Upon arriving back on U.S. soil I found my self wondering, questioning, and fearing what is to come next. What will life look like? Where will I end up? Is it really over?
All these questions swirling around in my head like a washing machine full of not water but emotions. Realizing my burning desire to hit the ground running toward the promises God gave to me. Wanting to pursue my dreams and holding on to the hope that I won’t be going back to the man who started this journey a year ago.
What happened to me this year was beyond what I had imagined. I didn’t get a superlative for the star award or the most changed, but I got a superlative of most likely to climb Mt. Everest. I can appreciate that. Now, let me tell you, I changed tremendously, I’ve grown in my faith, and now I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror. I mean, I look the same, yet somethings different. I’m realizing that this superlative is going to play huge in my life, because it will represent my journey to the Father. Climbing Mt. Everest is a huge feat, and they say it takes 6-9 weeks to climb to the top. Like my spiritual journey it’s going to take time. It is a start to what I feel is going to be a fantastic life in Christ. Philippians 1:6 says “being confident of this that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” NIV The Lord started the good work in me and so much growth this year and my completion day is like the magnitude of reaching the summit of Everest. I’m looking forward to the journey with him.
Through this journey with him, he has shown me a love that i’ve never known before and in a way it’s almost like a first REAL love. It’s so beautiful and he has shown me that I need to love others like he loves me. 1 John 4:10 tells us “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought to love one another.” NIV The love he has for me is helping me grow in the areas of becoming a better husband, a better brother, a better father, and a better friend. He is also showing me how to love people like he loves me. Luke 10:27 “And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all you mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ESV Since he has shown me a first real love, I am now able to show real love for others. It’s very clear that this is what we need to do because this is what he did. 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” KJV The Love the father has for us is real and he loves us tremendously and thanks to God I now am able to love others the way he loves.
Now these are only a couple things i’ve learned this year, but they are rather important. If I didn’t learn these things then I WOULD be going back to where I was and probably who I was before. He purposely grew me in these areas, because of what I feel he is promising me in the future. Right now coming back home (wherever home is?) is a transition from the end of the race and into the start of a beautifully written future, that I am surrendering over to him and allowing him to guide me through. He is teaching me how to be patient and to trust his process. He is teaching me the areas I still need to grow in before I step into any new relationship. He is teaching me how to be still and wait on his timing. All these things and so much more. This time of transition is going to be very hard since i’ve realized that i’m not the same man that left, but rather a man of God who wants to live a missional life. A man who wants to show others how to be a honorable and loving christian man, in a world of lost men. A man that will lay down his life for others and a man who will follow God even when things are hard. It will be hard and it will be difficult, but thanks to God I now know what its like to be strong and get strength from him. This my friends is not the end, but merely the beginning.
Thanks for all the support from all of you and I may continue writing in the future so look forward to that and farewell for now.
Until next time……
