My First Post

If you're reading this first post... bear with me. This page is a project of mine that I hope to build upon over time. Early posts may be painful to read. They may be (read "will be...") jumbled thoughts in my mind that I am spitting out into the type box of this website design. I am by no means a grammar expert, so I will go ahead and ask for forgiveness here for any and all future errors.

The purpose of this blog is to be a public space for my thoughts. It will serve as somewhat of a journal of things I am interested in and enjoy. I plan to write about things that mean something to me. My hope is that others will come across this and find something here that interests them. If no one ever reads these posts, that's ok too! However, if you are reading and you find something interesting, please share your thoughts with me. I hope that for those who do read, the posts will lead to discussion, growth, and maybe some friendships. Please reach out!

Topics that I plan to cover at this time include travel, fitness, Christianity, family, business, personal development, books, personal finance, investing, and much more. These topics may come and go over time, and I will leave room for new topics to come in, but those are things that are top of mind as I sit here typing today. (1/14/24)

Now, that was my introduction to this page. Below is my first post.

1/14/24. Beginning my Family Vision/Values.

One goal I set at the beginning of 2024 was to establish a vision for my family along with core values that I hope we will adhere to. I read the book "Lead your Family" by Jeff Applegate, (my girlfriend's father) and was encouraged by his call to action to establish these things for families. Today I sat down to begin thinking and praying through this. All I will share in this initial post is the prayer I prayed as I set out to see how the Lord would lead me in this exercise. Eventually, I will share the results of this exercise, but I'll save that for a separate post. With this prayer, I hope that the Lord will guide me and my family as we seek to put Him first.

I struggle with relinquishing control and trust to the Lord often, and have to aggressively pray against that tendency. A song that has resonated with me and has been repeatedly on my mind through various seasons of life is "Control" (acoustic) by Tenth Avenue North. The prayer below was largely impacted directly by that song as I listened to it before sitting down to begin working on my Family Vision and Values.

"Lord, here I am. I have personal intentions, goals, dreams, desires, visions, and obsessions for my family. I want to lay all of these things down. I want to give to you all aspirations I have for my life and my family. Be near me and my family Lord. Guide me as the head of my household. Let us put you first in all that we do. (Matthew 6:33 is influential in this thought) I love you, Lord.

-Amen"