the life God has for you. This material can help you create and experience an indestructible peace – not just for today, not just for tomorrow, you can experience peace…for a lifetime!

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How The Power of Investing Can Yield a Life of Abundance and Peace

Live like no one else so later, you can live like no one else. _Dave Ramsey

What Dave Ramsey understands is the power of investing. He is passionate about teaching people how to harness their financial energy so they change the trajectory of their lives and build financial peace.

I believe in a different kind of investing. While I whole-heartedly embrace Dave Ramsey’s philosophy of financial investing, I wonder what would happen if we embraced the notion of emotional investing?

Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest people in America, stated:

Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents; nobody can tax it or take it away from you. They can run up huge deficits and the dollar can become worth far less. You can have all kinds of things happen. But if you’ve got talent yourself, and you’ve maximized your talent, you’ve got a tremendous asset that can return ten-fold.

Most of us simply don’t know how to invest in ourselves. We can barely make it through the day, how can we begin to think about the future?

I believe God created us to have a lifestyle that is dynamic and growing. He did not create us as static creatures. We will find Emotional Abundance and peace as we learn how to invest in ourselves emotionally.

Here is an excerpt from my new book, Peace For a Lifetime, that shares the power of investing and how it can hold the key to building a life of abundance and peace. Peace is not something out of reach, it’s not something just for others. Peace is powerful, peace is possible!

When we become passionate about something, we are willing to invest in our passion. I’m passionate about my children, so I’m willing to invest myself in their lives and education. I’m passionate about my faith, so I’m willing to invest myself in my faith. I’m passionate about my friendships, so I invest myself in them. I’m not passionate about exercise though I know I should be. Therefore, I haven’t invested in a great pair of running shoes. Hopefully I will be able to retire one day, so I have become reluctantly passionate about my 401(k).

No matter what we’re doing, we invest in order to yield a certain return on our investment. We invest in our children with the hope our energy and resources will yield successful, happy futures for them. We invest in our faith in order to grow into mature, strong people of faith who can impact our families and communities for Christ. We invest in our friendships so we will have deep, meaningful contact and support throughout the difficult seasons of our lives. We invest in exercise in order to be physically fit and healthy. We invest in our retirements so one day hopefully we won’t have to work, and we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Identity investing works the same way and is as important as every other type of investing we do. The problem is we simply neglect this area of investment because something else demands a higher priority. I have routinely worked with individuals who stopped investing in themselves after they got married. Focusing on their spouse or their children seemed natural to them, yet, years after the children moved out, they woke up to find themselves miserable and empty, wondering how they arrived at this place?

The great thing about investing is you can always start. Walking on this journey, we have been laying the groundwork for identity investing. We had to create a safe environment for us to begin tapping into our emotions and to find that unique voice that exists deep inside of us. We need to uncover some of the counterfeit parts of ourselves so we can foster new authentic selves. Once we’ve tapped into our authentic self, we can begin investing in our true identities, which can yield greater peace and self-acceptance, more satisfying careers, and more meaningful and enjoyable relationships.

You can start wherever you are. You don’t have to remain a slave to your life today. There is so much more God has for you! The materials in my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, will take you step by step through the process of understanding identity investing and will offer you simple, practical principles for discovering your core strengths and weaknesses, assessing unique personality traits, defining your beliefs and values so that you can become passionate and purposeful in your life.

There is nothing better than reaping the dividends from identity investing. These life steps can help you create and experience an indestructible peace – not just for today, not just for tomorrow, you can experience peace…for a lifetime!

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How Our Search for Meaning Can Bring Us So Much Peace

 Do you ever find yourself bored, unsettled, restless? Have you ever struggled to find meaning in your life?

Culture tells us if we have the right education, the right house, the right spouse and kids, even the right toys, then we will have everything we could ever ask for in life. The problem is, all the things in the world were not meant to fill us, fix us, or provide the meaning for which our souls long. We were designed for so much more.

King Solomon had all the wealth the world had to offer and still declared, Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11 NIV)

I’ve included an excerpt from my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, where I share why we were created for meaning, and how we can begin to search for and cultivate deep roots of purpose that will not only provide a solid foundation for your life, but will impact your life and relationships with significance, abundance and fulfillment beyond anything you could imagine!

Have you ever wondered, “Who am I?” or asked yourself, “What is my purpose in life?” Why are we here and what, if anything, provides meaning to our existence on this planet? Is this all for nothing? Is there more? These questions are not only valid, but they also are an active part of our journeys toward finding peace with God and peace within ourselves. There is within us all a quiet war, an epic battle for the answers to these very questions. These questions don’t request an invitation. They don’t sit politely by the side. They loom overhead in the routine and mundane tasks of the day. They step ever so softly over the stillness of our souls. We might not be aware of anything at all, except that somewhere what began as a tiny tremor grows into a seismic quake. We can feel the pounding in our ears and the reverberations in our chests, counting cadence, steadily louder and clearer. There comes a time when we can no longer tune out these battle drums. We must choose, we must fight to claim this territory once and for all, or surrender ourselves altogether.

The most basic of all human desires is to find meaning to life. Individuals who experience Emotional Abundance (EA)—the ability to feel and manage their emotions—are not only able to meet the demands of everyday life, but are able to create meaning in their lives and relationships. Anxiety is the tension that arises from that battle for meaning. Kierkegaard calls anxiety the “dizziness of freedom.”14 Existentialist theologian Paul Tillich characterizes this as “the state in which a being is aware of its nonbeing.” 15

If you have struggled to find meaning in your life, if you live with an emptiness and despair in your soul, wondering if there must be more to life than this, you are not alone. For so many years I felt both helpless and hopeless to fill the emptiness that swallowed everything inside until I discovered how to fill that hole and build a life of hope, wholeness, and meaning.

In my book, Peace For a Lifetime, I share simple, practical life steps that can help you understand the life God desires for you. This material can help you create and experience an indestructible peace – not just for today, not just for tomorrow, you can experience peace…for a lifetime!

All the things in the world were not meant to fill us, fix us,

or provide the meaning for which our souls long.

We were designed for so much more.

We were designed for God.

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14 Soren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Anxiety (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980), 61.

15 Paul Tillich, The Courage To Be (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000), 35.