| One Girl Journal
By Claudia Mitchell
Dive in here after you’ve read chapter 2 of One Girl Can Change the World!
What’s My Passion?
“If you give God the right to yourself, he will make a holy experiment out of you. God’s experiments always succeed.”
—Oswald Chambers
Claudia: I met with some amazing college students recently. As we were sitting around a table, eating bagels slathered with honey-flavored cream cheese, we talked about their passion to change the world. Zachary, a political science major, dreams of becoming president of the United States. Nathan wants to discover a cure for cancer. Bethany wants to be a missionary. Kristen wants to become a sports therapist. Though they have very different passions, they share a common desire to make a difference in this world for God. I told them how excited I was to hear their dreams, and then I shared my experience in the dolphin exhibit from chapter 2 of One Girl.
We will not just drift into our purpose. Like the girl with the handheld computer game at the dolphin pavilion, there are just too many distractions that threaten to keep us from God’s best! As I write this it’s not even yet lunchtime, and already there’s unending noise in my world. It’s hard to focus. I woke up to the disarming sound of the alarm clock. My cell phone is now ringing, my computer is buzzing, the coffeemaker is beeping, the TV is blaring . . . and I just got out of bed, for crying out loud! Not to mention the continual noise in my own head that can be just as annoying and even louder than the external noise. Should I wash my hair? What will I wear? I feel fat! I need to whiten my teeth. The internal noise that I generate all the time_my list of things to do and people to see_is never ending . . . and LOUD! If we don’t get intentional about the big picture and discover our place on this planet, we’ll get distracted by the bells and whistles and miss God’s bigger blessings.
So this is your place to turn off all the noise and focus! Here it is: your chance to define your personal mission. Research shows that we are more likely to accomplish the goals that we write down, so get intentional about discovering God’s best for you. As you turn back to these pages time and again to see what God has done, revel in the knowledge that he always accomplishes his purposes!
Get Your Shoes On!
Stepping In
Read Colossians 1:9-12 in your Bible. Then read it aloud using the words “I” or “me” like this:
God, I ask you to fill me with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And I pray this so that I can live a life worthy of you and can please you in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of you, being strengthened with all power according to your glorious might so that I can have great endurance and patience, and joyfully give thanks to you, for you have qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
Read Ephesians 2:10 in your Bible and then write the verse here. Next, circle the words in the verse that really stand out to you.
Devote time each day in prayer, asking God to reveal his desires for you. Tell him that you desperately want to fulfill his purposes for your life, and ask him to guide you in your search and to open the eyes of your heart so that you may see what he has in mind for you. Ask him to help you be obedient to him in following where he leads and to help you overcome any obstacles along the way.
Flip to the “What’s God Saying to Me?” section at the end of this journal and take some time to write down what you think God may be saying to you during your prayer time, through his Word, or through other people and circumstances.
Stepping Up
Write out a prayer in your own words based on Ephesians 5:15-17. Turn to the “My Life Mission” section at the back of this journal and answer the questions there. (Don’t rush through it—take your time!)
Stepping Out
Write your personal mission statement in the “My Life Mission” section at the back of this journal. Remember, a personal mission statement should:
1. Be one sentence
2. Be easily understood
3. Make your heart beat fast when you say it
It should also include an action, a core value, and a target cause or group that you are most passionate about.
Share your personal mission statement with at least one other person. Who will you share it with? Write that person’s name here: ___________________________________________________ Commit to checking in with each other from time to time to share what you’re doing to fulfill your personal mission.
“This project has completely confiscated my life, darling. Consumed me as only hero work can.” —Edna, costume maker in The Incredibles
“The place God
calls you to is the
place where your
deep gladness and
the world’s deep
hunger meet.”
—Frederick Buechner
“‘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).
“You have to start young if you want to be a leader. You can’t just wait for it to fall in your lap. You have to take control.”
—our friend Ellen Pashley
“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.”
—Margaret Thatcher
“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles, and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you.”
—George Lucas
“A personal mission statement acts as both a harness and a sword— harnessing you to what is true about your life, and cutting away all that is false.”
—Laurie Beth Jones,
The Path
Three things that give me energy are:
What did I always want to be when I grew up?
If I won the lottery, what would I do with the money?
What does a great day look like for me?
What causes do I really care about most?
What certain people groups (ex: kids, elderly, special needs, poor, other nationalities) do I really care about most?
Here is everything I’ve accomplished so far. What am I really good at?
Who do I admire the most? Why?
These are books I like to read:
What do I want to be most remembered for?
What does my perfect life look like?
What would I attempt if I could not fail?
How do I think God may be using all this toward my life mission?
Write your life mission. Remember, it should:
1. Be one sentence
2. Be easily understood
3. Make your heart beat fast when you say it
It should also include an action, a core value, and a target cause or group that you are most passionate about.
My mission is to ______________________________ for ________________________________________ .
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