People say I'm a good listener. People say I give good advice. I really don't think I do either thing very well. I feel weird in those moments that people choose to confide in me, just like everyone else. I think the only thing (at least for me) is that I value vulnerable moments despite the weirdness, and care enough to make an attempt. I mean, shouldn't we all listen to each other? Shouldn't the advice we give people be pondered and weighed instead of simply offered as a fulfillment of our utility?

Back in early 2018, myself and a group of guys from A.Life Ministry made the decision to engage in what ended up being a life-altering lent fast. We called it the Progressive Fast because it describes the nature of it, but we also came up with the name because we didn't know if it already existed. If it does, oh well - we made it a hot song. Regardless, it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, and I'm only who I am now because of it.

Philippians 3:13-14 - "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

I was expectant at the start of 2019. This year was the year everything would come together. But now it's August, and I'm sitting at my desk musing over the graveyard that is my life.