More Yaconelli quotes.

Four years ago, I was minding my own business when Marko called me and asked me to think about moving to San Diego to work with him at Youth Specialties.

It was around Easter, we had a house full of guests, and a list full of projects to manage at the church. (Ironically, our house guests were the family we co-owned YMX with.) Nothing was further from my mind than leaving our ministry in Romeo when Marko called. We had a life we loved, lived in a house we wanted to retire in, loved our neighborhood, our kids school, and the people we ministered alongside.

That phone call was a pivot point in our lives. The opportunity made no sense and perfect sense at the same time. That phone call lead to dozens of hard, honest, open conversations which ultimately lead to us walking away from the life we knew and stepping into a life of unknowns.

I was reflecting on that last night during the Good Friday service. Four years later and its still surreal to sit in a worship service with no responsibilities. It’s surreal to not hang out and talk to people until everyone leaves so you can turn off the lights, lock the doors, and go home. It’s surreal to sit in a service and not know what’s next. (Or care) It’s surreal to sit in a worship service and not have people whisper reminders in my ear. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just surreal.

That’s the thing with life’s pivot points. You remember the life you once lead while you carry on with the new life before you.

Are you listening? Do you have a faithful life posture? Can you discern between the voices in the desert? 

Last night I had a night to myself. I have three kids, happily married, and am aggressively launching two businesses. I never have an evening all to myself. Just one of my favorite towns on the planet, Chicago, and 6 hours.

I drove over to one of my favorite hole in the wall restaurants, Irazu. (Oatmeal shake, steak el tico, you need to try it.) I hate eating alone! But the food there is so good that it was totally worth it. Then I took the long way back to my friends house… just enjoying the fun vibe of the city. I drove up Western Avenue, across to Lake Shore Drive, then back up Clark to the North Side.

Even with the scenic route and trying to find parking I was back in 2.5 hours.

So I sat down and pretty much vegged out watching Sportscenter, which kept my attention for about 45 seconds before I grabbed my laptop and started surfing around on Facebook.

The new timeline feature has a little app called “map” that I started fiddling with. Essentially, it’s asking you to tag your photos based on location so that you can see a cool map of the places you’ve been. So I started going through my photos on Facebook. Lots and lots of photos. Each with a story and a memory.

This lead to me looking at pictures on Facebook for a couple of hours. Tagging, remembering the name of the place I was at, and moving on to the next set of images.

Looking at all of those pictures reminded me of all the amazing places I’ve been in my life. I’ve lived in several states. I’ve lived in Europe. I’ve visited tons of places in the United States, Europe, parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

If I’m honest– I’ve lived a pretty storied life. Being in my hometown of South Bend this week reminded me that my life didn’t have to turn out the way that it has. Just like my dad, I could have chosen to live in the same community for 65 years and been perfectly happy.

All of that reflection lead me to this single thought: Is it that I’m living a storied life or is it that I’m living a life worthy of telling a story? 

Sure, some could say I’ve been fortunate. They could say I’ve been at the right place at the right time lots and lots of times. But I’d be quick to point out that I was and always am looking for opportunities to better my story.

It’s not so much that I’ve lived a storied life. It’s that I’ve maintained a posture looking for a story.

That’s the choice we face each day. Is today a story worthy day or not? You get to decide.