Okay, why "The Great Adventure"? It's the title of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman, and the chorus goes like this:
"Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is the life like no other
This is The Great Adventure"
Back in 1996, I was working a typical corporate job that was going nowhere - FAST. As a matter of fact, it had been going nowhere fast for 13 years! I had been searching for a new career path, but kept coming up with the big zilch.
On a trip home from the in-laws, we were listening to this song. When we got home and checked messages, I found out that the company that I had been working for had been bought out and that all of us corporate schmucks were going to be eliminated. I held my wife in my arms and we prayed:
"Okay Lord, this is the Great Adventure. We have no idea where you're taking us or what I'll be doing - it's the glorious unknown. We know, however, that You will provide for us."
Provide He did. Two days later I received a phone call from a software company, offering me a consulting position. After 6 years of that, I joined 2 other guys to form our own consulting firm. The journey continues, and I don't know where it's going from here, but I'm there for the ride!
Now before you get the idea that I think my entire idea of "The Great Adventure" is all about work, please understand that He provides opportunities and experiences in all other aspects of my life as well. Raising and watching my two kids grow up has been an incredible experience and - yes, it has definitely been an adventure as well. My relationship with my wife continues to be an adventure, and traveling all over allows me to meet so many different people - each another opportunity for a relationship adventure.
There's one other aspect of my life where The Great Adventure has played out - drama. As I've laid out in another post, it seems God has given me some talents and abilities in this area - as well as a very strong desire to engage in it. Little did I know that when asked to play the Apostle Thomas in an Easter program several years ago that drama would become such an integral and important part of my life. God has used my good friend Terry to tap me for many roles as well as allowing me to work alongside him in writing and directing.
So I guess one of the biggest take-aways from all of this is that I've come to realize that following God is not some task that I can schedule in a Blackberry, but rather an often spontaneous, sometimes exciting and always adventurous journey.
Saddle up your horses!
