Your Purpose is Better Than Mine..

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
  Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."

-1 Corinthians 12:7-14

I do not know why I would rather read about DNA transcription than any books by Jane Austen.

Or why I get more excited when Notre Dame plays like a champion, than when I get a new pair of shoes.  

A good day of cleaning my room makes me feel more fulfilled than any admiring comment. 

I do not know why I'd rather smother my salad in Red Hot, than cover it with Ranch.  

These traits are a part of me.  They are what make Liv, Liv.  

     Reading the Martyrdom of Perpetua this past week, a story of a female Roman Christian Martyr. I am in awe of her suffering and sacrifice.  I sometimes desire it for myself, but do not believe I am strong like her and her companions.  I believe in God's love and goodness, so while I go in fear of pain and death I go in knowledge that the Lord loves me and will take care of my weaknesses.

    For while in India, I feared death, not being complete or content with the life I had been living.  Was my unwillingness to accept death in India due to my lack of faith? Or rather the unfinished task God has for me here?  Maybe both?

    For once God's task in me and through me is completed then, and then alone, will my faith be ready for death.  Whether in peace or martyrdom.  Though I desire a peaceful death, all death in glory to Jesus our Lord is peaceful.  For we bring peace of the Spirit to many others who previously did not possess faith or hope in the One True, Abba, loving God.  So maybe our death is not peaceful in its coming about but it results in peace for so many others that our death's horrors are over-shadowed by the joy of re-birth and new life in unity with Christ and one another.

Who is to say what my life will end like?  Why should I dwell on my death, when my life here is so short?  Instead, I will dwell on the life I want to live.  We are all different.  Sometimes we forget God has given us all different desires, and talents.  Each of us is called to a different purpose.

A friend asked me this summer, "If you could be doing anything with your life, and money was not an obstacle, what would I do?" I looked at her quizzically and answered, "be a missionary doctor."  To me it seems odd to pursue anything other than what I desire to do.  My challenge is not necessarily the funding but the dedication, motivation, and intelligence. 

Often I think everyone loves food as much as me, wants to do missions and feed the hungry, desires for all to be healed, and wants to laugh. However this is not true, God gave these traits specifically to me.  A desire to love by cooking for others, show them they matter by listening to them, housing them, telling them jokes and stories, and healing them - emotionally and physically.  People and events of my life have shaped my aspirations.  I am me, who are you? 

Go seek and find your revelation, your purpose.  Do not seek mine or anyone else’s.  You will not find satisfaction in it.  For it is not yours to pursue.  Your purpose is far greater than mine.  Because your mission is designed JUST FOR YOU! :)

Oh God YOU are good.  Thank you for making us all unique and different. 

I am weird and I would not have it any other way.

"They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

-1 Peter 2:8b-10