40 Days of Purpose revisited

We have officially completed the 40 Day of Purpose group study.

The answer is: I'm doing what I was set here to do only I need to do still more.

I need to be a gentle, loving witness for Christ. I need to keep loving my family, raising the girls. I need to keep keeping my mouth closed and my ears open when other people talk. I need to keep serving, keep worshipping, keep being a friend.

I'm allowed to have fun. Christians can do that, you know? The secret is to remember that fun isn't what it's all about. That helps us get through the bad times but it also helps us appreciate those moments that do come -- the good ones, like snuggling with your family and laughing so hard your stomach hurts. Giving a gift, spending some down time with a book or having dinner with a friend.

This last week I have had some bad moments. I hope they're gone for a while. But when I'm down I still remember -- valleys fill first.

This is the valley that I'm walking through
And if feels like forever since
I've been close to you
My friends up above me don't understand why I struggle like I do
My shadow's my only, only companion and at night he leaves too

Down in the valley, dying of thirst
Down in the valley, it seems that I'm at my worst
My consolation is that you baptize this earth
when I'm down in the valley, valleys fill first

Down in this wasteland I miss the mountaintop view
but it's here in this valley that I'm surrounded by you
Though I'm not here by my will
it's where your view is the most clear
so I'll stay in this valley it takes 40 years
And it's like that long Saturday your death and the rising day
When no one wrote a word, wondered is this the end
But you were down there in the well, saving those that fell
Bringing them to the mountain again.

-Caedmon's Call