A Merry-Go-Round Roller Coaster...

Well, if you know anything about me, you know that I tend to be a reflective person. Well, today is one of those days where I get encouragement for where I am currently at by looking back at the path I just traveled. It has been a little bit over a year now since I moved back to Southern Illinois and it is almost two years since I resigned my position at Columbia Community in Richland, Washington. Life has been a merry-go-round as well as a roller coaster these past couple years. In conversations past, I have described this season of life as The Life Layover or The Waiting Room of Life. I felt like I was in the in-betweens of two acts of this play I call my life. I wholeheartedly believe that experiences now are purposely preparing me for future experiences. But to call this time The Life Layover or The Waiting Room of Life does not do justice to the life I'm living right now.

Merry-Go-Round
There are parts to this life that I feel like I've have seen before. Yet, on a merry-go-round, it is you that is going in circles not the world. I have revisited the inner workings of my faith and realized that an update was needed. My vocabulary of faith was not only growing but changing. Not only new words with new definitions; but also some of the old words needed redefined. So I revisited: What a Christ Follower is really to be about? How is a male Christ Follower different from his female counterpart and different from the world's definition of what a man is to be like? What does it mean to be "called into ministry" and how does that take shape in one's life? What pursuits should really be the driving force in my life? What cause(s)should I invest my time, talents, & treasures into? How does an American shape my faith? What does salvation, evangelism, & prayer look like and how does their appearances change?

Roller coaster
There are parts to this life these past couple years, which have been like a roller coaster the world has yet to engineer. A lot of dips & climbs and twists & turns that if it wasn't so much fun, it would make me sick! I must say, though, that half of the fun that I experience on roller coasters is dependent upon who is sitting beside me, in front of me, and behind me. This has been one blessing from God that has seen no end. The friends he puts in my path are some of the greatest people the world has ever known. This why I tend to be optimistic about our world's future. I meet these people that are a part of my generation and I hang out with a lot of students that are a part of the new generation; and I can't help but be comforted that the world has yet to see the cream of the crop. Being a fan of The 6 Degrees of Separation Theory, I have no doubt I will be able to say one day "I knew that person before they were a pastor, professor, inner-city school teacher, missionary, doctor, nuclear physicist, jazz singer, navy seal, Olympic track star, or President of the United States."

I find myself currently in Carbondale, Illinois at a Panera Bread with free Wi-Fi. I am 28 now, and I am baker in my family's company. There are conversations now of me transitioning into a management position in the next 3 months where I will oversee the Bakery Division as well as becoming the Chief Financial Officer of the company. This is an exhilarating thought...scary, but exhilarating. I will be taking a summer school course in business accounting at college to help prepare for this new turn in the roller coaster. What lies ahead after the turn? I have no clue. That is part of what makes a roller coaster such a fun ride.

I am a part of a great small group of friends, which is one of the branches of Vineyard Community Church here in Carbondale. We are your typical small group. We all have our issues that we are working through. We also all have so much to offer to one another. This is community at its worst & best…this is simply how life works. I also am also a part of the Middle School Ministry at the Vineyard and love every minute of it. My passion in helping people discover & become the people God created them to be continues to grow stronger each day. That is one thing that has not change. This merry-go-round roller coaster speeds up & slows down, goes around & around, goes up & goes down & even upside down; but some things remain the same. What a ride! What a ride!!