Is it really September?

Time has been moving very quickly for me these last couple of months. I really am surprised that it is already September. Time seems to move more quickly as I get older. Which simply means each day that passes seems like it has less time in it than the day before. And I think realizing this has added some pressure for me to think more seriously about a topic that I have written about previously. Earlier this year I wrote on this blog an article called ‘What if the life you really want…‘ , and I have been dealing with the concepts I discussed in that posting in more practical terms now. (if you haven’t read that posting you may want to read it before moving forward into this one…)

My closest friends know that I have had a dream of ‘one day’ actually getting involved in politics. Not as a lobbyist, or an activist but as a civil servant and run for elected office. But this has always been something that I would simply talk about, but have never truly seriously considered. Even when Jaime and I were raising support to go to Kenya we would talk about what life after Kenya would look like. Political office often came up in those conversations. And currently, and I should admit that for the last year at least, this has really been the only thing that I truly dream about doing. And I recognize that simply because I have a desire does not mean that I should pursue it. But I keep meditating on the following verse.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

And I keep praying ‘Lord, give me the desires that you want me to have.’ And I keep dreaming of how I can help people through local government. So, I am beginning to think about facing my biggest fear, being rejected. I honestly think the only thing that keeps me from saying ‘Yes, I will run for an elected office.’ is simply fear of rejection, fear of failure. I recognize that I don’t have a laundry list of civic achievements, nor do I have a deep wallet to help ‘win’ an office. I know that if I choose to run, it will be hard work. I will need to prove to the community that I can do the job, and do it well. This won’t be an easy road. In fact it could be the hardest road I have ever thought about moving down.

In my posting called ‘What if the life you really want….’ I looked at the idea of facing a Lion. At the time that I wrote that posting I suspected that my Lion may be ‘becoming an elected official’. But, I wasn’t sure. And I still can’t say with 100% certainty that it is, but I am beginning to believe that God has given me the ‘desires of my heart’. That this idea is not all simply some crazy idea that I have come up with. That this may be what I should be doing with my life.

So I am continuing to process what I am supposed to be doing in Southwest Florida. If anyone who reads this blog has any feedback on this subject please feel free to post a comment or call me up.