Mission Statement

So, I am in a class called World Changers right now and I had to write a personal mission statement. I get pretty pumped about stuff like this, so I thought I would share it with people that like knowing a bit about me. For most, this won't be anything special. It's me, I think I probably talk to much... :P Hope you enjoy.

My personal mission is to live for the sole glory of God, my Father. I will disciple His children by His book. I will be willing to go to the ends of the Earth with His gospel. I will choose to be on His team with my brothers and sisters. I will grow more today than I did yesterday. I believe that I have to set goals in order to see things happen. I believe in the next stage of my life that my mission is to reach out to teenage girls that are pregnant in Marion, Indiana.
I am called to pursue this mission because I value the words of Scripture that direct me. I believe that I am to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, meditating on what I should do with my future, giving it completely over to God (Belief). I also value the giftings that God has given me: the gift of healing, the gift of seeing individual qualities in people (Individualization), the gift of seeing potential and wanting to revitalize that in others (Restorer and Developer), and the gift of being a leader that wants to make things happen (Activator). I value seeing broken things made more whole.
To fulfill this personal mission statement, I will pursue a four-year degree in Social Work. I will stay in the Grant county area for at least ten years. I will purchase a house, so that I can build community with the people in Marion. I plan to ask the mayor of this city to allow me to set up one of the closed down elementary schools as a center for teens that are pregnant. In the more current future, I plan to volunteer in many different avenues like getting involved with CASA, meeting with a juvenile girl in prison weekly, and co-leading the Mentor Mother Program at the YWCA. I plan to do this so that I can grow my knowledge of Social Work and diversity.
A passage that speaks to me in regard to my personal mission is Acts 20: 18-36. This is a clear declaration from Paul that he has submitted his whole life to God. He has done everything he can for the people in his presence at that time in order to equip them to believe truth instead of lies. He has done a great work there, but even as he leaves the last thing that he does is kneels down and prays. I love this passage and want to display a life similar to this. I want to empower people to do the most they can, but always depend wholeheartedly on prayer knowing that nothing is possible without God, but all things are possible with God.

This morning

Gay marriage was passed today in Iowa... yikes!
What do people think?

April 3, 2009

Iowa Supreme Court says gay marriage ban unconstitutional Iowa Supreme Court upholds Hanson's ruling; marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman The Iowa Supreme Court this morning struck down a 1998 state law that limits marriage to one man and one woman. The decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages. Lawyers for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that financed the court battle and represented the couples, had hoped to use a court victory to demonstrate acceptance of same-sex marriage in heartland America. Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization, filed the original lawsuit in 2005 on behalf of six gay and lesbian Iowa couples who were denied marriage licenses. The case, Varnum vs. Brien, involves six same-sex Iowa couples who sued Polk County Recorder and Registrar Timothy Brien in 2005, after his office denied them marriage licenses. District Court Judge Robert Hanson in August 2007 ruled in favor...a ruling that came just a few months after Faith In America's Call To Courage campaign in Ames, Iowa in May 2007. The Polk County attorney's office appealed Hanson's decision to the Iowa Supreme Court on the grounds that the county had followed the "clear, unambiguous language" of state law - setting the stage for today's ruling. Hanson answered a call to courage and in doing so cited another courageous civil rights icon in his ruling. In making his ruling, Hanson referred to the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia in which state laws banning interracial marriage were declared unconstitutional. Judge Hanson argued that same-sex couples cannot be denied the right to marry simply because marriage for same-sex couples has never existed in Iowa. Because interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia in 1967 didn't prevent the U.S. Supreme Court from ruling that Richard and Mildred Loving, a mixed-race couple, had been deprived the right of equal protection. In its ruling, the Supreme Court declared the freedom to marry the person of choice to be a basic civil right that should not be infringed upon by the state. Mildred Loving stated in June 2007 that she believed gay and lesbian Americans should have the same right that she and husband fought so hard to gain. The Iowa Supreme Court justices apparently sided with the wisdom of this courageous woman and civil rights icon.