Is it to achieve the American Dream? Is it to enjoy life to the fullest? Or is it something else?
For years I sought to achieve the American Dream. And by the world’s standards, I was considered quite successful, with all the trappings and accouchements that come with it. Then one night I was sitting out on the patio viewing Monterey in a distance and I begin talking to myself…There has to be more meaning to life than the lifestyle I’m living. I realized that I had to have a purpose for my life. I sought to understand why am I here? What’s my purpose?
Winston Churchill stated, “It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” John D. Rockefeller said, “Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.” And Thomas Carlyle recorded, “The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.”
After I became aware of this in 1982, I sought to seek a meaningful purpose. I sold my home in the Santa Cruz mountains and moved into a small condominium in Cupertino. I sold my toys and vehicles and began seeking a meaningful purpose for me. In 1983 I saw this amazing looking woman from a distance at a work celebration event.
Two years later I met Lee and we began dating and got married in 1986. Lee and I both began attending Saratoga Lutheran Church and the Sr. Pastor and his wife both became dear friends of ours. I began to sense I might be reaching part of my purpose, which was to be happily married and to have a family. We were blessed with two sons. I was adamant to raise my sons different from the way I was raised by my dad, who was absent most of my life.
We moved to Roseville in 1990 so I could be a proactive dad and Lee could be a stay-at-home mom. Shortly after we moved into our home, we found a church where the Sr. Pastor facilitated Lee and I discovering our purpose in life through Christ. God blessed us richly through the many people in our neighborhood. He has continued to move in my life with such a guiding strength that I had never experienced before.
Our pastor introduced me to a discipler, Bob Merwin, who guided me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. On September 9, 1993, as I was driving on I-80 heading to meet with Bob at my office in downtown Sacramento. I was moved through tears to confess my sins and issues to Jesus, and asked Jesus to take total and absolute control of my life. So, I began my relationship with Jesus, and finally discovered my purpose in life…to Love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as I love myself.
Since then, my life has been filled with miracles, an amazing wife and two wonderful sons and we’re all following Jesus. In addition, God led me to launch Shoulder To Shoulder in 1995, a Christ centered ministry, that focused on helping men seek discover their purpose and mentoring fatherless young men in Del Paso Heights.
After 22 years I resigned from Shoulder To Shoulder and launched Forging Disciples in 2018—whose mission is to expand sound biblical doctrine and life-on-life discipleship in our region.
God planted His purpose for me in my heart! What a thrill it’s been as I experience God continuing to guide me down the pathway of life!
My prayer for you is that you would also find your purpose in God, through Jesus Christ, to meet Him and surrender your old life and reach out to take His eternal life and love. He freely offered it to you from the cross.
Heavenly Father, I pray men would begin to grab ahold of the purpose you have for each of them so they can experience the peace, joy, and love from being a son of yours. So many men I have met in our region go to church but don’t know you. They believe they’re going to Heaven because they said a simple prayer but have done nothing to seek guidance from your Word, from your Holy Spirit and from an intimate relationship with You. Father, please open their eyes to your truth, your way of life, and begin to life out the purpose you have for each of them in You. In Jesus name, Amen.
With Gratitude,
Bill