WHY I DO WHAT I DO

“The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation!” (Psalm 118:14)

“So much to do in so little time!”  Isn’t that the story of our lives? I’m a husband, father of three with another one on the way, singer/songwriter with a busy tour schedule, little league coach, churchgoer, etc, etc, etc, and my terrible golf swing is evidence that I don’t have time for that game anymore.  In my so called spare time, if there is such a thing, I’m attempting to write a book, record a charity swing album and finish my 11th CD due out next January.  I have so many irons in the fire that I often find myself getting distracted, overwhelmed and discouraged.  So why, with all this said, am I making yet another weekly obligation to write this blog?  Well… This blog is part of a challenge I’ve made with myself to set aside some quality time everyday to slow down, chill out, pray, study my bible and then reflect on my heart, my family and my love for Jesus.  Hopefully I will even brighten up someone’s day while doing so.  This is something I should have started a long time ago.  I’ve got to give a big thanks to all the fans/friends that, for the past few years, have encouraged/harassed me to start something like this!  So here we are the first entry of the Barbed Wire Halo Blog.  Finally!

WHY I DO WHAT I DO (or perhaps “why I do what I try to do”)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23)

Let’s rewind back 10 years…

In the beginning my passion for music revolved around me, myself and I.  Like most 20 year old boys, I was chasing after rock star dreams.  You know, fame, fortune and perhaps a girl or two. 🙂 It’s kind of funny now, but I had no clue of what I was getting myself into.  I guess, thanks to my ignorance and cockiness, I actually thought I’d take over the music industry over night.   Obviously that didn’t happen!   During the first year or so, I lived at a gas station, played over 200 shows and managed to not make a dime.  I would eventually improve my living accommodations but paying my dues while paying for the van, the band, the trailer, the gear, the gas, and the hotel rooms would remain a constant struggle for the next 5 years.  And it didn’t help that I was second guessing myself every step of the way.  For instance, I questioned my decision for passing on an opportunity to pursue a record deal in the early stages of my career.  They flew me out to Nashville, drove me around in a fancy foreign car but something just didn’t feel right.  It all seemed like a bunch of hollow words and empty promises.  Did I make the right decision?  Who knows?  Maybe I would have become the biggest thing since sliced bread then again maybe I would have gotten dropped like a hot potato!   I am confident now knowing that God steered me in the right direction.  Even if I had been ready to take on the world musically I was definitely not ready spiritually. An old cowboy preacher, after one of my Fort Worth shows 7 or 8 years ago, put it best when he said, “Aaron, in the end, selling a million CDs will be worthless if you aren’t glorifying God while doing so.”  Well that ol’ preacher hit the nail on the head but this was something I had always known in my heart but had never backed up with my actions.  I knew I wasn’t giving God my best and it was time to step it up a notch.

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well”.     Martin Luther King Jr.

Now let’s rewind back 20 years…..

My biggest hero was the custodian at my Church growing up.  He drove an old brown station wagon that had orange shag carpet on the dash.  The only thing flashy about the man was his purple heart and other military medals that he would let me take to school for show and tell.  He coached every little league team I ever played on, and has revolved his life and love around me since the day I was born.  Yep, you probably guessed it; I’m talking about my Daddy.  I learned my greatest lessons in life while spending time with Dad.  In fact, I’m still learning from him today.  I recall one time in particular, I was probably 11 or 12, while we were cleaning the bathrooms at the Church.  Dad was in one stall and I was in the next one, wearing yellow rubber gloves, scrubbing, complaining and wanting to cuss that porcelain pot a blue streak.  Dad, with his humor, gave me the classic line “it’s a dirty job but somebody’s gotta do it”.  Then he said, “Son, I don’t like cleaning these toilets anymore than you do but I do it because I love you.  I give my best because I want to show God that I am thankful for being blessed with a job that provides for my family.”  Then he added, “Not to mention that I am honored knowing that, in a way, I am cleaning His house.”  Looking back, I probably cherish those times with Dad wearing those yellow rubber gloves even more than the times we spent wearing our baseball gloves.  Perhaps from our society’s materialistic point of view, Dad was an insignificant janitor with a lower class job.  But in God’s eyes I know he saw Dad as a hardworking, faithful and courageous servant.  And to this boy he was everything!  In the 3rd grade a kid made a crack about Dad’s job while out on the playground, before I had a chance to react, one of my buddies knocked that kid on his can.  I guess I wasn’t the only kid who considered Dad a hero!

Take a second to revisit the Martin Luther King Jr. quote above and replace each underlined “street sweeper” and “sweep streets” with your own personal occupation whatever that may be.

We are all ordinary people with a very extraordinary God!  You don’t have to be the next Billy Graham or a missionary in Africa to glorify God with your life.  The bible is full of average, everyday kinds of people like you and I doing some amazing and almost impossible kinds of things.  There’s the story of the runt shepherd boy David, or the farmer Gideon, the widow Ruth, or how about the prostitute Rahab!   And then there’s Jesus!  Even though he was the Son of God, He was born in a barn to a lowly Carpenter and his wife.  Years later Jesus would go on to choose a dozen unwanted rejects to be his disciples and to help spread his message.   And that message would spread to all four corners of the world.  I’d say not too bad for a bunch of country boys!

So to sum it all up: Put your faith in action and make an impact in your corner of the world.  Have a great week!