As I sit here on my front porch overlooking countless piles of debris and water receding from my yard, I have mixed emotions. I can’t help but be overwhelmed with gratitude because our family and our home is safe. But there’s a sense of grief as well because I know so many who can’t say the same. There are hundreds of thousands of people with significant structural damage and millions more who have undergone significant emotional stress. And as I […]
Seventeen years ago, I was asleep in my dorm room at University Towers on the campus of NC State University. My phone rang. It was my mom. “Hey, bud. Turn on the news. A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center.” Along with the rest of the known world, I watched in horror as the events unfolded before our eyes in nightmarish fashion. It was the worst case scenario—something we’d never imagined. I remember the fear. It felt like […]
Sometimes, God hides truth just beyond our view. We get to choose whether we’re going to complain that we can’t see what He’s doing, or we get to go an an adventure to seek it out. That’s because God knows that for deep truth to sink in, we can’t be told, we have to be shown. After five years of writing and seeking, I’m finally beginning to understand the deep truth of rest. Stress is a Thief Our world is […]
Do you live from passion, or do you live under pressure? As a young, hungry salesman I lived and worked from passion. The newness of the career and the open road ahead were exciting. But in time, providing for my family, the demands of the career, and juggling what seemed to be an insurmountable amount of responsibility began to create pressure. Whether it’s navigating your career, caring for your kids, or serving at a church or organization, I’m sure you’ve […]
Five years ago, I was a 31-year-old dad of three, who had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to life than I was experiencing. Beneath the busyness of daily demands and the roller-coaster of life’s circumstances, it felt like something was missing. I opened up a journal and wrote these four questions on the page: How have the events in my life led me to where I am today? What am I supposed to do with my life? How […]
Over the past few weeks, I have found myself navigating a tension. Since leaving my career to step into full-time ministry with our organization, YouPrint, my schedule has been busy. Between meetings, our radio show expansion and corporate engagements, my time has been filled. But beneath the full schedule is a lurking emptiness. This weekend, as I was spending some time alone at the beach preparing for my sermon, I felt God say, “Don’t become so busy with this stuff […]
When my wife and I were navigating infertility and the aftermath of bad decisions, it was hard. Actually, hard isn’t an applicable word. It felt impossible. In that moment, we were no longer concerned with having a family, we were concerned with saving our marriage. The immediate feeling was hopelessness. It was an empty feeling with one logical outcome—giving up. But for reasons beyond logical explanation, we felt God’s presence more powerfully that we had ever felt it before. And […]
We get busy in life. Matt reminds us of why we dedicate ourselves to something other than ourselves.
- Robert Wagnon, CEO, Republic State Mortgage
