They say that time flies when you're having fun.
They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder.
They say that time heals all wounds.
Time is an odd thing, isn't it? We never have enough of it. The great times are always too short and the suck-tastic times are always too long. Time seems to stand still. Time is rarely on our side.
I am celebrating a point in time with this blogsite. One year ago I posted my first ever jaunt into the blogosphere with the goal of authentically and transparently sharing my heart and my life with anyone that would listen (i.e. read) with the purpose of directing you, the reader, towards steps of trust in God and Jesus.
How am I doing? Have I been successful? Good questions! I don't know that I care to explore those questions as much as I would like to share with you a snapshot of my life over the past year.
I will warn you. I am about to share some of my inward struggles. Just stay with me...
One year ago... I never wanted to go back to Illinois. Tough to read if you are one of my regulars from Illinois. I am genuinely sorry. This, however, was true of me a year ago. I had left some difficult relationships in Illinois and had zero desire to go back. Sounds like a typical, hypocritical Christian, huh? Yeah, I identified that in my own life and immediately repented to God for that disgusting heart condition... but I still didn't want to go even if I was sorry. I can be SO stubborn!
God revealed to me that if I let this heart condition continue that I would essentially "harden my heart" towards ever being able to love the "extra grace required" folks that I left behind. That did not sound good to me. I wanted to be able to love people well... but some have hurt me and it was really hard to love the seemingly unlikeable people. I wrestled with God for months about this and by September 2008, God had changed me. I returned to Illinois for a visit but it was hard. The relationships were tense and I was barely holding together. God pulled me through and I started learning how to love people who unknowingly vomit toxicity and brokenness all over me. Great visual, huh? My heart remained soft. I returned to Illinois in April 2009 and by God's strength in me I was able to engage everyone with a passion to love them because they existed and were created by God as a masterpiece.
One year later my heart has been transformed by God to love people better, even the unlikeable people.
One year ago... I had no idea what type of impact I wanted to make on this world. I had been in sales for over 12 years and woke up in October 2008 wondering what the heck I was doing with my life! I began the hard work of re-imagining my life. I questioned God about how He made me and what I was meant to do with this life. I dug deep into my past to recapture the dream that I once had to see if it was even applicable to who I had become. I questioned everything.
I humbly sought after God for the answers. The answers started coming to me in a trickle. Isn't that just like God? I mean. I want a flood of answers or some type of "Ah ha!" epiphany moment and He gives me hints... which kept me seeking... which kept me asking... which kept me chasing Him. I realized that the dream had never left me but I had left the dream. I was sleeping through life never waking up to the reality that who I was made to be was always before me.
February 2009 rolled around and I took some steps towards that dream trusting in God. I envisioned the most good that I could do for this world. I recaptured what my life would look like based on my skills and gifts if I was unleashed to express my full, God-given, creative potential. God revealed to me that heroic version of myself and told me to run after it with my life.
One year later my mission in life is clear and I am starting to dream Wide Awake. Here is what God revealed to me:
I am the Fire Wolf and my core mission as a cultural architect and futurist is to unleash people to live out their most heroic life by creating a culture that engages people’s hearts and minds in a conversation about God and faith allowing the Spirit to ignite within them a passion to pursue God.
Those are just two examples of what God has been doing in my heart and mind over the past year. I am more excited than ever to be able to write and share what He is doing in me and through me. It has been a long, hard road filled with trials, hardships, heartache, joy, peace, hope and love.
I can see the future ahead of me that I want to help create based on God's direction for my life and I cannot wait to look back a year from now to see all the good that He has done...
one year later.
They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder.
They say that time heals all wounds.
Time is an odd thing, isn't it? We never have enough of it. The great times are always too short and the suck-tastic times are always too long. Time seems to stand still. Time is rarely on our side.
I am celebrating a point in time with this blogsite. One year ago I posted my first ever jaunt into the blogosphere with the goal of authentically and transparently sharing my heart and my life with anyone that would listen (i.e. read) with the purpose of directing you, the reader, towards steps of trust in God and Jesus.
How am I doing? Have I been successful? Good questions! I don't know that I care to explore those questions as much as I would like to share with you a snapshot of my life over the past year.
I will warn you. I am about to share some of my inward struggles. Just stay with me...
One year ago... I never wanted to go back to Illinois. Tough to read if you are one of my regulars from Illinois. I am genuinely sorry. This, however, was true of me a year ago. I had left some difficult relationships in Illinois and had zero desire to go back. Sounds like a typical, hypocritical Christian, huh? Yeah, I identified that in my own life and immediately repented to God for that disgusting heart condition... but I still didn't want to go even if I was sorry. I can be SO stubborn!
God revealed to me that if I let this heart condition continue that I would essentially "harden my heart" towards ever being able to love the "extra grace required" folks that I left behind. That did not sound good to me. I wanted to be able to love people well... but some have hurt me and it was really hard to love the seemingly unlikeable people. I wrestled with God for months about this and by September 2008, God had changed me. I returned to Illinois for a visit but it was hard. The relationships were tense and I was barely holding together. God pulled me through and I started learning how to love people who unknowingly vomit toxicity and brokenness all over me. Great visual, huh? My heart remained soft. I returned to Illinois in April 2009 and by God's strength in me I was able to engage everyone with a passion to love them because they existed and were created by God as a masterpiece.
One year later my heart has been transformed by God to love people better, even the unlikeable people.
One year ago... I had no idea what type of impact I wanted to make on this world. I had been in sales for over 12 years and woke up in October 2008 wondering what the heck I was doing with my life! I began the hard work of re-imagining my life. I questioned God about how He made me and what I was meant to do with this life. I dug deep into my past to recapture the dream that I once had to see if it was even applicable to who I had become. I questioned everything.
I humbly sought after God for the answers. The answers started coming to me in a trickle. Isn't that just like God? I mean. I want a flood of answers or some type of "Ah ha!" epiphany moment and He gives me hints... which kept me seeking... which kept me asking... which kept me chasing Him. I realized that the dream had never left me but I had left the dream. I was sleeping through life never waking up to the reality that who I was made to be was always before me.
February 2009 rolled around and I took some steps towards that dream trusting in God. I envisioned the most good that I could do for this world. I recaptured what my life would look like based on my skills and gifts if I was unleashed to express my full, God-given, creative potential. God revealed to me that heroic version of myself and told me to run after it with my life.
One year later my mission in life is clear and I am starting to dream Wide Awake. Here is what God revealed to me:
I am the Fire Wolf and my core mission as a cultural architect and futurist is to unleash people to live out their most heroic life by creating a culture that engages people’s hearts and minds in a conversation about God and faith allowing the Spirit to ignite within them a passion to pursue God.
Those are just two examples of what God has been doing in my heart and mind over the past year. I am more excited than ever to be able to write and share what He is doing in me and through me. It has been a long, hard road filled with trials, hardships, heartache, joy, peace, hope and love.
I can see the future ahead of me that I want to help create based on God's direction for my life and I cannot wait to look back a year from now to see all the good that He has done...
one year later.
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composed by
dave
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