My life

Things don't always work out the way you thought they would or how you envisioned things to be in your mind. Life is full of twists and turns that you never saw coming and things happen that you never thought would happen to you. Such is life. My life is a story, from beginning to end it is full of plots and characters of Shakespearean quality. Everyday is a new story ready to be written and the continuation of the greater story and sub stories that are constantly working themselves out and progressing before our very eyes. I love stories, we all do actually whether you know it or think about it or not. We fill our waking hours being mesmerized by stories of the lives of the people around us and on television. We spend hours in front of the TV watching stories of people, trying to figure out what's going to happen next and rooting for the good guy to overcome his struggles and live happily ever after. We long to be a part of a great story, something worthwhile and meaningful; something that will be remembered and that we can pass onto our children and grandchildren as a legacy of adventure and excitement. The problem with most of us is that we are too afraid to put ourselves out there and risk our comfortable lives to engage in life the necessary to achieve the level we dream of living at. One of my favorite movie trilogies is the Lord of the Rings with Gandalf the wizard, Aragorn the king, Legolas the elf, Frodo, Sam, Meri and Pippin as the underdog hobbits. The story is about the battle between good and evil against all odds, the unlikely rise to greatness of a couple of small halflings that nobody believed could do anything great muchless save the world. As the story goes the hobbits were just living life in the Shire, enjoying the comforts of good food, family and the joys of life as a hobbit when from out of nowhere they are faced with a decision, a fork in the road and they are made to choose between living comfortably or risking their lives and embarking on the adventure of a lifetime in order to save the world. In an instant their whole lives changed and they went from just enjoying a comfortable peaceful life to plunging themselves into something bigger then themselves and taking on a challenge they weren't sure they were going to live through. I know in my own life currently I am as comfortable as I have ever been in my 28 years on this planet. Everything seems to be going right. I'm crusing down the river of life and the water is as flat as it can be; there's not a single wave and I'm kicked back relaxing like never before. I've gone through some difficult times recently with my mom getting breast cancer for the 2nd time and having to go through all of the horrible treatments and torture that comes with that disease. My father lost his job because his company went under because the bank basically robbed them of everything they had because the economy is in a downturn. My brother has had seizures and his diabetes has been causing him to get sick and hurt himself and we live in constant fear of something awful happening to him if his blood sugar drops while he is driving. I have friends who have been going through difficult times and are in the valley of the shadow of death as we speak wondering when it will ever end. But as for myself my job is going well and I'm happy with what I am doing and contributing there, my family at home is better than it has ever been, I have a beautiful, smart, healthy baby boy who is happy and playful and a beautiful wife who I am blessed enough to call my best friend at home who takes care of our family day in and day out selflessly and who handles our finances, keeps up our house and takes care of me and Christian. I have friends whom I love and care for and a family that is a great foundation and sournce of support and love for us. I just couldn't ask for anything more and what I currently have is better than anything I could have ever imagined on my own. God has blessed me with more than I deserve and I take it for granted all the time unfortunaly like most people do. I still get caught up in the little petty things of this world occassionally and let the small insignificant things get to me and make me mad; it's only natural but at least I keep it to a minimum. Vanessa and I used to fight about the stupidist things and just bicker back and forth all the time over meaningless crap but we have learned to speak to each other and communicate better and we usually don't let the small things get to us like we used to. Even though I have all of this and my life is so rich and full of good things I still feel like something is missing. I know God has a bigger plan for my life and He wants me to do something on this earth that NOBODY else can do except me. My mother always told me that God had something big and important for me to do, like she heard it from God himself; it's always been engrained in my mind, those words and the sense that I have a divine purpose for my life and I am being prepared for something awesome. This longing in my heart is something that is getting stronger as I get older. I have started to take different measures to expand myself and embark on different journies outside my normal day to day activities. I read everyday and I have been writing a lot of different things and trying to figure out what God wants me to do. I still feel like there's something more though, something bigger that He is calling me to do and I just don't know what it is yet.
I have come to understand that one of the devils greatest accomplishments and victories he can have over a Christian is to prosper them to where they get comfortable and stagnant because if you are comfortable, rich and happy then there is a greater possibility that you will keep yourself busy trying to sustain that lifestyle of comfort. When you are comfortable it's really hard for a person to take risks especially if they are big risks that might cause you to lose some of the comforts you are currently enjoying. Taking risks is what life's all about, it's what makes a good story like the Lord of the Rings. Nobody wants to read a story about a bunch of hobbits sitting around watching the grass grow; no they want to see action and adventure. It's the possibility of losing it all, putting it all on the line and risking your life that makes a good story. That's certainly not the way I have been living my life and I know it's not the way you have been living your life but have you ever really sat down and thought of your life like a story and gone through what you have been through and pictured your life as a movie or a novel? If your life was a book or a movie would you want to buy it or watch it? Is it exciting and full of passion, a nail biting thriller where the good guy suffers and overcomes evil in the end? Wouldn't you like to live a life like that? I know I would, I want to look back on my life and say I gave it my all, I lived my life to the fullest and I didn't hold anything back. The problem with this is that it takes sacrifice, change, living in the unknown full of uncertainty, overcoming your fears and an enormous amount of faith in God that He is leading you in the right direction and that what you are doing is for Him and for His kingdom. I want to live a life like this but It's going to take getting my family on board, getting out of our comfort zone and going wherever God decides to take us. Living my life to the fullest, enjoying God's BEST is what God has planned for every one of us if we would just trust Him to lead us where we are supposed to be. Have you ever thought about how BIG this world is, even just how big the United States is? How can we spend our entire lives in this one bubble where we were born when there is such a big world out there waiting for us to discover it? God wants to use me and you for His glory and He wants to use us in a big way but if we are too scared of change and too afraid to get out of our comfort zone and take a step out into the unknown world and start living a life on MISSION for God then we will never be more than we are today. We will never grow into the people God wants and desires and has planned for us to be. Can you imagine what you could do and where you could go if you would just surrender your life to God and tell Him that you will go WHEREVER He calls you to go and do whavever He calls you to do? Where would you end up? What would you wind up doing? God can't use you if you have dug your roots into the ground where you are at, He won't force you to go on mission for Him; He will let you settle for good instead of His Best but why would you want to?
Viewing your life as a story isn't as hard as you might think because we hear and see stories everyday, we know what makes a good story and we know what makes a GREAT story. Having a life that is full of action and adventure is really living but it will cost you dearly. Living a story full of adventure isn't all joy, it's hard and tough; life has it's ups and downs, it's mountintops and it's valleys no matter what stage of life you are in. God leads us through the valley's so we can be strengthened and grow our faith so when we're back on the mountaintop we can strengthen our brothers and sisters and we can apprecaite the mountain and the view that much more. Living a life that is dull and boring isn't what being a Christian is all about. Being safe was never a characteristic of being a Christian, just look at the stories of the bible and look at Jesus' life; those are stories that are full of action and adventure, uncertainty and it took enormous faith in God to step out and follow Him when nothing seemed to make sense and all the odds were against them. That is what marks the life of a Christian not comfort or ease like some people and false prophets will try to tell you. Make the story of your life a good one, trust God to lead you where you never thought you would go and embark on a journey with Him to change the world. Have faith to take the step out of the boat and walk on the water you never thought was possible. Take a risk in life for God, give Him the steering wheel of your life and tell Him to just drive cause your ready to go. I'm going to resolve myself to let go and get out of my comfort zone and to really live. God bless you all today.