Spent the weekend in Colorado Springs. The direct flight out of Atlanta was great. Karen and I flew there for no better reason than that God seems to be asking us to join forces with a couple of guys I only met in for a couple of days two months ago. Before you write me off as a flake, last month I felt God asking me to fly there and as the result of a meeting I had, AIM was given $90,000 to help with Katrina victims.
I am a risk taker, but the risks I take tend to have a fair amount of analysis behind them. This deal is strange. Both Tom and Gary are leaders with a heart to spread God’s message of love and hope around the globe. That’s me too. Our friend Andrew brought us together and now, despite the fact that we are all very busy guys, we aretalking about what it would look like to change the world together. We made a commitment to one another. It was kind of outrageous – committing to people I don’t know, just out of a sense of God’s leading. Nothing tangible, just a sense.
I guess I’ve found that God doesn’t follow a business plan. It’s in my nature to plan, but the best stuff I’ve ever been a part of, I didn’t plan. Marrying Karen, having our five kids, starting AIM – none of that followed a plan. For that matter, becoming a missionary, winding up in Georgia, becoming a people-oriented person – none of these were on my agenda when I graduated from college.
Somehow, I feel somewhat defensive about the serendipitous nature of my life. I met Michael Dell at a cocktail party in Austin when he was 21, but he was already on a skyrocket. He had a clear sense of where he was going. There is something to be said for the man with a clear vision and a plan for getting there. Yet, it’s in my heart to partner with God and to trust his plan for my life. He has to have this position of authority. I have to trust him; I have to trust his goodness, his plan.
Having said that, it’ll be interesting to see where this thing in Colorado Springs goes. My bet is that it has the potential to change millions of people’s lives. Call me crazy – it’s just a sense I have.
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