The 60-Second Read for background

Personal Agency

Personal agency is the capacity to act independently and make your own choices, feeling you have control to influence your life, set goals, and take effective action to achieve them, rather than being a passive subject to external forces. It involves beliefs about your ability to make things happen (efficacy), planning (forethought), self-management, and persistence to navigate challenges and shape your own outcomes.

• Self-Determination: The power to decide what you want and need.
• Goal-Directed Action: Setting goals and taking deliberate steps to reach them.
• Sense of Control: Feeling empowered and responsible for your life’s direction.
• Efficacy & Competence: Believing in your ability to succeed and act effectively.
• Contextual Awareness: Recognizing influences (like social structures or bad weather) but choosing how to respond to them.

Relevance: Without personal agency you get nowhere. God can make it possible. Only you have the power to take steps forward. But with God you become a creative force that makes a new future for you with dazzling prospects.

You know that moment when life suddenly changes and you feel like you’re sitting in the middle of a stream with no paddle. This is normal. When we’re busy with life we’re less likely to be looking for something new and different. Then suddenly we’re faced with questions we have no answer for. You turn to that “inner chlld” of yesteryear and realize those things aren’t interesting anymore. You’ve grown and changed and your image of yourself hasn’t caught up.

This is where you can stay passive and just drift along, or where you can shine. Take command and be your own hero.

Who we think we are and where we fit is a combination of how we think others see us in our roles, and the life we developed. Suddenly there is no boss or parent who is doing the looking, and without their gaze, you can’t see yourself. It’s just us.

The Monster in the Room

The enemy here is the fear that if you stop being who others think you are, they will reject you. You are afraid that if you stop being “The Responsible One” or “The Faithful One,” you will be kicked out.

This is where the struggle begins. Our perceptions fight against you. Others may be very happy to see you grow and try new things, even though they are a bit saddened at losing your assistance.

The story begins

Elias has a secure job solving problems in industry. His wife Mary, a very religious person, loves her creative job as a visual merchandising specialist in a department store. Their daughter, Sarah, just graduated from high school and is looking forward to college. Things are going amazingly well for the family when disaster strikes. Elias’ employer downsizes, and he is out of a job. No income!

They have three months of savings and feel lucky for that. Mary’s creative job feeds her soul but not the mortgage. Out of the blue, the math no longer works. Not even new math. The house, the college tuition, the retirement plan—it’s all in jeopardy.

Their life may be permanently changed. Join us for the next eight weeks or so to see how they face obstacles within and without, and what they learn about identity, personal agency, and finding meaning and purpose. Something special this way comes!