U-Turns Encouraged

Welcome to the first Life from the Trail.

I am a novice hiker and writer.

More than once I have lost my way in the woods and needed to GPS to help figure out what to do. If I was lucky a minor correction was all that was needed but …

sometimes the best way forward is to make a u-turn and backtrack to the initial wrong turn.

I don’t know about you but I hate to backtrack.

But four years ago, I found myself lost and where I did not want to be. I was struggling with losing weight and managing diabetes. I was struggling with burnout from too many hours doing tasks that did not bring life. I was struggling with a boring spiritual life. And I was struggling at being a good dad and husband.

How did I get to this place? I’ve been in Christian ministry the majority of my working career. I was good at what I did. I was committed to my family. And I loved God.

But I made the wrong choice. I should have gotten off the current path.

I knew what God was telling me to do. Up to this point, we had made decisions based on faith and not our finances. But this time, it felt too hard to give up the financial stability. I was vice-president of a medium-sized nonprofit organization and we were financially doing well. So I stayed and like the story of the prodigal son, I wallowed in the mud until coming to the realization that God’s will was better.

And in life just as paths, u-turns are allowed and even necessary. It is okay to make mistakes as long as we own them, repent from them and learn from them.

Three years ago, I made the committment to quit my job as VP and to launch out on my own. It wasn’t easy. It required humility. It has taken time to complete my commitments, to backtrack.

But the rewards have been great. I am recovering from burnout. Getting better at the dad and husband thing. And my walk with the Lord is growing once again. And the physical health is getting better.

This website and this blog are the beginnings of the next trail.