It has been my pleasure to journey, over the course of the past three weeks, with a group of youth and young adults at New Life Center in helping them to discover their personal mission, vision, and values. Mission, of course, is who you are. Vision is what you aspire to accomplish in a given amount of time. And values are your core “rocks” that are immovable and provide roots in your decision making, how you live out your mission, and in which direction you’ll head in reaching your vision.
Whew…what a mouthful.
To say the least, it’s been intriguing hearing where some of our young people are headed and what they aspire to be. There’s even a bit of humor watching this group discover aspects of their personality and their life’s desires in a way that comes nothing short of surprising for most. From marine biologist to architect and from being an introvert to a messy-roomed creative type, this bunch of future world changers are going places. And it’s beautiful to be a part of their revelation.
And, as I aided in facilitating their discovery, I couldn’t help but spend a lot of time honing in on my MVV and ponder how far I’ve come in my life’s journey. Albeit a different perspective regarding “vision”, I also couldn’t help but intensify my rediscovery because of my time in the Book of Daniel. One thing that stands out about the prophet is his desire to never relent in seeking God’s wisdom from the visions he receives and his unending passion to move forward in obedience.
Many of us stagnate through life hoping for the best and, without a clear understanding of who we are and where we want or are called to go (mission and vision), our days become more mundane and lifeless. When you tie in God’s call on our lives, disobedience to that call proves detrimental to, not only our external life experience, but to the extraordinary spiritual journey that He has in store for us.
For me, I took a slight break, last year, from my desire (or call if you will) to hit the road and the world’s stages with my passion for poetry and my desire to share God’s message through said means. And, in short, it sucks!!! Whatever excuse I mustered up to walk the other way, it was never valid to justify my paralysis. I’ve been down this road before and God took away my ability to do anything creative for a season (the whole parable of the talents thing). I guess it’s time to get my butt in gear this year and move toward fulfilling my vision.
I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
How about you?
Let’s talk.
derrickengoy.us 
Howdy Mr. Derrick!
I’m glad to hear and read of what’s going on back at home (with the youth). I feel that God needs to take us through seasons because he knows what’s coming up next. It’s up to us to discover what God wants us to do and where he wants us to go. This year, I feel I’m in a season of rededication since I have so much time of isolation to focus on what’s more important in life…God’s plan and my purpose for His will. But even then, we need to revert to the basics of basics, the foundation that our principle (or personal theology) is derived from. I’m talking about family, prayer, obedience. It is then you will know who you are, what you desire to accomplish, and in which direction you need to go. My time here is a transformation of who I am. God works in ways that would startle the human mind, but in essence and with due time, you will know why it happened. I’ve been focusing on areas of my walk that needs no attention because an underlying problem was growing. I couldn’t see it, yet my perspective was just short to possessing a cultural perspective, a cultural walk of what I thought was right, or simply obedient. Our God knows we want to aspire in areas we have been blessed with. But if we don’t steward ourselves appropriately, we will miss the purpose of our aspirations. That’s why I’m glad our Savior is a loving, forgiving, and caring God.
James – I’m glad you’re experience God’s transform tin on your life out there in Georgia. More importantly, I’m glad you’re allowing Him to. I look forward to catching up when you get back. Lord knows, it’s going to be a long one.