Juliette Gordon Low (“Daisy”) was born in an era in the 1900’s when the primary goal of a woman was to be a wife and a mother. Daisy’s husband was a philanderer and an alcoholic. He also made no pretense to hide his mistress, Anna Bateman.
After enduring several years of an unhappy and childless marriage, Daisy began divorce proceedings in 1902, a brave move for a woman. During this time, she turned to family and friends for comfort and wrote about longing for a purpose. She continued to visit friends, travel abroad, and do charitable deeds with a working girls club in a poor district of London. In 1905, Willy (her husband) died, leaving the bulk of his estate to Anna. Daisy and her sisters-in-law contested the will and eventually won.
Daisy drifted between Europe and America searching for something to fill the void. At a luncheon party one serendipitous day in 1911, she met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, found of the Boy Scouts. This meeting changed her life. She went on to found the Girl Scouts.
–(Taken from the historical marker outside the Juliette Gordon Low House, Savannah, Georgia).
While touring Savannah this week, Leona and I stopped by the home of Juliette Gordon Low and 
the Carriage House which became the headquarters for the Girl Scouts of America. What impressed me about the story was how her longing for a sense of purpose drove her to launch an outreach to young girls that has since impacted the entire nation.
After reading about Daisy’s life, I said to Leona, “Can you imagine launching a movement following so much disappointment and defeat in her life?” She immediately responded, “Yes. We are!”
As I write this, we are in the midst of a Southeast USA Re-Ignite tour. Our focus in Re-Ignite is to help people reflect upon their lives (including the painful parts), search their souls for their life purpose, and pursue it with a passion, regardless of the age and stage of their lives.
Who knows? Like Juliette Gordon Low, finding your purpose might impact the world!
written by Richard Bergstrom, President, ChurchHealth
Copyright 2015 ChurchHealth
