So you’re probably sick of hearing about my drive by now. I am too. So let me sum up the last day in this way: Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois all look the same. They’re part of the infamous Corn Belt, Great Plains, Midwest, etc. I’ve known this from geography class and from growing up in Indiana, but driving through it really brought this truth home.
That said, the flatlands are a great place for brainstorming. One of the storms that swirled through my mind was this:
I want to do six things with my life, broadly speaking. I want to teach and write. Create and build. Mentor and coach. These seem to operate in pairs, but I think I would like the six to converge. Thus far, I have done these things on a small scale, as a volunteer mostly. But I would like to make a living doing these things. I would like to provide for my family by doing these things.
But then again, living is giving. So perhaps I need to keep doing these things as an act of service.
And maybe someday, some way, I will receive pay. Maybe here, maybe there. Maybe the latter is more just and fair.
Omer Redden 