As a child, and even as a man in my fifties, I saw my parents simply as providers, not people with hurts, needs, and limitations.

Because I’ve been influenced by so many leaders in so many ways, I’ve realized I’ve drawn inaccurate conclusions about leadership that have led me to overreact and underreact to my experiences with leaders.

"I preferred not to see myself." -Augustine

When I started out as a Christian leader and for many years after, I knew the bible, but not myself. And I was more in love with teaching than people.

Your story is not a mere chronology but an interpretive lens through which you view yourself and your experience. Your story significantly influences how you perceive the world, yet tends to operate below your conscious awareness

One of the main reasons for a lack of self-awareness is that our identity is not deeply rooted in God’s grace. So it feels threatening to look “under the hood” of our lives.

While highly informed theologically, I was only dimly aware of the dynamics between God and myself—his invitations and my evasions.

On your journey with Christ, sometimes relational experience is more important than abstract knowledge

When your story becomes more of a resource than a reproach, you are “story-rich.”

While the three works vary, they all interact with notions of love, suffering, and faith.

A Poem by George Herbert Shows Why