Have you ever been sailing? I played around on a catamaran one summer, and though my nautical knowledge is pretty slim, I do understand the wind’s power against a sail. (Said wind may have tipped my tiny vessel plum over, dumping an embarrassed me right into the water—fully clothed.)

A sailboat is at the mercy of the wind, waves, and currents of the ocean. If a powerful storm blows in, even a trained sailor can be helpless against it. God bless the person who invented anchors!

An anchor does for a sailor what he can’t do for himself: hold steady. Stay put. Ride out the storm. Having an anchor is the only way a boat can hold still on the constantly moving and changing surface of the water.

An anchored soul—now, that would be pretty revolutionary, don’t you think?

The only reason I didn’t shipwreck when I lost my mom to cancer is because my heart was anchored to God. I held steady when the waves crashed over my head because I knew the hope of the gospel.

I don’t know what kind of life-altering changes you might face (or have faced) in your family. But I do know this: If hope anchors your soul, no storm will ultimately shipwreck you. That doesn’t mean you won’t feel as if your boat is breaking to bits from the force of the waves!

But your faith has the ability to hold you steady when the storms hit. Notice I said when. Storms will hit, and some of them will hit hard. But God has promised to see you through (see Philippians 1:6), and He never goes back on His word. As long as you look to Him, your ship—your life—won’t sink, even when life as you know it changes forever…

For many young women, life just sort of happens to them. They don’t give much thought about where they want to go and what they want their lives to look like. In their families, that means they just get by. They react to the people around them, but they don’t think about the big picture—about how they want to act toward the people they love.

I want more for you than that. I want you to live your life—including your family life—on purpose. With a plan. On a mission. That’s why I’ve put together the following “Family Manifesto.” A manifesto is like a mission statement. I hope it will inspire you to make the most of the weeks, months, or years you have with the people you call family.

Click the image to download My Family Manifesto from Family: How to Love Yours (and Help Them Like You Back) by Jessie Minassian.

This is an excerpt from Family: How to Love Yours (and Help Them Like You Back) by Jessie Minassian. Learn more HERE. Originally posted on The Disciple-Maker Blog.