WHO AM I?
I am a senior at Arizona State University graduating in May 2015 with dual degrees in Industrial Design, and Design Management, a sustainability minor, and a Barrett Honors College certificate. I am the son of the two most in-love and loving parents I know, and the older brother of one incredible guy. I am an Arizona native, a second generation Sun Devil, a fraternity man, a daydreamer, a thinker, a designer, and an artist. I love being outside, running, hiking, cycling, swimming, building, creating, and designing. Above all I love people, I love loving them, I love interacting with them, and I love finding new and deeper ways of understanding them. I realize I can’t change the world but I want to give everything I have towards making a positive impact on it.
But what does this resume list of things mean if all that we are is simply serving ourselves; if every ounce of the above answer isn’t all for Christ? This is the terrifyingly exciting realization I came to in November of my senior year, when the World Race smacked me in the face during a season of life that I was almost completely ignoring God (more to come on this in a future blog post). As I sat down to write this first post about who I am, the lyrics of the Casting Crowns song “Who Am I” quickly came to mind…
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?
Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done.
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are…
I am someone who is deeply inspired by music and this song is from one of the first Christian Albums I ever purchased on itunes way back in middle school. It is crazy how a song takes on different meanings in different seasons of life, and how you can see and hear things you never had before. So, WHO AM I? I am a child of the one true king, a servant, and a light. I am a man who is ready to give it all up to him and see what he does with it, the good the bad and the ugly. I am excited for him to light the way as my ever wandering heart, wanders the earth for 11 months, not because of who I am, or anything that I’ve done, but because of who he is.
While everything stated above is true, I don’t ever want to be the guy who paints the perfect picture and leaves out the brokenness and insecurities that make this a human experience. Because I am also a guy who is deeply insecure about opening up this part of my heart to everyone I know and have surrounded myself with for the past four years at the largest university in the country. Opening it to people who have known that I am a Christian, but have never understood it to this extent. I am not the guy who grew up in a consistent church and has the vast network of Christian family friends, and childhood youth group buddies that many racers do. I am battling the identity crisis of switching from the professional goal oriented path I have been on to the guy who is leaving everything he knows for a mission trip. BUT in all of this I am confident that I have been called to this journey and I am excited beyond written expression for what God has in store. I look forward to everyone getting to know me better through this blog and being witness to the work God is doing over the months leading up to my launch as well as on the field. If this stirred something inside of you, please subscribe or reach out to me…this is just the beginning.
