One of my
hopes for each of you is that you live a life that stretches you. That sentence
may be a bit confusing so I will try and explain. I don’t like heights, never
have. Being way up in the air always makes me uncomfortable. I was never a
climber of trees as a kid, in Boy Scouts I once repelled off of a tower and
upon reaching the ground vowed to never again test my luck (or the ropes
strength) for that matter. However, as my life progressed I didn’t want to let
my fears hold me back from experience, adventure, and a good bit of adrenaline.
Perhaps that is how I found
myself atop a large mountain in Ager Spain, with a Spaniard who spoke little
English strapped to my back, and both of us strapped to a large fabric sail. As I prepared to run off the mountain my
thoughts were, I hope I survive, and this is going to be a crazy ride. It was,
and I certainly did not 100% enjoy being suspended 3,000 feet above the valley
below, but it was beautiful, more so then it could have ever been if my feet
were planted on terra firma. Just a side note, your mother is not afraid of
heights, she jumped out of a plane once, I will never do that, she also
followed me off the mountain, with a Spaniard of her own.
Stretching yourself is
difficult, uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and stressful work. Complacency is easy;
to sit at home, visiting familiar friends and familiar haunts, but this world
is vast. My parents are not world travelers, your grandpa Ken loves the
outdoors, but hates flying and so his travels were always within about 8 hours
drive from Phoenix. Nothing is wrong with that, but the world is so much
bigger.
I have always had wanderlust, a
desire to see new places, people and find new experiences. Thankfully I have
found a career that not only provides the monetary means, but more often than
not requires that I travel. Every trip has shown me something, imparted on me
some lesson, and provided me with at least one memory that I will carry for the
rest of my life. I don’t mean just the trips abroad, I still remember pulling
over in Wyoming to sit silently and admire the plains with meandering rivers
and white mountains in the distance. I remember visiting a small and dying
lumber town in northern California where I had one of the best breakfasts I can
remember before driving past trees that had been growing for hundreds of years,
bearing witness to the slow progress of time. If I had time in my schedule I
would often abandon the interstate and find a smaller road, a slower road, and
when struck by some beauty pull over and let it take hold of me.
For every reason to step outside
your door there will be 10 to stay, for every adventure there will be a risk,
hiding ever present behind the reward. Some people choose to substitute reason
for fear, and fail to recognize that simply living a long life is not the same
as living a full life. I often joke that I have lived long enough, I say it
jokingly but I mean it wholeheartedly. That certainly does not mean that I seek
death or take extreme risks, but it does mean that I have perspective.
Your mother has seen firsthand,
and through her I have seen secondhand the chaos and injustice of life. Young
children succumb to cancer or illness, sometimes violence that ends their lives
before they have really begun to live. I often think of those children and feel
such gratitude for the life I have. I have come to the conclusion that no
matter what you accomplish in this life it does not make death easier. I just
completed my first trip to Europe for two weeks with your mother for our 10
year anniversary. It was a spectacular trip and we saw Italy, France and Spain.
However, if upon my deathbed I would not think, “thank God I went to Europe”,
for what would it matter in eternity, what solace would it really provide?
I don’t say all of that to
counter my desire to have each of you live lives where you step outside your
comfort zones, I say it to temper the common belief that life is fulfilling
because of what you fill it with. My life is fulfilling because of the love
that is in it. Love of God, of your mother, of each of you, my family, and for
strangers (sometimes, some strangers are hard to love!). Love that God
demonstrated, love that your mother illuminated, and love that each of you brought
to its full conclusion. If I had never been a father I don’t think I could have
fully grasped God the Fathers love for me. If I hadn’t felt the selfless love I
feel for each of you I could not have comprehended Gods love for me.
This world is more beautiful
because you are in it. The lands I visit are more vivid because of my love for
you. My travels, my life, my adventures would be meaningless without knowing
God, and having the love I do for and from my family. I pray that someday you
see the world; I pray that eventually someone you choose to share your life
with is by your side. I pray that you find your comfort zone and take a step or
two beyond it. I pray that sometimes that step is an adventure, or an act of kindness
to a stranger, or even an enemy, I pray you take it in faith, full of love, and
knowing no matter where you go, or what you do, that I will always love and be
there for you.
