The Adventure of a Lifetime

Check out some of the lyrics from the popular band U2's song "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For":

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still havent found what I'm looking for

Classic literature is filled with stories about people who spent their life looking for something, only to find that it was right in front of them the whole time.

Today some of my dear pals started an incredible adventure - The Mongol Rally. I did not know how I would feel not participating... would I feel sad or disappointed? Would I have a sense of loss, that I had missed an opportunity - or jealousy perhaps.

Back then, when I decided NOT to go on the Mongol Rally, I told Bryan that I was starting a different kind of 10,000 mile journey: The journey to be the man God wanted me to be.

This quest has lived up to every expectation I could have imagined. I feel closer to my Heavenly Father, to Jesus Christ, more in love with my wife, my children, and my life than I ever knew would be possible. I have had to truly look at myself now compared to before, and wonder if I ever really truly loved before! That may sound crazy, and I know that I DID. But the enormity of the love that grows as you consecrate, sacrifice, serve and work for others was never known to me. Maybe only now am I beginning to get a tiny glimpse of the love God has for each of us.

I have always been astounded at my wife Amanda's love: Watching my wife suffer to bring our children into our family - the desire she had to have children, the complete dedication to do whatever it took to get them here, and (specifically during her pregnancy) the pain and challenges of carrying the baby... the discomfort each step of the way... and then the physical trauma and suffering of giving birth, and then feeding, and nurturing our baby... and all the sleepless nights, sick and tired, yet continuing along - most often while I slept - this is a remarkable demonstration of the Adventure that is the topic of my blog tonight.

One of the scariest things we can ever do is to attempt to follow that admonition to "lose our life in the service of others" and then hope that we will find it. Attempting this is not easy, and while I am far from the mark, I can say that in the past months I have lived moments in which I (to the greatest extent I could for my life) have surrendered my life to Christ, "lost my life" in doing what was right and serving - all the while not knowing the outcome, and engaged in walking his path... and remarkably, have been blessed with some of the the greatest lessons - some of the greatest ADVENTURE imaginable.

The Adventure tonight was incredible, and I wouldn't trade it for London: Tonight, I prayed with, sang to, and kissed each one of my children and tucked them in to their beds as they fell asleep. I laughed at "Doug" on "King of Queens" and watched Amanda's face light up with laughter as we watched that funny show... and then started this blog.

The Adventure of a Lifetime is right in front of me, and the toughest part is having to recognize that it was right here all along, and I didn't see it.

Surely there is adventure in the streets of Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia - or in swimming Lake Baikal, Russia. But I know of no greater adventure than in facing the man looking back at me in the mirror as I brush my teeth each morning and night, and choosing to BE the person my Father intended.