In this week's episode of the Find Your Purpose Now podcast, I share my story of going from homeless to home owner, from foster care to business owner, from being depressed to joyful, chaotic to peace-filled, from alone to loved by a beautiful group of family, friends and colleagues, and from being raised by atheists to being adopted by a loving God who has made miraculous arrangements for my life.

I decided to share my story here as an example of what God can do. What happened in my life is not a result of my brilliance, talent or luck. It has everything to do with God's purpose for my life, the purpose for which He created and perfectly qualified me to be able to fulfill. All I did was say YES to God. I showed up and did my best, and God somehow, despite all my faults and failings, worked it all together for good.

As of a result of the businesses that God led me to start, Human Services Insurance and Child Welfare Insurance Services, millions of dollars were put back into the budgets of private, non profit child welfare organizations throughout the United States. Those are dollars that were spent on kids instead of on insurance policies. We improved insurance coverage, and we defended the good people and organizations that care for children who have been abused. But most importantly, we analyzed the ways that kids get injured or killed in foster care, and we used that information to create risk management training programs that kept kids and their caregivers safer.

I didn't have the pedigree or education to make all this happen. It happened because God arranged for me to experience childhood trauma, including a time of homelessness as a result of an uninsured fire.

When I was 15 and was hired by an insurance agent, I couldn't believe there was such a thing as insurance that would have kept us from living in the park, eating out of trash cans, and wearing the same dirty, worn out clothes day after day for months. I became passionate about insurance. And when I found out that child welfare organizations were required to carry insurance and were often miscategorized and overcharged, my personal experience and my passion intersected, the result of which was God's life assignment for that season of my life.

God didn't cause the hardships I experienced. Human beings did that. But God saw me through, and He worked every bit of it together for good.

Homelessness taught me gratitude for hot running water and everything else we tend to take for granted.

Abandonment by my parents taught me to be independent.

Poverty taught me to handle money wisely.

Abuse gave me a burning desire to protect vulnerable children.

The miracles I saw as I navigated through the hardships of my life gave me faith in my Savior Jesus who will never leave nor forsake me.

There's so much more but you get the picture. God can take everything you've experienced and use it for His good purpose for your life. Your part is to say YES, show up, do your best, and trust Him to do the rest.

Your purpose is real success, and it includes healthy relationships with good people, peace, joy, wellness, financial stability and a sense of contentedness that cannot be attained any way other than through living your purpose. So please listen every week as we continue to move toward finding and living the purpose for which you were born and perfectly matched.    

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You are not an accident. You are an "intentional!" YOU MATTER and your purpose matters. There are people who need YOU.  

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