I don’t usually delve too deeply into my personal life on this blog, though most of what I post is a reflection of personal experience and thoughts, but I wanted to take a minute to sort of reflect on where I (and my family) are at this moment.
I have been married for 4 years, 3 months, 5 days and about 12 hours (isn’t that cute?). I’ve been a father for just about 3 months now. We’ve recently moved to a new big city where we don’t know many people (though we have family fairly close) and we are looking to purchase a home and plant ourselves in the community. We are about to start a stage in our lives where school (and the debt that comes with it) is a thing of the past and ‘real world’ careers and life are on the horizon.
The scary thing about this moment, this new phase of life and journey, is that this is about the time that people expect us to ‘grow up’ and leave our ‘idealistic’ visions of the world. It’s a dangerous time, maybe one of the most dangerous times in our lives. It’s almost like we are at this crossroads with two very clear and distinct paths ahead of us.
The well worn path is that of the ‘American’ dream. It’s been walked down by the majority of people we know and interact with, supported and valued by nearly everyone we meet, including in the church. It’s comfortable, it leads to fulfillment of desires for things I want (at least I feel I want them each time I see that commercial), and it will lead to approval in the eyes of those around me if I am successful. No one will look at me cross, and few will rebuke me for tossing aside my previous convictions, they’ll call it ‘growing up.’
The other path is small and over grown, it’s been traveled by few and my attempt at discerning the direction of the sign is even questionable. I see few in the society around me, and fewer in the ‘church’ walking down this path. It’s questionable, it makes me second guess my choices, it carries with in no prestige, and there seems to be little support. People, friends, family will question our choices, rebuke us for our ‘mistakes’ and look at us cross for years to come. Yet, I can’t help but reading the Bible, trying to follow Jesus, and see it as clear as day pointing and directing me down this path.
In a couple weeks Mindy and I are going to the CCDA Conference in St. Louis. It will be a rare opportunity for us to meet and listen to others who have traveled that narrow path. My prayer is that it will be an opportunity for us to build a shared vision that is strong and unwavering for this next stage of our journey. I am so grateful that I have a strong and wise spouse to take this journey with me.
p.s. Know anyone in St. Louis with a spare bedroom?