By the Grace of God -- Finding My Purpose

Last night was my dear friend Kaley Schwab's going away party.  She is moving back to Nashville, Tennessee, from Knoxville (who could blame her?).  So I gathered with some of the wonderful women in my life (Sarah Stonier, Autumn Berry and her mom, and Kendall & Alisha Schulz) just to talk and see each other.  Kendall has just returned from a mission trip in Vietnam and had so many wonderful stories to tell us...some not as happy as others.

Kendall told us about an orphanage she visited in Vietnam where there were over 300 disabled children.  (The following pictures were taken from Kendall's facebook.)

 

Some of these children would have been able to live perfectly normal lives and would be out playing with all of the other children if they had received just one shot to fix their problem as a baby.  A lot of these kids can't even get out of bed and the orphanages are way under staffed so the nurses can't spend a lot of one-on-one time with each child.  These 300 lives will be spent laying in beds...

Another devastating reality is that the average ages of prostitutes in Vietnam is between 5-15...  There are places where women live and their job is to have kids as much as possible so that these baby girls can be sold into prostitution. 

I'm so happy Kendall was able to travel to this country to share Jesus with these people, even though she came back with the knowledge that not everyone has heard of Him.  Some people were completely unfamiliar with Christ...has never even heard His name.  People in that country that do know and share Christ can be persecuted...

As Kendall said, it is just by the grace of God that we were born in this country, with families that care about our health and know what actions to take to prevent further disabilities when possible.  It is by the grace of God that we weren't sold into prostitution as children.  and it is by the grace of God that we were born in a country where we grow up learning about Christ because we have that freedom.  I was born blessed with a life that a lot of other people weren't able to have...and I want to fulfill God's purpose for my life.

So I think I am going to read Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" for about the millionth time.  Simply because each time I read it, I take something new from it.  and now that I have a friend who has experienced these things, my eyes have been opened and my heart has been humbled to how blessed I truly am.  So I would also recommend this book to anyone else who is looking for a good book!  and as the first sentence in the book says.... "It's not about you."

xx - Ashley