My Greatest Adventure
– A Step of Faith
Adventure: (1) An
exciting or unusual experience; a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an
uncertain outcome. (2) Broadly refers to
any enterprise that is potentially fraught with physical, financial or psychological
risk, such as a business venture, a love affair, or other major life
undertakings.
When Jennifer first invited me to guest-post on the topic of
“My Greatest Adventure,” I thought this would be a fairly easy task.
I’ve lived a full life and experienced my
share of risky undertakings with uncertain outcomes.
I could write about mission trips to
Honduras, travel in foreign countries,
mountain bike treks,
hiking treks, camping trips, hunting trips, running a trap line, horseback
riding, rock climbing, rappelling, or snow skiing, just to name a few.
The choices are virtually limitless! Which turned out to be the problem…how to
choose?
If Jennifer had asked me to write about an adventure of
choice, that would be one thing. But she
asked me to write about my greatest
adventure!
My
eldest
daughter recently blogged about each day of her life being an adventure
that she shares with her three little boys.
I agree with her.
In the unusual
life of a parent of young children, just getting out of bed each morning is a
bold undertaking with uncertain outcome!
But, I could hard call each day my greatest adventure. One adventure
has to be greater than others, doesn’t it? Perhaps, I was thinking too small.
Surely, my greatest adventure would be the undertaking with
the greatest uncertainty, or highest risk.
From this viewpoint, I should be considering major life undertakings
such as marriage, parenting,
divorce,
a second marriage,
or the start of
a
new career.
Those were all major life decisions fraught with risk and
uncertainty with far-reaching potential consequences.
Some were choices I made deliberately, while
others were thrust upon me, unsolicited.
However, each, in its own way, turned out to be a major adventure!
Like all good adventures, each led to
unanticipated experiences far from what I envisioned at the beginning.
I’ve lived some adventures vicariously, by reading books
written by others. I might be tempted to
write these off as “not real” adventures, just imagination. Except…some of those books have led to
substantial changes in my perspective of life, of humanity, and of God. Surely, opening one’s heart and mind to
allow deep changes in perception is a risky undertaking with uncertain outcome!
So which of these myriad of adventures is the greatest?
Perhaps, I’m still thinking too small. Perhaps each of these adventures is but an
unanticipated experience in a much larger adventure.
Some say life, itself, is an adventure. I would not disagree with this thesis. My
life has certainly been adventurous! Yet, I’ve known some whose lives seemed more like one long complaint,
rather than a bold, exciting adventure.
So, why has my life been more adventurous than some others? Why have I chosen to invest so much of myself
into each new endeavor and each new relationship? Why have I chosen to generally anticipate
positive outcomes, rather than a gloomy, dreary existence? What is the source of my spirit of adventure,
and when did this grand adventure begin?
I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was seven years old, lying in a sleeping bag on the floor
of my bedroom…because sleeping bags are much more adventuresome than soft
beds! Though I shared the bedroom with
my older brother, I was alone in my room, that evening.
Having been
raised in a Christian home,
attending church and Sunday school, I knew who Jesus was and what He had done
for us.
However, I had not yet made a
conscious personal decision to
choose Him.
That evening, as I lay in my sleeping bag, I knew it was
time. I asked Jesus to be my personal
savior, to cleanse me of my sins, to make me His child, and to help me live my
life for His glory. Then I lay in my sleeping bag, with tears streaming down my
face, as I softly sang:
“I
have decided to follow Jesus…no turning back, no turning back!”
Those tears carried mixed emotions…the joy of knowing my
sins were forgiven…the sorrow of realizing the price Jesus had paid for my
sins… and the conviction and determination of understanding that, though the
path would not be easy, I was determined to follow Christ all of my days!
“…no
turning back, no turning back!”
Growing up hearing of the heroes of faith, I knew this
adventure would require sacrifice.
“Take
the whole world, but give me Jesus…”
I knew it would sometimes be a
lonely
path.
“Though
none go with me, I still will follow…”
I knew it would cost me my life.
“My
cross I’ll carry, ‘til I see Jesus…no turning back, no turning back!”
At seven years old, there was a lot I did not
understand. But I understood enough to
know both the weight of the commitment and the joy of knowing God. I understood enough to know this was God’s
adventure on which I had been invited, and the path would be of His
choosing. I remember having a very clear
picture of dying a martyr’s death, and praying God would give me courage and
strength. I don’t know by what manner of death I will leave this
world. Perhaps I will die as a martyr
for Christ.
I do know, though, that I died that night, and was
resurrected to new life in Christ Jesus. And every day since has been one of both learning to die to self and to live
through Christ.
It hasn’t all been easy. I have suffered some great losses and mourned some deep sorrows. There have been times of hurting so bad and
being so confused by circumstances that I questioned whether God even exists,
or if He does how he could love me?
Overall, it has been a life filled with both great joy and
deep sorrow…a life lived based on trusting that, even when I don’t understand,
God has a plan and remains in control…a life where even in my moments of
deepest doubt, I still turn to God for answers, even with questions about His
very nature and existence.
Through it all, God has remained faithful.
He has always drawn me close to Himself,
giving me strength and comfort.
He has
always caused all things to work together for
my own good…to
be molded closer to His image…and to lead me to a deeper understanding of His
grace and love.
Yes, it is, indeed, a Grand Adventure! …and it is far from over!
What is Your Grand
Adventure?
My name is Joseph Pote.
I blog, at
Redeemed! about Christ,
living, relationships, and other topics.
I met Jennifer through a writer’s blog, hosted by
Rachelle Gardner, where we have a
lot of fun joking around while encouraging each other.
