I wasn’t in a good place as I went to pick up my nine year old daughter from school the other day. My professional life has been somewhat tumultuous over the past few years as I have been transitioning out of an accomplished dream to moving on to new dreams. The issue has been defining exactly what the new dreams are. Whenever I have that foundation, I think I’m pretty good at building on it, setting goals, and accomplishing them.
I pick up the kiddo and we pull out of the parking lot. I get a phone call from someone that is having issues with their computer and they ask me if I know what the problem might be. I tried a few suggestions, but it didn’t help, so we leave it unresolved. The call ends and I semi-frustratingly say to myself out loud, “Why do people call me about that stuff? I don’t know what to do. I’m not a technology expert.”
My daughter immediately responds to my self-analytical question with, “You help people dad. That’s what you do!”
My day turned in an instant. From the mouth of my child to which I had no response for. I just let it sink in and it resonated with me profoundly in the moment and still does.
Although I’ve never looked at my professional life as singularly helping people, it was part of the equation of why I wanted to work in the music business. Help artists succeed at finding their dream (and I’ll find mine). Be a part of something special within the music industry. I’ve done that. I’ve accomplished every goal of the old dream.
I still would like to help people, but in more profound ways than before. To really make a difference. That could explain why the work I do with World Vision is a valued part of my life right now and it also gives a clearer picture of ideas I have in the back of my mind that are focused on helping people in new ways, including artists.
I can’t stop thinking about my daughter’s answer, even though the question was not directed toward her. I threw it out there and it came back, but the answer has been within me the entire time. I believe we already have the answers to many of our questions and often are too close to them to notice. God will use a loved one, friend, stranger, or a situation to hold the mirror up for us so we will recognize who we really are and who we want to become.
Helping people with their dream is my old dream and it’s now my new dream. Whether that be artists and songwriters in the music business, a mother and child in poverty, or in ways I have not yet discovered. The foundation has been laid. I want to do what I can, with what I know, to help. Not to be praised for it, but to find peace within it.
Do you have a new dream?
