Living your dreams

I can't tell you how many times since Jennifer and I got married we have answered the question, "So, what are you two planning on doing once you graduate from Liberty University ?" I'm not saying that i'm mad at that, but it's so funny to me sometimes the reactions that we get when we share that we are still praying about what the Lord wants us to do with our life together once we graduate, and that we are looking at a wide variety of options. Some people are very supportive when we share that, they go out of their way to encourage us and tell us how great it is that we are being patient and waiting on God's timing. Others will take the different route and they will ask us for an in depth, how do i say it, i guess detailed discussion on the different options we are looking at and why we think that might be a good idea for us once we graduate. Neither side is bad and i am not coming down on anybody for how they react to what Jennifer and I are going through when it comes to this decision. Where it gets interesting is when Jen and I take the opportunity to examine some of the options that we are praying about and what comes from those discussions.

Just this morning i told Jen about an opportunity that i started doing some preliminary research on. As Jen will tell you, ever since she first knew me and especially now, working for a Men's Basketball Team, it has been a dream of mine to work in sports in some avenue. It's always been hard for me to really state out loud how passionate i am about that dream, just because i know that working in sports is not the easiest career path. Oftentimes there are long hours, sometimes the pay isn't great and every now and then there are people you work with, whether they be coaches or otherwise, who are just flat out difficult to work with and really suck the joy out of what you are doing. What makes me so passionate about working in sports is not just the fact that i am sports junkie and have been raised watching such teams as Larry Bird's Celtics, or Big Papi's Red Sox or Tom Brady's Patriots, but it's the fact that i can see so clearly a ministry that God could work through the many connections that one makes when you work in the sports world. It is that passion that caused me this week to seek out some info on an Masters Degree in Sports Management from the esteemed San Diego State University.

Talking with Jen this morning, i laid out to her the info that the Head of the Degree Program shared with me about the program. Whether it be the fact that they have set up the degree program in an accelerated way, so that students can finish the coursework in a year, or the professional agreement they have with the San Diego Padres and other sports teams for students to become interns and other positions, or the fact that i have a connection to the Head Basketball Coach there through my Head Coach here at Liberty, there are just a TON of positives about the opportunity. As i was sharing with Jen this morning over breakfast what i thought about the program, i thought for sure that she would react the way most people in my life would probably react, with lots of questions and doubts and possibly fears, which is understandable and natural. Instead, Jennifer's reaction proved one of the biggest reasons why i married her and love her to this day....she was so encouraging of me and she actually told me that she thinks it's awesome that i want to live out my dreams, instead of being like most people, who just resign themselves to doing the same thing day after day, week after week, year after year.

Wrapping this up, i'm reminded of something that Jennifer and I went through when we first came to Lynchburg after we got married. Before we left, there was alot of discouragement that came our way from people in our lives, who thought that it was too huge a risk to move to a new city and do what we are doing. As time has gone on, we see so clearly how even though we took several LARGE risks coming to Lynchburg, it was absolutely the right call to make, and God has validated it every step of the way. As i reflect on that, i think about the example of Peter when he stepped out of the boat and walked on water towards Jesus. For those brief moments before his faith caved in and he went into the water, Peter got to feel what living on faith and risk in Christ really feels like. Having done that for a year now with Jennifer, i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that taking risks sometimes is the right thing to do in your walk with God and i am so thankful that the taste we have gotten of living that life of risk has born out in us a desire to take some risks and see where God wants to take us. I know that everybody has a different path when it comes to them and God, and not everybody is meant to take regular risks like we do, but if there's one thing i know, its this....if you have the same feeling in your spirit and in your heart as i do, a yearning to see more and experience more of what God has for you, then LISTEN AND GO if God is truly telling you to....having lived it now, it's worth it, in so many ways to take the risk and live your dreams.