Dear Aaron,
At the time this letter was written to you, a lot was going on in your life. You were in your first year of seminary, weeks away from finally finishing up that pesky undergrad work, wrapping up your first year interning with Mosaic in L.A., trying for child number two, excited for your brother Jake’s little one due in a few months, and just coming off an incredible experience in CO with your newfound brothers of RhythmInTwenty.
Undoubtedly much has happened since. It is likely that you are now a father of at least two, perhaps more. You have probably been back in Lincoln, NE for some time now, started a new work there, moved back into your little house on Everett Street and enjoyed a few thunderstorms on your back deck. Who knows, maybe you even finally got that rusty orange Jeep Wrangler you’ve wanted for so long.
Aaron, I need you to hear me. A time will come, perhaps it already has, when you are going to get to a point where you begin to look for greener grass again. It is in your nature. Perhaps the slow pace of Lincoln life has you once more itching for the opportunities and excitement of a big city. Perhaps the grind of ministry has you longing to escape to the mountains of Colorado so you can finally work on the river. Or perhaps you are slowly realizing that your life will never quite be able to keep up with your dreams. Whatever the case, you need to stop whatever you are doing right now, shut off the music, power down your smart phone, put the laptop away and remember for a few moments.
You need to remember that God has called you in no uncertain terms to pursue the young adults of Lincoln, NE with the reckless grace of Jesus Christ. You need to remember the calling given you in the green hills of Scotland to speak; no matter how inept or insecure you might feel. You need to remember that which led you to plant Kineo – a work intercepted, but a calling that never changed. You need to remember that night in February of 2009 when you came to understand what that ancient passage in Joel was referring to. You need to remember the visions you saw of the "contagious" movement that would saturate the dark spaces and holes of Lincoln, NE. You need to remember what it was like to fight tears through nearly every session at Catalyst West Coast as God affirmed your call to Lincoln over and over again and as He urged you to finally own that calling and begin praying for the city.
Aaron, you must REMEMBER! You have been called, not requested. Your ambitions are not your own. Your dreams are not your own. Your vision is not your own. Your LIFE is not your own. Your days were ordained for you before one of them came to be. Do not question your call. Do not question your commitment. Own it. Embrace it. Live it.
