2 Corinthians 5:17

So, I did something a little different for this blog post - I grabbed my bible and let my teammates pick any random verse they wanted. The rule was whatever verse they picked, I would write my blog about. So here we go… 

My fellow teammates and I have been in office for nearly six months now. That blows my mind to think about. I guess it's true that time flies when you’re having fun! As I was writing this I thought back to the beginning of the year when Kylie and I went on a little hike around the Leadership Center. Normally I wouldn't question going on a hike with Kylie, but there was a small problem: it was pouring rain, the only shoes I had were Crocs, she only had her Chacos, and all the trails were a complete mud pit. Did any of that stop us? Of course not! 

Off we go, hiking the trails of the Leadership Center. Was it muddy? Very. Did we slip and fall? Several times. Did I end up soaked after I fell in the creek? Yes, very much so. After we got tired of walking on the same trail, we “Forged our own path.” See what I did there? Long story short, we went so far off the trail that we got lost. By the time we realized that we were lost, we were stuck in this cycle of going forward and not turning back. This definitely was not a good idea. It took another 20 minutes of walking with no destination for us to decide we needed to turn back around. 

Have you ever been in a cycle like this or been stuck in your ways and not realized it? I have. In life it can be super easy to fall into these cycles. By the time we realize that we’ve gone too far off the trail we may think that we’re unable to turn around. Want to know my opinion? That is completely wrong. 

Alan Watts once said, “You’re under no obligation to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago.” If we apply that to Kylie and I going off the beaten path, we get something pretty similar. Watts probably would have seen me and Kylie, soaking wet, covered in mud, and laughing hysterically, and said something along the lines of “You are under no obligation to go the same direction you were 5 minutes ago.” Simply put, you don't have to stay in a cycle. In me and Kylie's case, we didn't have to continue to walk off the beaten path. We didn't have to stay in the rut we created ourselves that said “keep going forward.”

Most likely, you are not reading this during a hike and you are likely not walking off the beaten path. It is entirely possible, however, that you are stuck in a rut. You may think that you are stuck on this path and that you can't turn around. Let me tell you you can. 

You are never too far gone. Forge a new path. Embrace new opportunities.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Never too far gone, 

Luc Sproles