Women Can Find Purpose in this Grit and Grace Life

Homelessness: Do We See the Person Behind the Problem?

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture, Purpose

“Heart to God, hand to man” is a slogan first spoken by William Boothe, the founder of the Salvation Army. It was also the inspiration of a song written and recorded by one of the musicians I worked with, Geoff Moore. The concept captured his heart: an answer to the plight of humankind first introduced in the late 1800s for the homeless, the hurting, and those in need. Realizing that this same need had not changed, Moore wanted to reintroduce that passion to a new generation. Because of that, we partnered with the Salvation Army, and that relationship educated me in a way that I hadn’t expected. To understand what the Salvation Army did, we went to their facility in Nashville, Tennessee […]

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5 Life Skills You Can and Should Master to be a Strong Woman

By Jessica Harris / Purpose

I almost titled this article “Single? Here are five things you can do now to make marriage better,” but let’s be honest, it’s not all about marriage. So often, we promote skill sets as if life is a college program. Take these classes, learn these things, and this is how you will use them. We act like marriage, career, and school are all degrees for different women. If you want to get married, you do x, y, z, but if you’re going to be career-minded, you need to do j, k, l. Here’s the catch, though: that’s not how this works. The only thing that separates a great wife from a great woman is the fact that she’s married. Nothing else is

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This Is Why You Need to Start Your Day With Intent and Purpose

By Ashley Vancil / Purpose

One of my main goals at the start of this year was to begin each day with intent and purpose. I am so glad that I stuck with it; it has allowed me to appreciate every day and helped me focus on what’s important. My year has been full of setbacks, triumphs, accomplished goals, and shattered dreams. Without it all, I wouldn’t have been able to see that I can focus on my purpose every day no matter what is going on. In order to achieve my main goal of living with purpose, I must focus on being intentional with my time and energy. There are small and simple ways of doing so, and I think everyone could benefit from some of them.

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How to Find Purpose in All That You Do

By Megan Miller / Purpose

I constantly mistake the word purpose for role. If my purpose is motherhood, then I’m lost when my kids go to school. If my purpose is in my career, I’m out of luck at the loss of my job. Dog moms lose their pups, students graduate, and relationships end. How can we remain purposeful through transitions, breakups, new beginnings, or tragedy? Our purpose has to come from somewhere else. Purpose is not a title or a role; it’s an inherent mission statement. I want to challenge you to define your purpose—let’s call it a personal mission statement. It’s something you can stay true to no matter what life throws your way. Here are some examples of purpose: To let faith conquer my

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How to Conquer the “I’m Not Enough” Syndrome

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

Do you find these thoughts in your daily dialogue? “I’m not smart enough, thin enough, pretty enough, talented enough…” If you had a friend who said these things to you, you would quickly un-friend them in every area of your life. So, why do you to say these things to yourself? These lying, “not enough” phrases are nothing more than barriers that keep you from being all you were created to be. So, what do you do? Here are 6 steps to gaining a new perspective: 1. End the comparing! You were not created to be someone else; you are on this planet to accomplish something only you can do. 2. Stop striving. Perfection isn’t achievable nor is brilliance necessary. Many “C” students

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How Self-Awareness Will Make You Successful

By Jenni Catron / Purpose, Work & Money

“What do you want, Jen?” I thought it was a dumb question. I didn’t have time to think about what I wanted. I was leading a rapidly growing organization, overseeing a multi-million dollar building project, and writing my first book. There was no time to think about what I wanted. There was barely time to do everything I needed to do! My husband’s question triggered an avalanche of emotions that took me months of counseling to crawl out of. What emerged was a realization of how disconnected I had become from myself. I was lacking self-awareness and it was impacting every area of my life. Emotional intelligence expert and psychologist, Daniel Goleman, defines self-awareness as, “having a deep understanding of one’s emotions,

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3 Tips on How to Encourage Your Child’s Educators

By Susan Tucker / Purpose

Perhaps no one has more face time with your child than his or her teacher—except you, of course! Teachers do so much more than instruct: they welcome, encourage, comfort, and discipline the students in their care. They pour themselves out each and every day in the classroom, so they need to be filled too. How can you offer refreshment to your child’s teacher? 1. Don’t assume your child’s teacher knows what a great job he or she is doing. Take the time to send an email, leave a voicemail, or better yet, write a note of gratitude. It is extra-special when you notice something specific and take the time to offer a word of praise. 2. Find out some of your child’s teacher’s

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Can You Really Enjoy the Little Things in Life?

By Tess Lopez / Audio Articles, Purpose

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) If I was paid a dollar for every time I heard, read, or even interpreted the phrase “enjoy the little things in life,” I would be a billionaire. I would be retired to a quaint beach house along the coast of California, sipping coffee on my back patio and overlooking the sunset as the deep gold rays of sun slid off the sprawling cliffs to the wayside and twinkled over the waters of the Pacific. That’s quite a lifestyle. It’s also the result of the money I would earn hearing the mundane, exhausted repetition of that phrase. It wasn’t until last year that I realized the phrase was truly a gem to abide

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Why Is Daily Inspiration and Motivation so Important?

By Hannah Cox / Purpose

Life can be busy, crazy, and full of ups, downs, and turnarounds no matter what season you are in because, life is life. It can also be in slow motion as you go through times of rest, healing, and being in the in-between of chaos. No matter where you find yourself, it is vital for you to seek and find inspiration in your every day, because there you will find motivation. And where you find motivation, you will also find inspiration. It is a beautiful cycle. But why? I have no doubt that you are doing great and impactful work with the days of your life. You are working. You are mothering. You are studying. You are creating. You are inspiring and

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Facing Broken Dreams and Finding a New One

By Joy Hogben / Purpose

When I moved to the east coast of Canada, I didn’t know a soul. It was a big move during the most difficult time in my life. I was a stay at home mom, doing little things to make ends meet and homeschooling my kids. It wasn’t easy, but slowly we began to make friends. One friend, in particular, owned a home decor store in town. I’ll never forget the day I asked if she would consider hiring me. I was shaking and stumbling over my words as my nerves took over. I could just feel my fair skin explode into a brilliant lobster shade of red which I could not hide. Although I had little confidence in myself at the time,

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When You Shop The Little Market You Empower Women Worldwide

By Delaney Abroe / Purpose

The Little Market is an online fair trade shop founded by fashion designer and former reality TV star, Lauren Conrad, and her friend, Hannah Skvarla. Customers can purchase unique, one-of-a-kind pieces handmade by artisans around the world. The concept of The Little Market began with a friendship. In 2006, Conrad and Skvarla met while studying at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and quickly connected over their shared love of design, travel, and desire to empower women. The two decided to set out on the road where they explored the local markets of Bali and El Salvador and immediately became inspired. They met and were in awe of the hard-working women who were creating beautiful products–products they loved and knew their

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When Moving, This Is One Thing You Need to Leave Behind

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

I have moved both my mother as well as my father-in-law recently and landed back on my doorstep declaring, “I am cleaning out my house!” If I haven’t touched it, worn it, or even dusted it in awhile, it’s going out the door! It’s not even that they had too much stuff; they just had a house of life. When that’s the case, you end up packing more boxes than you want to load on a truck. Just when you get one box filled, you realize there is another pile you haven’t even touched yet. This exercise leaves one with the desire to never have to do it again. These moves did make me ponder… As we relocate from one home to another, it’s

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This Is Why Women Are Great Defenders of the Helpless

By Rachel Hagstrom / Purpose

I grew up around resilient women who modeled for me the small ways that one could stand against the face of oppression and seek to right injustices. My mom was one of these women, and I wanted to be just like her when I was young. During a time when our country was drowning in gender wars, racial prejudice, and Vietnam, my mom made the bold choice to move into the inner city to live with marginalized groups of society. Mom knew that with each child she taught in the classroom, each story they exchanged with her, and each resource given toward advancing the welfare of others, she was standing in solidarity with those who lived in hardship and outright oppression. Now,

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Girl, It’s Perfectly OK to Just Be You!

By Catie Welvaert / Health & Beauty, Purpose

Each of us goes about life in our own, unique way. Though you may feel like some of your quirks are a bit ridiculous, we want you to know that there’s nothing to be embarrassed about; we all have them! While so many avenues tell us what we should like and how we should act, we are here to say something different: celebration is always better than comparison. So, ladies, it is perfectly okay if… You just had to get ice cream on your lunch break; you’re an adult, so it’s allowed. You make a detour and park at the garden center because…succulents. It’s your third caramel macchiato this week—it means you’re meeting up with a friend for a heartfelt chat. (Read this first, by the way!)

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5 Ways to Handle Hard Circumstances with Grit and Grace

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

Life does not offer constancy. Whether it’s because of a decision we’ve made, the choices of others, or simply due to life circumstances, we will all face seasons of change. Some are positive, exciting, and looked forward to with anticipation. Others can be created by heartbreak, disappointment, or circumstances beyond our control. But whatever the cause—they will come. If you are at one of those impasses, those crossroads of life, here are a few things you will want to do: 1. Remember it’s temporary. There are exceptions, but there is very little in life that you are facing, have faced, or will face that is permanent. 2. Review the past. It doesn’t take much life experience to discover you can and have

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Why I Can Now Embrace My Past as a Refugee

By Catherine Ojala / Purpose

I was a dreamer from the day I was born until eight years old. I was going to be the world’s very first Sierra Leonean Ballerina, violinist, singer, and actress all wrapped up in one, big entertainment bow. Although that’s a mouth full, my dreams were endless. It’s mostly in adulthood that we realize the reality of these endless dreams, and we shift to a more logical and reasonable path. For me, that realization came earlier, way earlier. Before I was a mom, I was a businesswoman. Before I was a businesswoman, I was a wife. Before I was a wife, I was a refugee. This last label stung. I didn’t want it on my resume of life, nor did I want

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Bombas: A Successful Business That Is Helping the Homeless

By Delaney Abroe / Purpose

The majority of us can walk into a store on any given day, pick up a pair of socks, throw it in the cart, and carry on with our day. Socks are nothing more than an afterthought for most; that’s why it is so shocking to learn that for some they are considered a luxury. After coming across a quote on Facebook that said socks are the number one most requested clothing item in homeless shelters, David Heath and Randy Goldberg knew they had to do something. The two decided to start a sock company called Bombas with the mission to donate one pair of socks to those in need for every pair of socks sold. The word Bombas is derived from

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