How I Got Here - Welcome.

How’d I get here? That is a pretty loaded question, but first, I really need to define where here is. I could be talking about how I came to work or live where I do, it could be a reference to my mental or emotional state, or even a particular end result of a series of decisions made. For me, I am reflecting on how I came to establish this page, blog, and the expeditions and gatherings that my wife and I see in the future.

So, how did I get here? I got here by being half committed to a belief. I got here by being prideful. I got here by thinking I could get one over on my “beliefs” I got here by claiming to be a believer in Jesus Christ, all while still working to advance my own agenda in life. I got here by believing that the All Mighty God was a parachute and a safety net. I got here by thinking that if I half heartedly acknowledged a “relationship” with him, that He would save me in my moments of failure so that I could continue working towards my own desires. I got here by falling into a downward mental spiral until I broke and finally surrendered.

Back in high school, I had a dream of having my own off road shop. A place where I was going to sell parts and build radical rides that could survive and conquer the harshest and most difficult terrain. I thought I would start by trying to make an off road centric car club, then I wanted to start doing shade tree mechanic work as a side hustle, and eventually I tried leveraging YouTube and social media. That last endeavor started about three years ago. I saw the success of others and thought that I could discipline myself into learning how to create a successful presence that I could monetize and sustain my desires and passions with. Only thing was, I wasn’t into it. I seriously struggled with self doubt, insecurity and feeling like an imposter. I felt like people would find out that I didn’t know enough about the vehicles, the racing, and the off-roading that I was doing and everything would end up crumbling down on top of me. Eventually, I succumbed to these fears and quit creating new content. In the midst of all of this, my mind began to spiral out of control and I found myself in a deep and dark place.

Fortunately, I had my parachute. Before I crashed and burned, my Father caught me. He took parts of me that had broken and began to repair them. As He was doing so, the Holy Spirit began to gently teardown the walls that created the dark places in my soul that hid the secrets responsible for my spiral. He started to show me where I had built idols that stood between me and the fullness of life that was intended for me. One of these idols was the YouTube channel I had created. I realized that I had created the channel as an attempt to boast about my own accomplishments; it was all about me and what I can do.

I came to a realization. Instead of glorifying myself, I needed to glorify the one who gave me the gifts that I have that drive my passions and desires. Philippians 2:3a says, “ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” This is exactly what I was doing. I knew that the social media presence I started needed to be sacrificed and the pride it represented needed to die. In its place, I was to create something new. I had been given a vision of something that could be used to share the journey that my family was on so that we might be able to share the message that was transforming our lives with those who God would lead to it. We had visions of connecting with others while out camping and exploring the place the Creator introduced us to. I felt like I am supposed to bring other men into a place of community by venturing out into the wilderness like Jesus often did.

I got here because the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit asked me to sacrifice the prideful and selfish ambitions of my sinful nature and in their place, create something new that, through me and my family, He can use to reach those who don’t know Him yet. We are humbled to be a part of this mission and are excited to share in this journey of growing the Kingdom. I would like to welcome you to Sanctified Expeditions, and my prayer is that what you find here helps to draw you closer in relationship to our Heavenly Father.