i started over 4 years ago wanting to try to write almost every day... even the days i didn't feel like it or didn't have time to really articulate something well - because i was convinced that the process would benefit me most. it's been a very disciplined process, but that discipline over the last 4 years has produced almost 1,000 articles here on renown.
while thinking about these 4 years of writing on renown and ALL that has happened in life during those 4 years... it got me thinking about other 4 year segments of life...
like the 1st 4 years (0-3) and how i don't really remember anything from then.
and then when i was 4-7. lots of fun. carefree. school wasn't even really work back then. you just had fun all day.
8-11 years old, arguably the best years of life :) those were the days. the "glory years". all the friends i had. all the fun we had. school wasn't really hard. not really a lot of work to do. just fun all the time. playing basketball all day long every day in the neighborhood. sometimes i think that'd be a cool 4 year segment to return to.
and then middle school. i know it's not quite 4 whole years, but almost. it's a pretty weird 4 year segment coming on the heels of the "glory years". but, most of us experience a lot of 1sts and enter a new era of life. we usually fall in love with music. i still look back on my fav bands of that era and smile. something nostalgic about it. i had my 1st kiss (1st "real" kiss anyway) in Middle school. also got dumped for the 1st time. and really in this life segment for the 1st time you start to let your identity rest in what your peers think of you.
high school really is 4 years and it was awesome for me. i loved it most of the time... or at least what i remember of it. it's a great 4 years to look back on.
college of course is 4 years too and seems to really be the time where you become YOU. your adult self anyway. 4 years of college was probably the longest segment of time up to that point. the most happened in those 4 years and it's a pretty drastic change from the beginning of the 4 years to the end.
1st 4 years of "life" - then there's my 1st 4 years of real life. Crystal and i got married right after college and those 1st 4ish years together include a lot of firsts - 1st jobs, 1st places to live, buying our 1st house, 1st consumer debt... etc... these 1st 4 years were awesome. i think this is where you grow up... or at least this is where i grew up. my wife and i call these years "simpler times"
the past 4 years have probably been the most amazing yet. these are also the 4 years of renown and i'm thankful to be able to look back on those 4 years through the lens of this blog and remember all the stuff that was happening in life and going through my head all those years. those 4 years included launching Ridge Church. This Fall will be the anniversary of when Ridge launched and began meeting every Sunday morning. these same 4 years mark the 4 year break i took from seminary. glorious. i also feel like this is the segment of life where i worked hard to discover WHO God made me to be and WHAT He specifically put me on earth to do. hopefully these past 4 years have set us up for the next 40 years... or however many we have left.
the next 4 years - i have really really high goals, expectations, and a vision for what the next 4 segment will be like. hopefully i can look back on this very post 4 years from now and smile...
Every day we are all writing a STORY. our story. and whether we choose to look back on it in 4 year segments or 40 year segments our story will be told.
i just hope i can live a life worth telling stories about.
