It’s hard to believe that almost 7 years ago I started out on a 40-day spiritual journey that helped direct me on a path to where I am standing today. The Purpose Driven Life taught me that I had to stop looking within myself for my meaning and purpose, and instead look to God and His reasons for creating me. In my stubbornness and sin, there are days I fail to live by that truth, but overall I’ve tried to keep my eyes on God. I can’t imagine where I’d be if I had not learned this early on in my life.

Five years ago I felt like I was just missing the point of life. I was waking up and doing everything I could just to survive the day, not live it. Some friends had told me about Rick Warren’s book. I knew my life had no drive, let alone, purpose. I needed help. It only took till the chapter for day two, “You Are Not an Accident,” for the tears to start falling and for the hope to start swelling. I read that the LORD would fulfill HIS purpose in me. It wasn’t something I had to stress over. That insight gave new meaning for my life. God made me so he could love me. It’s the main point of my life I live by now.

As a successful business owner, I was used to writing purpose statements for the companies that I had created. But I had never written one for my life until Rick Warren challenged me to. I still have it folded up in my wallet six years after I read his book. I learned that making plans was different than living out a purpose. And that living with purpose was really the only way to live.