Finding your purpose - part 1

August 24 2025

Hello everyone,

Summer is almost over here in Ontario.   The nights are cooling down and it gets dark much sooner.  The days are still hot, but cool enough to go for long walks.   I recently went for a hike at Sandbanks Provincial Park.   It is the only place in Ontario that has sand dunes.   Lake Ontario is on one side of the formation with a rock-strewn beach over the sand, while on the other side is West Lake and a few miles of sand dunes.   Hiking here is a bit hard with the loose sand, but definitely worth a visit.  The view from the top of the highest dune is amazing.   

While walking from West Lake to Lake Ontario, away from where most tourists venture, I saw some otters in the distance struggling to cross one of the dunes.   After a few tries, they made it over the top and disappeared from my sight.   There were also fresh deer tracks, but I didn’t see any deer.    Some turkey vultures were using the air thermals to float above me.   These birds seem very ugly up close, but in the air, they soar like eagles and have a massive wing span.   I watched them for a while and tried to get a good photo, but with the sun in my eyes, I didn’t succeed.   I kept walking towards the lakeshore, enjoying the beautiful day in God’s creation.

Farther on, I noticed some dead trees still standing.   They were gray from age, but still about twenty feet tall.  I had already walked by or stepped over many dead branches on my hike, but these were the first trees I noticed still upright.   Even after many years of decay, their girth was still impressive.   I started to think about what they might have endured out on the open dunes, constantly battered by wind and storms.

To reach that size, they would have been able to shelter deer, birds and the other animals that make their homes in the dunes.    They would have protected the smaller grasses, plants and saplings growing under them.   Their seeds would have provided food for squirrels and other animals, and some of the seeds would have been blown in the wind to grow more trees elsewhere.   Even now, their roots are still protecting the dunes by holding the sand in place.    During their lifetime, they made an impact on their environment and accomplished their God given purpose.

When I was younger, I didn’t know what my purpose was.   And I struggled for several years to find it (which you can read about in the book ‘Choices – A Journey of Faith’).    My purpose was not just to get married, have children, live in a house with a picket fence, and retire when I was old.   Although I did get married, my purpose was, and still is, so much more than that.   With every step I take on the journey I believe the Lord has for me, He reveals a little more of His purpose for my life.   Would I have chosen to be battered by some of the storms that have come along, probably not!   But without the storms, I wouldn’t have been able to see God move in my life, or grow strong enough to help someone else.

Unlike these trees, I have choices.   I don’t have to live where the Lord wants me to, or do what He wants me to do.    But when I do what He has called me to do and walk in His purpose for my life, then I am full of His joy, and I feel fulfilled.    And like these trees, I will leave an impact on my environment after I am gone.

I hope that you are seeking God to find the purpose He has for your life.    I can’t promise there won’t be any storms, but I know that His purpose for your life is good.   

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Blessings,

… Gayle

PS: Part 2 of this blog will contain some practical ways to help you discover what the Lord's plans are for you.