This post is a follow up to the post I wrote Wednesday. To be honest I never intended for that post to go viral. I’m not a big stat watcher for this blog but it was pretty hard to believe the response. A few left comments. A few sent emails. A few even retweeted it. Based on the number of times it was viewed, it must have struck a chord somewhere. That traffic let me know that I am not alone.

I logged into Facebook for my daily check on anything that might need addressing (turn down game invites, etc) and I noticed I had a message. What I read next I could not believe. I asked my friend if I could share his note as well. He kindly allowed me to use his words.

Aaron, I have really enjoyed your blog and today’s really hit home.

I just walked the path you are going down right now. After 14 years at Chase, losing my soul in a cubicle world, I walked away from it all. It took a deep, dark depression for the Lord to do his greatest work in me. I have never experienced God like I have over the past 10 months. He renewed the calling on my life to teach again and has opened and closed doors like you wouldn’t believe. I am back at MVNU finishing up 3 classes to recertify my teaching license. Right now, we have very little income and a whole lot of faith that God will provide. He has not brought me this far to let me falter now. It has truly been an amazing journey.

I want to leave you with this to think about. My grandfather has been under hospice care and is simply waiting to die. We’ve spent the last few months reliving stories and all the good times we had together. The one story that resonated with me is how much he loved his job. Papaw is a retired Fire Chief and loved every minute of his job. This is a man I modeled my life after and that was the one thing that I did not share with him. I never walked out of Chase and said, man, I love my job. I didn’t have the same love for a career that Papaw had his entire life. Papaw is at the end of his life and has absolutely no regrets. I want to be like Papaw and be able to look back on my life someday and have no regrets.

I love you brother and we will be praying for you as God continues to work in your life.

I share that for two reasons. First, thank you to my friend for his support, his words and his encouragement. We haven’t seen each other in years and he still felt led to share that very personal message. Second, I have a feeling there are others that feel this way too (the losing the soul part). Based on what I read from others throughout the day, I am not alone. It would appear that many are fighting, searching and seeking a way to get back their soul. To that I say, keep fighting!

The beauty in this is that we are not alone. We all have people in our lives that breathe new wind in our sails. On days when the defeat feels higher than the victory, look around. There are others standing shoulder to shoulder with you. They are encouraging your journey no matter where it may take you.

That is good for the soul….

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