March Book Club: The Purpose Driven Life
*** I.O.U: I KNOW I OWE ONE MORE POSTING ON SECRET 5 FROM FEBRUARY; IT IS IN PROCESS AND SHOULD BE OUT BY THE END OF THE WEEK 🙂 BUT I WANTED TO GET THIS OUT FOR MARCH SO WE CAN ALL GET TO READING THE NEXT BOOK TOO 🙂 ***
So far in our book club, we have focused on setting up your inner world (your soul if you will) for the best quality of life possible. From ordering your inner world to learning the 5 secrets of living, I believe we have already acquired an extensive amount of knowledge on what it looks like to truly live from the inside out and develop an inner stamina that helps us not only survive, but actually thrive. However, one thing we have not truly covered as of yet is what we are supposed to do while we are thriving. I know we have discussed “fruit-bearing” as our reason for living, and that we are meant to be “called versus driven” but what does that actually look like for me as an individual? What are you and I called to do? And thus, enters a book dedicated to answering this question of “what on earth am I here for?” with The Purpose Driven Life.
Why I Chose this Book
I am not typically about the latest trend in Christian writing, as you can probably tell from my hard to secure first two books on the book club, but occasionally, there is a popular book that catches my eye because it speaks to something I consider significant. This would definitely be such a book, as I am both personally and professionally a huge fan of having purpose. I believe in the very core of my being that each one of us was created with a divine design to live out a divine purpose in our lives. It is when we do not know what this purpose is, or when we are not currently pursuing it or living it out, that we often experience distress and personal disturbance. This is usually why I have a job as a counselor, because in the midst of broken marriages, hurting families, grieving hearts, oppression from addictions, and a variety of other mental health concerns, people have lost focus on their purpose in the midst of their pain and they are no longer functioning optimally together or apart. As we work through the pain in counseling, we also work towards re-defining and re-establishing this purpose, so that health involves more than just healing but hope for the future as well. As a result, any resource that helps you and I determine what our purposes are and how to get to them is something I want to know more about. 🙂
Although I cannot remember the exact circumstances that took place when I first found this book, I do know it was around my formative college years when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next with my life. Like many others, I was excited at the prospects, but I also wanted some form of guidance and direction about which path I should take next. Whether you are in a similar time in your life or not (now I definitely have the career thing figured out but there are new challenges and opportunities that could use some defined purpose 🙂 ), if you do not quite have sight of the goal of your purpose here on earth, then I encourage you to accept Rick’s invitation for a 40-day spiritual journey to really focus on what God’s purpose is for you in your here and now. And even if you have got it all together (which sounds really good right now so congrats!!!), I invite you along for the ride to be praying for those of us who do not have it all figured out and as a refresher as there may be some wisdom you can glean from these pages to share with someone else (I love it when that happens).
Tentative Schedule
So this book adds an interesting twist to our monthly book club (which I did not think of previously but will be addressed now). Since it is actually a 40-day experience, I do not want to try to shove all 40 days into a 31-day month but am planning to let my experience overlap into April (the book for April is shorter and so we should still be able to do that in the smaller time window). Therefore, starting today on March 1, I plan to begin my Purpose Driven Life journey and commit to (as best as I can) reading a chapter per day for the next 40 days (following the plan outlined in the Table of Contents). As I am reading, I plan to reflect on each weekly grouping with the tentative schedule below:
What on Earth Am I Here for? Tuesday, Mar 8th
Purpose #1 Tuesday, Mar 15th
Purpose #2 Tuesday, Mar 22nd
Purpose #3 Tuesday, Mar 29th
Purpose #4 Tuesday, Apr 5th
Purpose #5 Tuesday, Apr 12th
My Hope for this Experience
One thing I love about this book is that from the very beginning, Rick sets this up as more than just a reading experience. It is meant to be a spiritual journey, one in which we do not just read the material each day but actually interact with it (p.9-10). As Rick encourages, my hope is that we can really do just that: interact with the material and underline and highlight and write up this book, even if you have already read it or done so in the past. I love to re-read my notes written at a different time, and see what new insights I have gained in my second (or third or fourth) reading as I find that different truths have a tendency to stand out at different times in my life.
I also hope that you will try your best to follow the schedule and read one chapter a day during this process. I know that it will be difficult for me, and may not happen (thank you for grace), but I do really want to set out to read and reflect on one chapter a day for the next 40 days. While it puts our scheduling a little at odds and overlaps into April, I believe the investment in time and effort is totally worth it. I am always excited to see what will happen when I set aside an appointed time and make plans to seek the Lord, especially when it comes to my calling and purpose and guidance. I am excited to see what He is going to do with you too!!!♥
Miraculous Mayhem 