A Purpose Driven Life

                “Faith is not something you just have; it is something you constantly have to work toward. Faith is not a feeling; it’s a decision you have to make every day.” I find this quotation so fitting for my personal story on how my faith in God has been strengthened. I could not even say “restored” as I could not remember that I have ever been so trusting and dependent on Him all my life.

               I was born and raised by parents who are both active members of Couples for Christ and at an early age, it has become consequential that I became a member of Kids’ for Christ. Honestly, however, I cannot recall any instance where I ever felt the hands of God working with me, so to speak. I believe in Him and I always pray during mass and every morning with my family, but I think all these actions were simply rituals and lip service.

                  It is only this school year – my last year in Senior High school – that I truly felt Him as someone who closely accompanies me and guides me in everything I do. It all started when I felt so inadequate in everything I do no matter how I tried so hard. As a graduating student, I have a lot of requirements to meet, I needed to review for my College Entrance Tests, and what more I am the Secretary of the Supreme Student Government.
At first, I thought I could easily meet all these requirements just like any other student similar to my situation. But through the days and months, I became irritable and easily got frustrated when I am not able to meet my expectations. I also wanted to enjoy life by making friends and take some form of relaxation from time to time. There came a point that I cried really hard and told my Mom that I was a failure. It was at that point when my Mom talked to me seriously and told me her observations that she did not see me praying and that it seemed to her I did not have any personal relationship with God. She related to me, how at her young age, she had always put her trust in Him in all the things she did, especially the difficult ones. I thought my Mom has a point, but I did not take it quite seriously.

                 My true turning point happened one night, when I was supposed to study, but I turned on my Facebook first as a form of relaxing first from a toxic day. I found in the news feed a trailer of Captive, a 2015 American crime-drama thriller. It was about a woman who was married and had a daughter. When her husband died she became addicted to drugs and so her daughter was taken away from her because she was proven to be an unfit mother. She tried to join support groups in order to escape her addiction to drugs. One day one of the members of the support group gave her a book written by Rick Warren with the title “A Purpose Driven Life”. Although the woman initially was not interested to read the book, there came a point in her life, when she was held hostage by a convicted rapist and murderer in her own home that the scared woman took and read the book for guidance. As she read the book aloud, the woman and her would-be killer both realized their mistakes and turned to God.

                 After watching the movie, I was so moved that I was so eager to find  an e-book copy of the book. As I read Chapter 1, I kept crying and crying. Days passed by and I grew more eager to get a printed copy of book. I tried asking my Mom to buy one for me. You could imagine my excitement when my Mom told me that she has a copy of it for the longest time and it was just there standing steel in the bookshelf. I don’t know why I got so emotional that I really cried upon holding the book, as if I found a hidden treasure. The more I read the book, the more I feel deeply connected with God who “directs the lives of His creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.”
The book might have just been an instrument of God to get me closer to Him and yet, I’m so convinced that I’m one of His favored daughters for He revealed Himself to me at a time when I need guidance and direction. He made me experience a “purpose-driven life.”

If you’re faith grew weaker because of the things that you’ve been experiencing lately. I encourage you to read this book because this helped me a lot ,so I hope it helps you too.

This is the link where you can download the Purpose Driven Life E-book
http://purpose-driven-life.com/purpose-driven-life-book-ebook-pdf-download

This is the trailer “Captive”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzNi-Vt2944