The book Into the Wild by John Krakauer draws readers into a story that I think many wished was theirs; Chris McCandless arouses the desire of many Americans to be free of the oppression of the meaningless duties of our culture and the hurt of personal relationships as he begins what many would term a “reckless” solo journey on foot to intimately explore the West and ultimately Alaska. I picked up the book a few days ago only to realize what has drawn me into his story was not the awakening of my desires but the striking similarity of his journey to mine. But where I think we seperate is how dramatically God has and is transforming me to serve Him.
My past few years have been an amazing journey as I initially gave up halfway through an Electrical Engineering degree at Michigan Tech. I moved from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the Front Range of Colorado, accepting a position as a Network Engineer. I fell in love with the mountains there; I loved hiking, skiing and climbing, most of the time running off into the wilderness by myself because no one else wanted to go, and I began to loathe anything to do with the 6 years of Information Technology experience I had accrued. But through that time, God began to give me a love for Him I never knew possible. The next summer, just over a year later, I quit my job and joined a missions project in Yellowstone National Park with Campus Crusade for Christ. And while exploring and leading people into the Teton mountain range and the wilderness of Yellowstone, I discovered what true community looked like. There I saw what the body of Christ can really look like when people come together and accept the challenge of daily encouraging one another to share the love of Christ and the hope that He offers with people all while living and working with them.
I did return to Michigan Tech for another two years, sprinting back out West in my truck at every possible moment to fight wildfires, backpack and climb for weeks on end and soak up every bit of freedom, thrill, and beauty I constantly longed for and felt home with. This past Fall I finally was given the chance to move out to Bozeman, Montana amidst the mountains where I may very well “settle” if I can manage to put down roots. But nonetheless through those times of struggle to keep my feet on the ground in flat country of the Midwest, I discovered something else even more incredible than mountains. I discovered there is so much beauty, so much creativity, so much value in every one of us created in God’s image – we are His masterpiece!
I don’t regret any part of my journey so far. Despite all of the pain of trying to find my self-worth in being the best at engineering, the loneliness of hiding my struggles from others and the incredible hurt of trying to find life in pursuing girls, I’ve discovered the incredible real love of God. I still love running, hiking, skiing, climbing, exploring and sometimes even studying jet engines. And God’s also given me the incredible opportunity to begin flight training here in Montana and the crazy desire to possibly finish the few credits remaining on my engineering degree in Microbiology at Montana State. But ultimately I’m discovering that true life is found in Him. And through that love for Him, I’ve been given an ever increasing incredible love and compassion for people – people all around us worth so much but that desperately need to know about Christ’s incredible love and salvation! I no longer want control; I’ve long been tired of not fully trusting all of my heart and life to Christ even though I’ve asked Him into my heart. And I’m learning to LET GO! Let go of everything to be carried away by my God, no longer to worry, but to let my creator show me a life so filled with love, adventure and beauty in a way I’m only beginning to see but still can’t really even imagine!
That’s a small part of my story – alot more consists of being in a military family and living in Germany for 7 years and in a variety of other states around this country. And unlike Chris McCandless my parents have an incredible love for me and a great desire to follow God! I’m greatly looking forward to trusting God as we have an awesome opportunity to share the love of Christ on the World Race while being changed ourselves for 11 months travelling around the world. The journey of following our incredible creator has really only begun!
