From Despair to “Rejoicing in Goodness”: Regent Alumna Speaks at the Library of Congress about Discovering Purpose

Speaking at the Library of Congress is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

For Regent University School of Business and Leadership (SBL) alumna, Dr. Eve Taylor ‘16, it’s another milestone in a life defined by Christ-driven purpose despite pain and sorrow.

On November 1, she gave an address on her new book, Discover Your Why, to the Daniel A.P. Murray African American Cultural Association in the Library’s Madison Building.

According to Taylor, the opportunity was nothing short of “supernatural.”

As a young woman, she was sexually abused. Although she was able to marry her childhood sweetheart, after having a daughter, doctors determined she would need to undergo a medical procedure that would keep her from having any more children.

Their verdict severely impacted Taylor’s perception of herself and brought on a barrage of negative thoughts. She found herself in a low point — one of despair and self-doubt.

The build-up of negativity and stress eventually cascaded, resulting in a heart attack.

Furthermore, Taylor was rejected by her husband, and later, their marriage ended. She attempted to commit suicide, which in turn, brought about a revelation.

She was watching evangelist Miles Monroe on television one Saturday morning. She recalled Monroe saying, “There’s somebody that’s been trying to kill yourself, and God has a purpose and plan in you, and wants you to live and not die. You cannot kill what God has created in you.” She knew he was referring to her.

“I broke down and I wept,” said Taylor.

She moved to Atlanta where she felt the Lord tell her, “I am not cancelling your life, I have given you purpose for your life. So live your life with purpose.”

After that, Taylor said, “God dropped in my spirit, ‘Why don’t you discover your why?’”

It sparked a series of “why” questions, and she began asking the Lord why she’d gone through heartache and pain. This became the core message in Taylor’s recently released book, Discover Your Why.

Taylor found identity with the story Abraham, God’s chosen father of the nations.

“Abraham had a lot of problems in his life as Abram, but he didn’t know … that God had put a mission in him — not until God had told him he would change his name … that he would give him a son,” she said. “Understand that when God has put something in you, God cannot cancel it.”

Like Abraham, she’s seen her identity shift. The meaning attached to her name, she said, changed from one of “anger” and “bitterness,” to one attached to God, who gave her a “purpose and a plan,” for her life.

“God changed my identity, in a sense, and he changed my name to prosperity,” she added.

She talked about the passage on Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12 during her address at the Library of Congress. The opportunity, Taylor said, stands as proof of God’s goodness and faithfulness in her life.

Taylor hopes her book and the message that changed her life can help others find purpose and point them to look past their situations and ask, “Do you see the other side? Do you have a picture of the other side?”

“I’m rejoicing in my goodness,” Taylor said. “I had a life mission and recognized I’m going to be on God’s mission, God’s time, to do what God called me to do so that others would be blessed.”