For Such a Time as This...

There's a saying, "Life is where you find it, and what you make of it."

At 3:00 pm, a local "smoking" gas attendant said, "I sure need a beer" while her work area smelled like a smoke factory. Someone told her, "she was paying for her death as a smoker" and she replied, "I'm going to die from something anyway, so I'm going to die happy!" This is not the first time this statement has been heard, and it's amazing to know the percentage of women that believe adding poison to their bodies is a pathway to happiness. Since many women believe that death is inevitable, many also believe that it's pointless to live a healthy lifestyle.

The services and programs of Virtuous Enterprises, Inc. (VEINC) are designed to make positive, long-term impacts in the lives of underserved women and girls to enrich their quality of life. One strategy is "cause-and-effect" - an approach to help clients discover the 'root cause' of their life's circumstance. For example, a participant of VEINC's Women Increasing their Net worth program, learned her 'root cause' of credit card debt was due to loneliness, not lack of money management skills.

Individuals that smoke are not being criticized because we all have personal struggles to conquer. But, the thought process that prevents many women from embracing life as a gift is.

Why is it challenging for some women to value themselves and their lives to achieve greatness? Why do some women suffer in silence to protect others, and not themselves? Why do some women believe that education is not needed to create economic stability for their family? Is it possible that many are challenged because they are living life without purpose.

In his book entitled, In Pursuit of Purpose, Dr. Myles Munroe wrote:

A lack of purpose and the impending tragedy that results from its absence is found not only in people but in all things. When elements of nature lose their purpose, chaos and destruction are the results. When nations, societies, communities, organizations, friendships, marriages, clubs, churches, countries or tribes lose their sense of purpose and significance, then confusion, frustration, discouragement, disillusionment and corporate suicide - whether gradual or instant - reign.

The Book of Esther tells a wonderful story about a young woman who was chosen to become a queen (Queen Vashti's successor) by King Ahasuerus. Based on tradition, Esther should not have been chosen, but Mordecai (Esther's Uncle) believed she secured this post to intervene Hathach's plot to kill a group of people.

Esther 4:14 states, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

It is VEINC's hope that 2008 will be the year for women that do not value themselves, discover their inner beauty and purpose, because life without purpose is like having a body without a heart.