Finding Your Life Purpose: A Personal Journey

LIFE WITHOUT PURPOSE

What is life without purpose? Some say it is no life at all! Some say it is about living without restrictions and pursuing personal desires. But I can say I do not want to die, never accomplishing the purpose God had when He created me! What is your purpose in life?

Today was a different kind of day for me. I guess it is because It is my BIRTHDAY! As I thought about my life, I took time to look at pictures. Pictures from my twelfth-grade class and I read what my classmates had said about me. It was strange but funny. Most of the boys said I helped them by listening to their problems. The girls indicated I was fun to be around. And had a sense of humor that they hoped I would never lose. Reflecting on these days enabled me to see where the pathway to my purpose began.

Looking for a place for me.

God will take you out of familiar territory. This is to help you face life. It is especially true when it has to do with His purpose. God wanted me to see and grow from surviving the sexual assault. Triggers seemed to come like darts through conversations at the same time. These triggers or conversations are what sent me to therapy. I began to see the profound impact of sexual assault. I had walked into a world that I was not aware of. It is not just statistics. It is a lived experience that alters one entire being. She said, “Darlene, you have a limited understanding of what you can do.”

My therapist kept encouraging me. She went as far as to give me the name of a Crisis Prevention Center near my home. But I was still hesitant “can I really help anyone.” I struggled to stand on my own two feet. I applied anyway and they accepted my application to become a member of Rape Crisis as a volunteer.

I now have twenty-five years of experience in the crisis prevention field. Volunteering is where I embraced my calling to serve.

Empowering Others Through Service

Volunteers would stay with the survivor during the medical exam and police interview. If necessary, volunteers would walk through the entire court process with the survivor. I also joined the speaker’s bureau. I talked to students about sexual assault and how it changes lives. We discussed the effect on communities and the changes that put them at a higher risk than before. I walked victims through their exams and the police questioning. I attended training and took classes whenever I could. By this time, I could not quit even if I wanted to; this is how you feel when you find your purpose. 

I left the area where I volunteered. By then, I knew I was to start a ministry that would support the abused. I was not sure how this would play out, but that was the task set before me. I took a leap of faith into my calling and started walking. God opened the next doors for me and will do the same for you:

• Interviewed on the radio with KKLA. 
• Developed and spoke at retreats for women.
• Helped to start a domestic violence ministry at my church called “Cura.”

I am not saying that it takes a horrendous act to have a purpose. Rape is an atrocious and vicious act against one’s spirit, body, and soul. But God needed something from the stolen plunder. So, He created it. It was me!

God created you with a purpose. He will reveal it to you in His time and way when He knows you are ready. Prepare yourself for when He speaks to you!

Take a moment and reflect—what passions stir within you, just waiting for you to unleash them?

Resources.

Romans 15:6 so that with one purpose and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.

Ephesians 1:11 In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will,