lunch with james

If you’re not doing God’s purpose for you, you’re not doing anything. 

You can get sidetracked by even noble endeavors and never get around to God’s purpose for you, says James, waving his arms broadly, and you can see him playing basketball, even now in his button-down shirt and tie.  You have to be diligent to stay on course, he says emphatically.

Hubby and I lunched at the knees of a wise man on Thursday.  James, tall, lean, and graying, leads from experience and faith.  We covered a lot of ground in two hours over fish burgers and garlic fries at Red Robin.  (May I recommend Tyler’s Taproom by the way for the most excellent garlic fries.) 

We talked about God, “BC” life (life before Christ), Primerica, Reborn Virgin, basketball, family, death, happiness, and passion: a lifetime of wisdom and insight exuding as sage guidance from his lips between bites.

You can’t care what others think, he explains to me, leaning in intently as I confess my fear: when I promote RV people will think I’m after the money, when the reality is that I just want to help people live better lives.  He corrects my thinking: you have to concentrate on the goal, on helping people.  Others will believe what they will.  You can’t control them.  However, you can control what you do.

James turns to Hubby.  He addresses many concerns, but one stands out: you have to be careful to not run away from Primerica, like you did the corporate world 5 years ago.  You need to run TO something.  Find your passion and pursue it.

So, James’ message is basically, find God’s purpose for your life, pursue your passion with due diligence, focus on the goal not the distractions (whether iniquitous, imagined, or even righteous), and you’ll fulfill God’s will.