Yesterday we received the latest copy of our home school family magazine. It is a small publication that goes out to members of the homeschooling organization that we are currently working with (Wisdom). The theme of the magazine happened to be on passion. They do not currently have all of their articles available online, and the article I am about the reprint is also not available online.

I wanted to take the time to share this article as I think it is a fantastic reminder about what passion is and how we can exercise it on a day to day basis. The author (Ken Noster) happens to be the Director of Wisdom, and from what I can gather, a man full of "wisdom"!!

On Building Noah's Ark

Synonymous with calling, passion is a gift. It has to do with response, and it has to do with responsibility.

Too often, passion is seen as a personal thing, reduced to the realm of personal preference or even self-indulgence; but I don't think this accurately describes passion. Christ's passion was actually something he asked to be relieved of, and realistically, may of our own passions cost us a great deal.

I seem to have been given a few passions, and each of them works out to be a source of joy and at the same time a responsibility that demands faithful response.

I have a passion to grow things, to feed clean grains, vegetables, and meat to my family and other families. Perhaps at a basic level it's a desire to nurture. I like nurturing newborn calves, injured horses, chickens, wheat seedlings... and it is difficult to back off or abandon an animal or plant that is failing. Most of all, I like to nurture my wife and children, not only with good food, but with good ideas and good theology; and their healthy spiritual life certainly is my passion.

I have a passion for truth. Whether it is big business exploiting little people or bureaucrats exerting their bias on families, I find myself roused to action. This particular response has pushed me to sit on boards and make presentations to government bodies. It has propelled me to write letters and make speeches. It has caused me to move beyond my comfort zone over and over.

Ultimately, the Truth is a person, and I am recognizing that my passion resides in representing Him as well as I am able.

I have a passion for love. I used to think of love as just a personal things, sort of my own response to people, a response that was private and no one's business but my own. It was only when I began to slowly learn what love really is, that I began to see it as universal in its demands and in its effects. It was by realizing love was a gift that needed to be received before it could be given that I became convinced that love, like my other passions, is a gift I have received and am called to spend on others. I have received it from my parents, family, friends, and most especially my God and Saviour; and who am I to think I don't owe it to everyone I meet, and even those I never meet.

All my passion springs from gifts I have been given, and I wouldn't have passion at all if it weren't instilled in me. It follows, then, that passion is not ultimately my own to use as I please, but it is a gift to be used for the good of others. To the extent that I passionately serve, I receive joy; and ultimately I become the person I'm created to be.. I grow up and become responsible. To the extent that I fail to apply my passions to the good of others, I am robbed of joy and shrink in my maturity.

Each day challenges me to apply my passions well, and wouldn't you know it: the more selflessly I can use my passion for others, the more I passionately enjoy the day!!

Awesome article. I just wanted to take the time to share that as I know that someone is going to be able to receive a blessing from it today!!

Sometimes things are going to happen in your life that will completely turn your world upside down. During these times it can be very easy to sink to very low places and convince yourself that there is no getting up from here.

In that mindset, you can see the steps that you have to take to improve your situation, and yet you can easily convince yourself that you are powerless to take that step.  In that place it can be very easy to succumb to feelings (which often lead us astray).

No matter how long you stay in the valley (and sometimes it can be for quite a while), at one point or another you are going to have to make the choice to start making the long walk out. The journey ahead can often look really long, and sometimes impossible. For myself, even knowing I have Jesus with me, and knowing the truth about what steps I need to take to get out of this valley, my human spirit can still contest this and leave me in a place where I am still fumbling. At one point or other you have to commit to taking that first step, and after that you take another step.

Even after you start walking forward again, don't be surprised if you sometimes fall back a couple of steps and sit there for a bit to contemplate what is going on. What matters is that you find the strength to once again start walking ahead. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Start making the choice to not succumb to the feelings that are paralyzing you. One day at a time, one choice at a time, eventually you will see the horizon again and recommence stepping forward into your future!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

Philippians 3:12-14

(this should have been posted a couple of days ago!!)

It is 6:45AM on a Saturday morning. Having not yet went to bed from completing another course, instead of going to sleep immediately I am blasting this down as I feel that someone out there needs to read this post . One of the many comments that I often receive from students of the courses is that they can't believe how passionate I am about writing software.

I often go into long rants about how I look back at the code I wrote years ago and ,even though it can make me shudder, I still smile with joy when I think about the experience I had while I was writing the software. I will talk on and on about the importance of being focused, dreaming big, living passionately. Of course there is some technical in there!

(!!!!!IMPORTANT - The following comments are not meant to come off as advertising, whether good or bad!!)
Some comments that often come up during courses are:
-How did you get so good
-Man you are fast
-I can't keep up
-I have no idea what I am doing
-You have not given me enough direction to complete the exercise
-Could you please stop changing the requirements part way through an exercise
-You're presentation style sucks
-You don't cater to different styles of learning very well
-I have no idea what you are talking about anymore

I have cut the list short because the list goes on and on and on. I listed both good and bad feedback above to highlight one important topic. Regardless of a students experience with the course there is no student who, having taken the course, is not able to say the following things:

-He seems to love what he does?
-He seems to not be caught up in the mainstream?
-He does not seem to be worried about trying to keep up with everyone else?

So is it a matter of focus? Partially? Am I driven? Somewhat?

Then what is the big deal???

Long ago I gave up the driver seat of my life to someone who knows way may about things than I ever could. I feel passionate about what I do because a long time ago, someone who demonstrated passion for something else, their love for the Lord, was something that changed my life. My wife was one of those people in high school who would walk up to a complete stranger and ask them the question: Are you saved? Do you know Jesus? This was one of the first questions she asked me having just met me. I was intrigued. Having grown up going to church, I was stumped at the question as I did not have any idea what it meant to have a relationship with the Lord. Aaron and I did not end up dating until the beginning of grade 12. Having witnessed the life of someone living out loud, and not being afraid, or even caught up in the popularity traps that can often snare people going through high school; I decided to give my life to the Lord, and things began to significantly change, I began to change!! I was not in a broken place when I found the Lord, I just knew that I needed Him in my life. The moment that I decided to follow Jesus, I started to change, and my perception of things began to alter as I drew closer to Him.

People often realize that the Nothin but .Net courses end up being much more than just about technology. Lots of people end up feeling empowered, energized (despite the long days), and having a renewed sense of purpose for both their development careers and lives in general. Of course, this is not the way everyone feels, but the important thing to realize is that none of it has anything to do with me at all. My family and I believe that God is using this course as a way to wake people up to the possibilities of what it means to have a rich life in Him; one that is not:

• caught up in the meaningless comparison traps that bring us no satisfaction whatsoever.
• driven by desires that do not end up in delivering any meaningful fruit, or leave us with any feeling of accomplishment/peace
• tossed side to side by the crazy events that can happen in our lives
• filled with uncertainty about what happens next?

The amount of great opportunities we have had to share the Lord with developers all over the world is amazing, and is the central reason that I believe the course is still going strong.

I Develop With Passion, because I am filled by the One that gives me an unshakable hope for an amazing future, that is promised to all who accept Him into their life!! Even if things in life don't go the way that we would like, there is an unbelievable, incredible, future that awaits all who give up the drivers seat to the One who really knows how to point us in the ultimate right direction!! I Develop With Passion because I want people to ask the question why? So I can point them directly at The answer. It has nothing to do with me whatsoever. I am nothing special.  Jesus is everything.

If you want to read more about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus I suggest you take a look at a fantastic resource: notreligion.com . If you have even the vaguest question, please take the time to read through the site. It could be the most important decision you make!!

Develop With Passion!!