LENT day 1

     SIGH! It's quite hard... the first thing I did when I woke up was turn on my computer. I was like hmm... how come msn didn't sign it, oh yeah! I uninstalled it last night. Checked my e-mail and one of them was from Facebook saying I had a password change (I told my friend to do that). Then, I turned off the computer and was on my phone about to play angry birds.... oh no angry birds for me. This is gonna be a longgggg 40 days (46 technically speaking).
     I hate it when I shovel 3 inches of snow and then after I'm 'done' shovelling, there's another thin layer... after all that hard work and the driveway still looks white -.-'''
     Alright, LENT day 1 = Purpose Drive Life (by Rick Warren) day 1. Here's some thoughts and quotations (in bullets, [ ] are my own words):
Week 1: What on earth am I here for
Day 1: It all starts with God

• Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless. - Bertrand Russell (atheist)
• You were made by God and for God - and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.
• You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue!
• Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. - [Matthew 16:25 (The Message)]
• ... it will teach you how to do less in life - by focusing on what matters most.
• [Insights from Ephesians 1:11]:
1. You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. His purpose for your life predates your conception... you don't get to choose your purpose.
3. The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.
• Without God life makes no sense. - Andrei Bitov

     What hits me the most is really the phrase: 'without God life makes no sense'. My life really doesn't make sense. Everyone keeps asking me why are you in business if you hate it so much. What stream are you going into? Where are you hoping to be in 5 years? When people ask me these questions, I feel like I have no 'purpose' in life, no goal to reach because every goal I have is related to God. I completely forgot to share about this Sunday but I had an insight from my sunday school class. I don't exceptionally hate being in business so much anymore. There are so many people in the business world that claim to be 'Christian' yet have so many 'lives'. Church life, work life, family life, social life... I guess even students, we're like that. How can we bring all these together as ONE life? After all, I'm only one person and I only get to live once, only one life. It's the same for you, no? oO If.. actually no. When I discover how to live one life, I will be able to reach out to so many more people. The business world is vast with many people who work independently even if they work for an enterprise. Our life is God's, how do we show that in all our 'lives' and not just 'church life'? He didn't call everyone to be pastors and missionaries. People who serve God as their 'work' are not the only ones that can be Christian. Several people have told me that I'm too 'naive' to be in business or I'm just plain not suitable for it. I understand there will be office politics; where there are people, there will be politics (yes, even in churches). I really want to break down these walls and have Christians shine in the business world. Alright, let's do this! And no I still don't know what stream I'm going into or where I'm hoping to be in 5 years.... too bad!