"I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations." Psalm 108:3

Putting Purpose to Your Passion

What is your passion?

Is it children?  Cooking?  Knitting?  China?  Gardening?  Christ?

How does your passion show up in your life?  Is it something that you do or experience by yourself?  Or do you use your passion to bring joy to the lives of others?

I recently spent a long weekend in the state of Washington with a group of people passionate about both Christ and China.  Together we stepped through a time of focused strategic planning and the result is chinaconnect - a ministry with the mission to share Christ's love with the Chinese people through service and relationship.  They willl create and provide opportunities for people of all ages, on both sides of the Pacific, to to serve and share their faith.  To learn more or see how you can get involved, check 'em out here.

I've been meeting with a couple who have a passion for addressing the immediate needs of widows and orphans.  A trip this summer to Romania resulted in the meeting of a missionary who introduced Nicolle to widows living in mud homes which will likely collapse under the winter's first snow.  She has a renewed sense of urgency for putting her call to serve others into action.  Stay tuned...some great stuff is about to happen!  Keep your Eyes Wide Open....

For Christmas this year, my sisters and I have decided not to give "physical" gifts to each other, but rather find some way to serve, to bring joy, or meet the need of someone else.  I'm still fine-tuning what I'm going to do, but I know it'll involve kids who are not experiencing many of the blessings that life has to offer (I have 3 nephews, one sister is a teacher) and likely Christmas cookies (my sisters and nephews all like making, decorating, and eating them). 

I encourage you to take a couple of minutes to check out this video on The Advent Conspiracy.  Maybe it will give you some ideas about how we can bring focus back to the real meaning of and for Christmas.

So, what is your passion?  How can you put some purpose to it to impact the lives of others?  Think about it.  Then do something about it!  You'll be glad you did!