This is a blog about me, Jeremy Shinall
Happy New Year friends!
When I look back at 2011 for myself, I find that my accomplishments and milestones look somewhat different from those found in your typical holiday newsletter. But, I do want to take this opportunity to share this past year with you – especially if we don’t get to talk very often. What I really want to share with you has more to do with what’s been going on in me rather than what I did in 2011.
Today started like most days. I certainly didn’t expect my small world to be shaken. Yet, by the end of the day, I felt like I got punched in the gut.
I’ve been in the process of short-selling my house since for 5 months. By the end of this month, it was supposed to be a done deal and I could move on with my life. Yet, out of nowhere, the deal fell apart. It was a total surprise to my realtor, my lawyer and me. All of a sudden, the plans I had set in motion regarding my post-house future were shattered. As disappointing as that is, I’m even more disappointed in my reaction to this development.
The following is adapted from a letter I sent to some friends whom I noticed had become burdened with the weighty-ness and busy-ness of leadership:
I’ve been reading a book titled “Leading With a Limp” by Dan Allender. In Chapter 2, Allender exhorts the reader to count the cost of leadership. He outlines six “costs” of leadership: crisis, complexity, betrayal, loneliness, weariness, and glory. Of the six, the costs of loneliness and weariness stands out as something I’m seeing quite often.
I have quite a few friends dealing with problems in their marriages. I’m not talking about little things that are bound to happen when two people with little quirks decide to combine their lives. No, I’m talking about the kinds of problems that keep you up at night. These are the kinds of problems that make the rest of life fall out of focus. These are the kinds of problems that can really take you down if you let them.
While listening to an episode of the Boundless.org podcast, I was inspired by a panel of men discussing things related to being the men God has called us to be. One panel member asked, “When did you first feel like you’d become a man? What was that defining moment?” This is a poignant question considering today’s society seems to be okay with extended adolesence.