daveingland.comCommentary and discussion on the missional church, faith, culture, media and more…

It’s Valentine’s Day, another one of those commercialized holidays that gets us to spend money for a loved one. I know, kind of a downer. I’m no stick in the mud or scrooge though.

I’ve never been fond of this day as it always seemed so hokey to me. However, my problem isn’t really with Valentine’s Day. Nope. My problem lies within me. I should treat my beloved wife like it was Valentine’s Day everyday, but I do not. She doesn’t complain about it (that much--haha), but today reminds me of what an ass I can be.

To my wife Charlotte, know that I love you and am constantly reminded of this saying daily:

If you want to get somewhere fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Yes, today is another one of those Valentine’s Days where you will seemingly take a back seat to my work. However, know that you are on the forefront of my mind and my heart is full of love of for you. Without you, I could not have made it this far. I love you and look forward to our dinner together tonight. Love, Dave.

I just experienced a calm November with no stress or conflict. It was such a great feeling to be at peace. However, there is always this feeling within me that I’m missing--or missing out on--something. This feeling resurfaced again when I found myself working on tidbits of graphic design: dabbling in some elements to start considering a whole makeover of this blog and creating a new business card for my current full-time gig. In total, I probably spent about 3 hours doing this. As odd as this may sound to some, it was 3 hours of feeling connected to something in my core that brought me joy and left me wanting more. Yes, it appears that my drug of choice is graphic design.

I’ve tried playing music and with a lot of practice I can pull it off, but it’s always technical. If my band mates stray from the song in any way, I’m left hanging as I can’t catch the new groove. I’ve done some art, but it always looks mechanical. However, when I enter into the digital realm, be it photo re-touching, editing digital video, creating music for use in digital video, or starting with a blank slate and ending up with a full blown website, this is where I find fulfillment and contentment. Elements of all of these were incorporated in the work I did when in full-time ministry and freelancing just to keep up my skills when not working helped me keep my sanity.

While I do admit that I’ve been able to exercise some creativity in finding solutions for people seeking to purchase an automobile, it’s not quite the same. It’s part of business and an inherent part of who I am and why I’m able to relate well with most people in a sales capacity. As I ponder thoughts of how my friends may have been right after all and maybe I should be doing what I truly enjoy and feel accomplished at as a full-time gig, my mind immediately turns to the possibility of a future role where I can take my sales experience and complement it with my digital skill set to take a group of people I’ve committed to be successful to the next level.

Yes, creativity has gone and done it again. It’s got me thinking about possibilities. This time though, it’s not a conflict of what to do or where I should do it. No, this time it feels like a dear old friend making himself available to help get me where I want to go and feeling equipped to begin the journey into my next new adventure, which isn’t really new at all--just getting refreshed a bit. Color me excited for things to come!

Are you missing creativity in your life? What is your creative outlet? Is today the day to revisit it?

Living life online doesn’t really give one much of a glimpse into the true person that I am. Maybe you’ve seen me tweet some things that have merit, yet you don’t know if I’m qualified to validate those tweets. A lot of times, people just have questions when they learn that I’ve spent most of my life as an atheist, only to sell off a successful business and enter into full-time, unpaid ministry for 7 years.

Every once in awhile I devote a day on the blog to answering questions about myself so that those of you know that may only know me through Facebook and Twitter can learn something new. Of course, the fear is that when I post this opportunity, no one responds and it makes me feel foolish. However, it’s a risk I’ll take on again today.

Ask me a question… About anything… Ready, set, go! :)

Many people remember the movie Forrest Gump very well. I, on the otherhand, only remember this phrase:

“…Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna get.”

I convinced myself that life--my life--was going to be just like that. I never knew what I was going to get and just tried to make it through each day in preparation for the unknown coming my way the next day. As of yesterday, I had to put this way of thinking to rest.

Think about it… When we go to the store to buy a box of chocolate, we are faced with many choices. We can choose the chocolate-covered cherries, the chocolates with nuts, the chocolates with chewy centers, or a combination of all three. Do we really not know what we are going to get inside that box of chocolates?

Yesterday I reminded myself that I need a sense of purpose and a commitment to move forward doing something that I believed within my soul that only I could bring to fruition. It had to include others and would only be fulfilled through everyone coming together to make it happen. I had my box of chocolates right under my nose, but as I was contemplating whether I wanted the chocolate with nuts, the cherry-covered chocolate, or the ones with chewy centers, I clearly saw that if I just went with the box that had all three I could find a way to be happy. My focus in the past had been too narrow--my decision was becoming too finite.

Yesterday I took the step of tearing off the wrapper and revealing my box of my chocolates. Today, I move forward--one bite at a time. My life can be like a box of chocolates, only my box was pre-determined for me and I know what is inside of it. It was up to me to accept it or not, but now I know it was meant for me.