I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.Psalms 57:2 NLT

Below is another one of the exercises I found to help with that treasure hunt we are on to find our purpose. It, also, is from the book The Path by Laurie Beth Jones. I suggest you purchase this book because there is much more great information in it, as well as the rest of this exercise. Exercise: Below is a list of verbs. Pick out the three verbs from each column which most excite you. Then, from that list, select the ultimate three. These are the action words which will shape your future activities. (Note how the words form the shape of a candlestick in each column. It is the verbs we choose to act on that shed light on who we are.)Write down your three most meaningful, purposeful and exciting verbs here:____________________, ____________________, and ____________________These three verbs comprise puzzle piece #1.Below is a list of core values. Pick the three that most attract you. Then, from there pick the one that most speaks of you.What do you stand for? What principle, cause, value, or purpose would you be willing to defend to the death or devote your life to? For example, some people’s key phrase or value might be “joy”, “service”, “justice”, “family”, “creativity”, “freedom”, “equality”, “faith” or “excellence.” What is your core? Write the word or phrase down here._________________________________________________________This becomes puzzle piece # 2.Below is a list of groups and/or causes. Pick the three that most attract you. Then, from there pick the one that most speaks of you.Pick the one group, entity or cause you would most like to help or impact in a positive way. Write down that cause, entity, or group’s name here.____________________________________________________________This becomes puzzle piece # 3Putting it all together:This is the formula for your mission statement: Puzzle Piece #1 + Puzzle Piece #2 to, for, or with Puzzle Piece #3.My mission is to:________________, ________________, and ________________(your three verbs)__________________(your core value or values)to, for, or with__________________.(the group/cause which most moves/excites you)Remember, this is not set in stone. We are on a journey of faith and life and as you gain wisdom and knowledge your thoughts and purpose grow and change.

“Talk Time”

Mother’s Question: What other words ran through your mind while reading the words listed?

Daughter’s Question: What other words ran through your mind while reading the words listed?

Agreement: We (your signatures) ______________ & ______________ agree to respect and appreciate our differences.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, even as we search for our purpose, we know You can change our call at any time. Help us not to be stuck where You do not want us. Amen.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.Jeremiah 1:5 NIV

Are you ready for another day of treasure hunting? Today we will take the time to answer these questions (Yes, Mom, you too):Here are some questions from The Path by Laurie Beth JonesExercise:What did you do for fun when you were a child?What were your favorite toys?What did you tell people you were going to do or be when you grew up?Exercise: People say, “Oh, you are so good at_____________.” Write down a list of no less than twenty talents you have been given. Pretend that you will be given a $1,000.00 bill for every talent you list.Which of those have you buried?Which talents have you multiplied?

“Talk Time”

Mother’s Question: What did you dream you would do or be? Are you living that now?

Daughter’s Question: What dreams do you have for your future?

Agreement: We (your signatures) ______________ & ______________ agree to help each follow our dreams (the desires of our heart are put there by God).

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the desires of our heart, Your desire. Help us to live that out. Amen.

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21 NLT

If you do not know where you are going, how are you going to get there? If you think of walking in a forest in the dark and all you have is a flashlight to guide your steps, what do you do? Do you shine the flashlight over on the trees beside you or point it up to the sky? No. In order to see you keep it focused on the path. The flashlight will not show you 10 feet ahead. If it did, you might not go there, it might be too frightening. Instead, the light shows you just enough to get you safely to the next step. I believe with our purpose/calling that if God showed us today all He has in store for our future we would not be ready. We may even be so afraid that we would run away. I also believe our path could change through what life hands us but our purpose never will. Our path may get rocky or even too steep to climb until we gain the strength. So again, it is like a treasure hunt – not always easy to find. Today I want to pose two questions that may start to lead us to your purpose:What fills you with joy? This could be music, organizing, other people, being with kids … just think of the times you feel the happiest.What makes you mad, feeling like you want to do something about it? This could be someone belittling you or those you care about, animals being hurt, kids with no food, how something has been said…

“Talk Time”

Mother’s Question: Do you know what your purpose is? What talent does your daughter have that you see is leading her to her purpose?

Daughter’s Question: Same as Mom: Do you know what your purpose is? What talent does your mom have that you see is part of her purpose?

Agreement: We (your signatures) ______________ & ______________ agree to be on the look-out, to be alert for hints from God that are telling us His purpose for our lives.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for creating us with a greater calling than we could ever imagine. Help us to listen to Your voice and to know we have a purpose here on Earth. Amen.

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.Jeremiah 29:11 MSG

God has shown me a picture for the search of our purpose. He showed it in the form of a treasure hunt. Have you ever been on a treasure hunt? It is so much easier if you have a map containing clues. That is how I now see our life purpose; as a treasure hunt. X marks the spot. I believe the X that marks the spot is found in Luke 4:43. “But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”Don’t worry. This does not mean that we were all born to preach from a pulpit. No, it means wherever we are, our job is to be a shining light in a world of darkness. Your main purpose on Earth is to worship our God and share the good news. Where you are called to do that will be part of what we discover.I believe there is a huge fear associated with sharing your faith; especially for your age group. The fear of, “I do not know enough about God,” “I cannot memorize scripture,” or “My friends will think I am a Jesus freak.” And you’re right. All these things could be true. But I’ll tell you this, all God asks is for us to be who we are, know what you know and then just allow Him to show us what to do. I can even promise you this: if you leave yourself open to His promptings, you will see amazing things occur.I do not have a lot of scripture memorized. I also do not have all the answers, or confidence, to help people who ask me to help them find the truth (Jesus). I also do not want to look foolish. I am no different than you, just older. God has always given me the words to say or closed the ears of people when I said something unneeded or not helpful. I have never had to do anything crazy but I have had opportunities to minister to people just through how I act. Tomorrow we will look at some other areas of purpose such as callings, employment and things like that. For today, know that your first and foremost purpose is to be a vessel for God to work through. Say to Him every day “AS YOU WISH LORD!”

“Talk Time”

Mother’s Question: Have you experienced a time when God used you? Share what happened and how it made you feel.

Daughter’s Question: Same question as your mom but add what your fears are of letting God use you.

Agreement: We (your signatures) ______________ & ______________ agree to allow God to work through us.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, excite us as we search for Your purpose. Help us to remember that You have a plan for our lives just as you say in Your word, in Jeremy 29:11. Amen.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.Psalms 139:16 NLT

Ever asked, “Why am I me and why am I here?” In my life, as well as in my career as a life and business coach, the two things that are always at the forefront of what people want to know (and girls these are adults your mom and dad’s age) is, “Why am I here on Earth and who am I really?” This is one of my favourite areas to work through with them. I get to help them seek their Creator and ask Him what His plans were when He made them.The more I study this area the more I come to believe our purpose on Earth starts from the time of our birth.Close your eyes for a minute and imagine our Heavenly Father designing you. He is knitting together all your body parts, features, and your mind and now He is going to breathe life into you. I imagine, as He did in the creation of the Earth, He now speaks your purpose into your being. I do not have the answers of your purpose. Only you have the answer and you will only find it in seeking God. But I do believe He gives us clues. Over the next few days we are going to have conversations that may help you unlock the vault of your mission in life.A really good book for you to pick up on your purpose is The Path by Laurie Beth Jones. This book will lead you through practical exercises to find out what your life purpose is. I truly enjoyed this read and at over 50 years of age found a new sense of purpose.

“Talk Time”

Mother’s Question: Have you been able to find your purpose? If so, share it with your daughter. If not, discuss how not knowing your purpose has affected you.

Daughter’s Question: Ask your mom, from the time of your birth until now, what she has seen as your strengths and talents.

Agreement: We (your signatures) ______________ & ______________ agree to seek together what God has created us to do in life and not to pressure each other into a purpose consistent with our own beliefs.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, show us the clues that will lead us to know what it is You have designed us to do. Amen.

• Attend our special dessert and silent auction fundraiser on December 10 in Edmonton

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Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare to take this huge step in our ministry!

• Our 2011 Edmonton retreat (the last retreat of the year!) is just a few weeks away—register now!
• Purity 101 is now available in select stores—see the ordering page for details.
• We now offer teen coaching (click for more information).
• Coming Soon: Our resident youth pastor will be answering questions from youth in a safe, anonymous Q&A format in a new blog segment called “Youth Talk with Pastor Ryan.” Email your question today!
• Watch for our 2012 fundraising garage sale happening next summer—and remember, we now accept online donations!

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