The Born Wild Story
Sometime in 2002 I read a book that changed my life.
It built on the masculine truths my father had always insisted were real and it confirmed many of the feelings God had placed within my heart. The book was Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. I think most of us grow up with a sense that there is more going on in life than what meets the eye. That maybe there is a bigger world out there than, well…the world. But it is such a hard vision to hold onto. By the time we get into adulthood, the ‘child is grown, the dream is gone’, as Pink Floyd infamously wrote. We lose hope for anything big and settle in for whatever life might deal to us.
Eldredge proposes that there is way more going on. There is a big story unfolding around all of humanity. In fact, each of us has a key role in an epic adventure that extends far beyond the beginning and end of the life we see. If only we would accept the invitation.
I grew up on a small farm outside of Nashville, TN with two younger brothers and a little sister. Oh what an adventure land for to grow up in! With a back yard full of mountains, caves, cliffs, ponds, creeks, shotguns, rifles, bows and arrows, horses, cows, and motorcycles, it doesn’t really matter that you only almost get three stations on the TV! On top of that, my father’s parents lived with us. My grandfather spent his days tending a garden and tinkering with whatever was at hand – an adventure of his own! He would actually invite us to be dangerous. That was home for me and apparently still is. I absolutely come alive in the outdoors – the wilder the better!
Five years ago I met a pastor unlike any I had met before. He didn’t pretend. He was real and a little dangerous – at least with the topics he dared to unlock. The subjects considered taboo for church were exactly where he wanted to go. Bruce Martin and I met on a men’s retreat he led as a program called Born to be Wild and became close friends. He would take small groups of men from different local churches into the wilderness for a four-day backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail. Not a men’s retreat but a men’s advance! Combining a physical challenge with powerful messages about hard topics that every man faces at one level or another. The outcome was real, authentic male bonding.
I was busy climbing other mountains at the time – the corporate ladder – trying to balance work and family, church and God. I was in a great rewarding career that was perfectly fine. But I just wanted more than fine. I kept thinking that if I could just get that next contract, hit that magic income level, and keep the wife and kids happy, I would finally realize the epic life I had glimpsed as a child. The truth was, I was chasing the wrong dream.
God started to lead me into a new chapter within my part of the story.
I started to feel that God was planning something unbelievable with my life: a position He had been grooming me for since I was a child. It was a slow process. I knew God wanted me to live from the passions of heart but I couldn’t see exactly what that might look like. Surely it was some kind of outdoor venture. But what? How? I started pushing different doors into what I thought might be the adventure of a lifetime but none where quite right. I felt like God calling me to a land He would show me - what do you do with that?!!? Surrender!About three years into this journey, I fell to the floor almost in tears.
“God, whatever you want me to go, wherever you want me to go, I am yours. I don’t know how to get there, I don’t even know where to start, but I am in for the ride.” That’s when things started to happen – almost immediately. Bruce asked if I would be willing to help lead Born to be Wild trips. Would I lead and teach men the truth of abundant life? On airplane returning home from an 80-mile transverse of the Sierra Mountains I was invited to take full control of Born to be Wild. After much prayer, blessings from my family, and counsel from friends and loved ones, I made a major leap of faith. I left my corporate job of 17 years and began my biggest adventure yet.There have been many adjustments to my life the lives of my family. It is still very much a journey to an unknown land. I learn new truths daily and some are not easy. I do not always know what is around the next bend of the river. I do not know how this journey will end or if it will be a success or failure. What I do know is that I am trying to obey God’s leadings. I know that I am walking with God, not perfectly but I am learning. I am on a journey to wholeness. Holiness is both God’s call and God’s promise. I know I have never felt so alive!