2023 Memories & Reminders
Hello, my dear friends! I am writing this from the beautiful sunshine state of Florida on the eve of the New Year! So many things have occurred in the last seven days: work flying, going to my friend Tyler’s wedding, and celebrating a new season of life for him and his bride. The last few days have been a whirl of adventure and memories. Friday night, we all met up with the wedding party and celebrated on Saint Pete Pier, overlooking a city of many incredible views. While on the pier, we hung out at a place called “Pier Teaki,” a fantastic rooftop bar/restaurant. As we waited for the wedding party to arrive, I had an incredible conversation with a young woman named Nicolet who I struck up a conversation with as she was sitting at the bar reading a book. Something that was definitely noteworthy, and my comment on this, allowed us to start a conversation about books and a wide variety of subjects. As we spoke, I learned that she identified as a “Feminist,” a group I have often found to be very frustrating. Yet, as I spoke with her, it was such a cool experience to see how even though she might claim this as a personal label, she was by no means the internet stereotype. I found her to be incredibly intelligent, and many of the subjects we discussed were subjects that she had spent time learning about.
Often, I think we can allow our opinions of others to be painted by the labels someone chooses. Yet, speaking with Nicolet, I found myself truly impressed with how she spoke versus the viral videos that often get attention. This experience was a personal reminder to remember that the internet is not reflective of most people and that we should always be careful about what we feed our minds. There were many things that she believed that I did not agree with, yet this was not a moment where it was my place to judge her in any way but simply learn about her and her beliefs, and it was a fantastic experience to do just that. As she prepared to leave, I reached out to give her a handshake and thank her for the very enjoyable conversation, but she refused and instead insisted on giving me a hug. It was a wonderful moment for me to remember that no matter what, we should always love, and though I did not have an opportunity to share the gospel with her at that moment, I now know her name, and I pray that one day in heaven I get to meet her again and that she found Christ in her life and we can chat again!
After we left Pier Teaki, all the guys went to downtown Saint Pete, where we visited a Cigar lounge and enjoyed laughing together while enjoying a cigar. Here, we all had a chance to “people watch,” and it was crazy. Here, hundreds of people walked the streets as music blared from various bars. People stumbling through in various stages of intoxication. Here, too, I couldn’t help but wonder at the stories of the people who walked by. Some girls came through trying to get the attention of one or more of the guys in our group. All in all, it was a very loud experience, and though it was fun to share, I found myself with two wrestling ideas. One was I could see the appeal of the party lifestyle, the hedonic pleasure of it all. The second was I also could not see how someone could do this weekend after weekend, drinking to the point of not remembering what you did the previous night. In my spirit, I wrestled with both. I could see both the appeal, and I knew if this were a place that I frequently visited, it would be all too easy for me to follow along and drink till I couldn’t remember.
The next day was much quieter; we began our day with the guys from the wedding party, and we all sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee and pray for our friend Tyler as he stepped into this new season of adventure. It was a day filled with much laughter from sunrise till sunset as we sent the happy couple off with sparklers blazing!
As I look ahead into 2024, I have spent a significant amount of time praying about and reflecting on where I hope my own life will go and the things I hope to be able to work toward and achieve. As I have thought through these various visions of 2024, I have found myself reminded again and again of Matthew 7: 7-11
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
I wrote about this last week, and yet I find myself again with this passage on my heart. There are many things that I am praying for in 2024 for myself and others. And here in this passage, I find a promise from Christ that if I seek, I WILL find. My hope is that I can do better at seeking in 2024. That I am more active in my pursuit of my prayers. I can see as I look back through 2023 that God has provided in so many incredible ways this year! Many of the gifts He gave me were gifts that I received simply as a result of God loving me, and others were a result of my seeking and pursuing. The name of the blog or substack or whatever you want to call it came from this idea of seeking out a purpose-filled life. My prayer is that I can do this even better in 2024 and that I can increase the degree to which I Pursue Purpose in all the things I say and do. I haven’t the slightest inkling of what 2024 holds in store, it is an election year for us here in America, and that can often cause a lot of unrest. Yet, I hope that I can continue to hone in on making myself the best man I can be. I have a couple of simple words that have come to me as my vision for 2024 they are “Become better, become more.”
This “Becoming” is a process that is endeavored in each day. It is a self-mastery of knowing my thoughts and taking them captive when I judge someone and instead remembering that I have no clue about the story of their life. I want to help those whom God puts in my path to help, I want to help others become all they have been called to become. There are exciting things on the horizon, I get to enjoy another wedding next weekend as my brother, too, will step into a new season of life in the new year with his bride. I don’t know what else God has on the horizon, but I look forward to seeing it. There are so many incredible lessons I learned in 2023 from the podcasts I listened to or the books I read. I hope that in 2024, I can learn even more!
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you, too, have painted a vision of what you will seek after in 2024, and you, too, can seek and find all that God has for you!
