First Steps on the Journey

A pilgrimage is a long journey or a search to discover great moral significance. If you’ve come to the place, as I did, where you ask yourself “is this really what life is all about?” I invite you to read further.

My story is actually a happy one. I had a wonderful childhood and I had great parents. Unlike many I’ve heard from, in my family there was no abuse, no divorce, no drugs or alcohol problems, and we all really loved each other. I crossed the line of faith and accepted Christ as a second grader. I was decent student and an athlete throughout school and went to the University of Houston. They had a great track and field program and many of my teammates were Olympic medal winners. I met my future wife at U of H and really had a great experience.

As a decathlete, the competition is ten events: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, high hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and the 1,500 meters. In each event, the time, height, or distance you achieved had a corresponding point value that was located in a scoring table. The points from all ten events get added up and the total score determines the winner. When I left school and went to the work world I took that mentality with me. I just substituted money for points. I reasoned that the better I did, the more valuable I was, then the more I would get paid. My wife and I started out without much, but over a period of a few years I had started making quite a bit of money. I soon discovered that age old question of “how much is enough?” It soon left me wondering if this is what it was all about. I sure didn’t feel significant…more like a mouse on an exercise wheel.

At this point in my life, my wife became a Christ follower and I make a new commitment to the local church. I learned and experienced a great deal from my church in Houston. I started attending a Sunday school class, a small group, and began to give back by working with elementary aged kids. This new commitment culminated in a powerful experience in which Dr. Bruce Wilkinson challenged us to become everything that God wanted us to become. I took that challenge and haven’t looked back since! I still feel like I’m on a pilgrimage. I’m learning, and growing, and changing to become what God created me to be. I’ll be adding more of my own pilgrimage over time and would love to hear from you…I’d like to hear your story or hear from you as you interact with what you’ve read here.

May God’s peace and mercy be upon you and your family,
Jim