Dear 15 year old Jochem,
I’m very excited as I share with you some advice and
insights for the next seven years of your life. These next seven years will be a
roller coaster ride, filled with all sorts of ups, downs, twists, and turns. I
want to warn you Jochem, as you finish out your high school years. Listen
carefully to your dad, who is full of wisdom and life experience. Find a great
group of Christian guys to do life with and to confide in. Avoid common worldly
pleasures and focus that attention upon building lifelong relationships and memories
with fellow male peers.
You sure do love to work. Punching that time card after
school, during weekends, and even holidays brings you happiness with the little
paycheck you receive. Instead, focus on your grades and your college selection,
and that perfect score on the chemistry exam is worth multitudes more than the
pocket change you earned by the hour. Place your full attention on those high
school and college diplomas. Strive to excel in every class you enroll in.
You are blessed with an amazing mom, dad, and four siblings
that love you so much. Do not take this for granted! Make every effort to live
in peace with them, and show that you love them. This family will be your only
family, you will not get another! God put you with these people for a reason.
The choices that you are making now weigh heavily on your future. Every poor
decision you make will have consequences you better be faced to live with for
the rest of your life.
You’re slowly and surely leaving your boyhood behind you and
becoming the man that God designed you to be. In just a few short years God
will “accidentally” lead you into your first overseas mission trip. You will
think of the trip as “a trip to occupy your time” or a “substitute for work,”
but this was His plan all along. This trip will be to a country that is poorer
than poor, a country that you will visit many more times, and a country where your heart has never left.
As for the women in your life, they will be dark, beautiful, and extravagant. Your international mission trips might have others gossiping
that you’re an international player. Please. I know that’s false. Your mission trips will be a time of many firsts, and where God will hand you
something special you were not at all looking for. Be wise, and seek God’s
heart, counsel, and wisdom before pursuing a woman. Lastly, very importantly, God will slowly begin to show you your true identity through these trips. Let Him show you the man of God He wants you to be!
Sometimes it may seem that you are alone in this world. Run
to God, the author and creator of your life. Don’t walk or jog, RUN! Spend time
with him, read His word, and worship Him. Time is never wasted when it is spent
with God. Remember that!
With love,
22 year old Jochem
