What is Your Purpose?

We all have a purpose in life. Have you discovered yours yet? It can be whatever you feel you were meant to do with your life. What is your calling? Is there something you want to do but think you cannot do it. Anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself.

I discovered my purpose after going public with the sexual abuse I endured in my life. I never imagined when I made the decision to take my diary and turn it into a book it would lead to discovering my purpose. I thought when I first began speaking out, my purpose was to just put a face and voice on sexual abuse and give others courage but I soon discovered I had a bigger purpose. A purpose to use my life as a mission to protect other children from abuse by creating this law. A law called “Erin’s law” that has been heard around the world after I shared it on Oprah last October.

A law I was determined to get passed in my state of Illinois. A law that I got passed in the Senate and House with all yes votes and eventually signed by the Governor this year. I am now taking this crusade national and won’t stop until I get it passed in all 50 states. If you know me by now I get accomplished what I go after.  Children, parents, educators, and society as a whole need to be educated on sexual abuse. It is time we stop tip toeing around sexual abuse because it will never go away so it is time to start talking about it. This generation and the generations to come will not live in the shadows of this silent epidemic. It won’t be a silent epidemic forever. I am on a mission to change that and Erin’s law will do just that.

Erin’s law was signed by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon back in July. I testified for that state by video. Now that I am taking this crusade national I am seriously ready to be like all your candidates who run for Presidential office and get on my campaign bus. The only difference is I am not running for President 9 yrs. too young for that and have no plans for it in the future. I would be making my stop in every state to get Erin’s law heard by lawmakers testifying to each Senate and House in each state to explain to them why this is so important. After I talk the only people who should not be standing with me in agreement is the sex offenders themselves. And for the first time in 7 years since I took my story public I had a sex offender write me a letter. A father last week who molested his own daughter, turned himself into a counselor because he knew what he was doing was wrong. He saw a rebroadcast of a speech I gave in his state of  Washington back in September.  He wrote me to completely agree with my law and added in his letter to me that parents should also be warned how sex offenders groom kids, get them to stay silent, and the warning signs to look for. I’m even getting s sex offender to agree with me on my law. Certainly didn’t see that coming. He ended his letter by saying he hopes his own daughter can one day forgive him the way I shared in my speech of forgiving my cousin.

Senator Valesky, Erin Merryn, Senator Klein at New York Press Conference Oct. 25th.

Last week I was in New York introducing Erin’s law with two New York Senators Klein and Valesky after speaking at a child abuse state conference. New York is the next state to be introducing my law this January in 2012. I spoke with a House of Rep. from Minnesota this week who is going to go after introducing my law and wants me to come do a press conference in Minnesota. I also have New Mexico and Indiana legislators going after Erin’s law for 2012. I know more will follow I have no doubt.

I have discovered my purpose and I will be fighting for it until my final day on this earth.

I talk to God on a daily basis and He tells me daily my work here isn’t done. He isn’t ready for me anytime soon.

I know I never imagined when I stepped out in the public with my life that it would become what it has. So now I can only imagine what the years ahead will look like. I can only imagine. I already have some amazing thoughts in my mind. Only time will tell. In time I will share more. I have to leave some of my life a mystery to the thousands of you who follow me. Not everything can be revealed just yet.

I started this off asking you what your purpose is? Have you discovered it? Don’t tell me you don’t have a purpose, we all do. Maybe you need to just look a little deeper inside. The answers come from within. I found mine there.

Signing off