“Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you’d be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don’t let life randomly kick you into the adult you don’t want to become.”
~ Chris Hadfield, Commander, Expedition 35, International Space Station

Today a Canadian hero returns to the earth. Commander Chris Hadfield completes his five month mission aboard the International Space Station and comes literally crashing back to earth. At one point he offered the above words of wisdom as he described what drove him to become an astronaut.

These are words we need to take to heart.

It’s a question many of us may want to ask ourselves, “What drives me? What am I passionate about?”

What drives you… what forms you as a person is the environment you place yourself in. And to be honest, the world is telling us we can sustain ourselves. That we are in control of our own destiny. But where has that led us? Huge corporations have crumbled to the ground because of the greed of the leadership, even banks! Much of the world lives in poverty and violence as we feed our desire for more power and more money.

Is this what God created the world to be?

God desires for us to be loved and to love. To share with our neighbours, and to care for those less fortunate than we are. This is what He showed us Himself when His Son came to the earth in Jesus.

Sometimes it takes a new perspective on our lives and our planet to help us see it. Commander Chris Hadfield has inspired many to think about the earth and how we care for it from the perspective of someone who spent 5 months watching from above. To see the full beauty of creation without walls our borders, just simply the beauty of this planet in stunning imagery.

God has far greater plans for us than we think. God has eternal plans for those who follow Him.

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:9