A Part of My Story

I have been on a journey of influence since 1995. Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought as a kid that I would be telling you that I would be an influencer. I was always the one being influenced and following the crowd to fit in. There was no way that I thought that I had enough value to influence anyone else. So I continued to live my life submitting to everyone and everything else, no matter if it were healthy or unhealthy. This past of mine created a lot of havoc. I wouldn’t have been able to step into a position of influence without embracing the past that told me that I would NOT be an influencer.

Growing up in a shame based family sets a person up for defeat before they even have a chance to embrace truth. Truth is the “thing” that God has designed for your life! Truth is nothing more than a reflection of Him showing up in our lives. He is truth, and therefore each of us was created for truth. When we embrace Him into our lives we get to experience true freedom!

I am gifted in music and I started exercising that gift when I was four. It was the only place that I saw glimpses of worth. It was my saving grace many of times when I sought true acceptance. True acceptance is something that each of us crave. We are seeking acceptance through the behaviors that we display. There is an inside drive of desire-seeking that is the force of the things that we do and the way that we think. When we can connect that desire with the it’s Source, freedom shows up!

I was given a platter in life that held “not good enough’s”, “insufficiencies”, “inadequacies”, and other “shame-based” self-defeating thoughts that took control of me in every area of my life. Due to my distorted thinking I was positioned for disaster. That disaster started at the ripe age of thirteen and robbed every bit of true freedom in my life. I held on to deception which poised itself as freedom in my life and I continued to buy the lies.

I searched many places high and low and got hung up in many behaviors that were destructive. I thought that I had found significance a few times along the way, only to find out that it was selfish desires that were getting in the way. I kept plugging  through life knowing there was something greater that I was created for; although I didn’t really have an understanding of what that was or how to attain  it. Why out of all people should I have purpose? The REAL question was……WHY NOT?!?

The past doesn’t define me but it did allow me to be molded into who I am today. Molded into a man that can be used for the greater good. I can write this post, safe from the destruction that could have been, and in an awesome place in life because I have a purpose; a greater “why”!. There was a  plan for my life even when I didn’t understand that plan. All of the years of searching for something greater paid off. That something greater for me has been understanding and embracing a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He created me and He created you for a “why” greater than our human understanding. He is enough! I am enough!

Our “Why”

Stephanie and My Mission is To Influence, Inspire and Impact Life, Health and Prosperity in our lives and to those around us who desire to grow emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually and financially based upon God abiding principles and values. The is why I named my organization “Intentional Challenge” because “challenge” is the platform with which we can accomplish parts of this mission.

On one of the first dates that I took my wife on we shared some of our dreams with each other. One of the dreams that both of us shared was matching! We both had a dream of having a house located on acreage that was used for helping people. A place where people could come and ride horses, four wheelers, fish, stay the night, hang out and just have fun! Over the past months we have been processing this dream more and more and it is becoming clearer as to the timing that this dream is to take place.

Stephanie and I are both committed to helping people change their lives! Radical change is something that we love to see people embrace. We know that once change is started, it’s like a snowball effect and more and more change starts to come if people are intentional. Ultimately, the change and impact we desire to have in people’s lives is for improved relationships. Most importantly it is an improved relationship with God. We also desire to see people enrich their marriages, families, relationships with friends, and just generally improving their lives.

So this dream that we have, it is becoming more and more clear to me as I write this post that we are to have this place! Picture with me a location where freedom is the first thing that you experience when you enter the property. A sense of freedom that people cannot run from because it is bigger than anything that they have experienced before. For some people, freedom is the farthest thing from reality in their lives. Marriages need a place to retreat and recharge. Parents need a place to get away and be able to work on their relationship without their kids. Individuals need a place to go where they can just have some silence and solitude to recharge their batteries to take on life’s daily challenges. These are just a few of the things we desire to see happen on this property.

So as we processed our “why”; the big picture of our life, we see this as being a big part of what we do. The ability to influence, inspire and impact life health and prosperity in our lives and those around us who desire to grow emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually and financially based upon God abiding principles. That’s when values starts to take motion.

We have all been called to do something great! Some people believe that, some people don’t! I want to tell you that it is true! If you start to dream and you set in motion the steps that you need to take to get to that dream, it will happen. All you have to do is believe that you are created for greatness. If you can believe that then it will start to take place in your life. If you stay stuck in the mode of thinking that is self-defeating, you will get self-defeating results in your life! You get to make a choice to embrace one or the other. Which one are you going to embrace?