Do you realize you were created to make a difference? You are a force to be reckoned with. Out of the 7.5 billion people who call planet earth their home, there is no one just like you. In fact, I would go so far as to say you are a masterpiece. You have been given the ability and the opportunity to make a unique impact and difference in the world you live in. All of us have been given gifts, passions, abilities, personality, and experiences that uniquely shape us. Our mission, if we so chose to accept it, is to discover the best way to maximize our unique God given shape to impact the world we live in.
After David died Brenda and I spent almost two years healing, grieving, and seeking to discover how our “mission” had been shaped by our past and by David’s life and death. Here are some notes we took as we wrestled with the question, “Now What?”
- Warren worked as a Recreational Therapist
- Brenda worked as an Occupational Therapist
- Warren worked as a pastor with his primary focus being caring
- David’s faith in a loving and caring God never wavered with all his losses
- All around us were families and marriages that were breaking down
- Brenda and I have the “gift of hospitality”
- We were blessed to go on a Make a Wish trip
- Our church sent us to Focus on the Family where David and his brothers were treated like a king
- Friends shared their vacation homes with us
- We had a family and church that reminded us all the time we are not alone and that God loved us
When we added all these things together it became clear to us that we were uniquely “shaped” to start a place of respite for moms and dads just like us. We wanted parents to unplug from the demands of care giving. We wanted them to be loved on and cared for. We wanted them to know the importance of self care. We wanted them to leave knowing they are not alone, what they do as they care for their child is the most important thing in the world, and that God loves them with an extravagant love. David’s Refuge was given birth!
We started David’s Refuge with the following hopes:
- People’s lives would be changed
- David’s story would live on
- God’s extravagant love would be shown and experienced
To be honest we wondered if anyone would ever come. We were two ordinary people who had the privilege of caring for our son, the trial of letting him go, and the faith to believe God could take our brokenness and turn it into something beautiful. And he did!
I hope today you believe that you are a masterpiece that is making a difference in the world you live in. You don’t have to be anybody but you. Your mission is not my mission and mine is not yours. It is unique to each of us. But it does require reflection, determination, and a little bit of faith to believe God can use ordinary people like you and me to make a difference. You are a force to be reckoned with.