Living for a Purpose

"Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny - he or she has something to fulfill, some message that has to be delivered, some work that has to be completed. You are not here accidentally - you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you." ~Osho, 1931-1990; Indian Spiritual Teacher

This quote arrived in my email inbox today. I just started getting daily (or maybe weekly?) emails from "Inspiration Peak". I don't always read them, but today I did...

It reminded me of one of the conversations I had at my high school fundraiser on Saturday. A few weeks ago, a high school acquaintance of mine "randomly" started talking to me on facebook and asked me if I knew this woman. The name sounded familiar, but we chatted for quite a while before I figured out that I definitely knew who she was (she goes to my church and her daughter also went to my high school). At the time she was critically ill in the hospital and they were not sure about her brain function. Her children are younger than me. She is younger than my parents. She was a seemingly healthy person and it was just really sad to me (especially considering my sister and I have decided that OUR parents are going to live forever.) There were lots of prayers, a couple nights later I had a dream that she was okay (not that I pay THAT much attention to my dreams since often they are crazy, but this one was a good one to hope would be true!) and about two weeks after the event that put her in the hospital she was back home...

She also was at the fundraiser on Saturday night. I had to hold back the tears when I saw her because it really was SO fabulous to see her up and doing so well. I visited with her for a while. She expressed that she couldn't believe how many people sent cards, visited, prayed, and were just THERE for her and her family. She said something to the effect that you just go about doing your own thing not realizing how many people you come into contact with. How wonderful to be able to witness how much you are loved and cared about, knowing that you have touched the lives of other people...you make a difference and REALLY matter. That is something that I guess you "kind of know", but to see it so clearly has to be a bit surreal. Not that you would ever want a "near death experience" to get that feeling, but it definitely puts things into perspective. She mentioned talking to our pastor and saying that she must have been given a second chance at life for a reason...and prays that God will reveal that to her (but that maybe it was what she was already doing...)

(Sort of kind of wondering if this is a bit how The Boltes felt this weekend with so many people coming together to celebrate the short life of their fourth child. Something you would NEVER want to experience, but if it does, then how wonderful to be able to FEEL the love and really KNOW you have the support not only of your closest friends, but of people you didn't know cared that much about you...)

Then, in a similar fashion, only maybe even more descriptive than that "famous" quote, Angie wrote--"What we are living in is such a dim, murky shadow of LIFE, I think we wouldn't be able to stand our time here if we could taste what is in store. But there is a reason for our time here. We are here with such a specific, important purpose: to live in such a way that points others to Jesus and the Hope he gives us." (The rest of that post is just as beautifully written.)

There is so much more I could write, but I lost my wireless connection and had to switch to their desktop which makes a little more noise when I type! Plus, it is just about midnight and I need to make sure the kids get off to school okay :o) I may need to "lay down the smack" tomorrow since I keep picking up after them (at least ONE of them) and no one seems to want to fold that laundry! Ha ha, that is funny in more ways than one!

Work was fine. From the outside looking in, I seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick. However, I went in with a good attitude today and realize that there are some things that whining does not help make better ;o) The charge nurse was actually bragging about me to other nurses about "taking it like a champ"...I walked out with her when we got off and said that, really, what good would have done for me to put up a fuss... She was very appreciative of my attitude...it isn't always a good one, but today I put a smile on my face and did what needed to happen (and my patients definitely showed their gratitude which is an "extra bonus")

Good night!