In preparation for my brother leaving to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 6 month trek covering 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, I was drawn to look through old photo books of Henry growing up. I was nearly ten when he was born, and so I remember well what he was like from birth to now. I remember his interests, his struggles, his victories. I have watched him grow from a twig of a kid into a young man who looks as though he ate his former self.

I certainly was celebrating his bravery on taking on such an adventure.

But if it was a celebration, why did it feel like a funeral?

Truthfully, in a sense, it was.

The Henry as we knew him inevitably was dying.

If Henry comes back the same person I will be disappointed. How could you hike all that way and not be changed? When he returns, to go back to the person he was before would be like putting on an old shirt and realizing the shirt shrank. Or that he has grown.

We are all always dying. Dying from one moment to the next. Each moment is an opportunity to bring forth something entirely new. To become new does not take going on the Appalachian Trail. It is a decision that you have to make. To have new experiences, new thoughts, new actions. These things propel you to recreate who you know yourself to be into something new.

There are two questions I would like you to ask yourself:

(1.) If you feel you have been stuck in a rut and the same person for a long time, what are the things keeping you from changing?

Your initial reaction may be a job or family circumstance. It may be financial or self-doubt. But I believe that most change is hindered by fear of the unknown. That we are inherently comfortable with who we are, even if we do not like who we are. The dislike of self is not powerful enough to move us into the realm of changing the things we dislike.

You must get to the place where you are able to accomplish small tasks that make you uncomfortable, that will move you in the direction of who desire to be.

(2.) If you are to experience change, what are you changing into?

We all are changing, but who are we changing into? The truth is that many people have no plan or direction for the person that they are becoming. You must become the kind of person who knows themselves now, and knows intimately who it is they would like to become.

My ultimate desire for you is to become the person Jesus Christ desires you to be. That the “full version” of yourself is the one that is tied together with Christ.

Henry is on the Appalachian Trail and is becoming someone new. But I know from talking to him that he is spending a lot of quiet time in prayer, in reading the Bible, and in writing. His plan is to know himself and to know and experience God better. When he gets back, he will be a new Henry. But not just a Henry who knows how to hike and camp. But a Henry who has gained tremendous knowledge of himself and a relational depth with God.

You are changing into something. You have a chance to direct your gaze at something, someone, to become like. You also are in a process of bringing out parts of who you were created to be. How wonderful to actually spend time with the one who created you!

Thank you so much for your continued support in reading this newsletter. I feel the love!

I love writing and I want to write more. Currently, to run this blog it is actually costing me a considerable amount of money. If this newsletter has been helpful for you and you’d like to see it continue, I ask if you’d consider becoming a monthly contributor to supporting the cost of running this blog.

Any help you give will only increase my ability to produce better content and hopefully build a better community on this platform. Click the link below to check out the sponsor page.

If you liked this post, or you feel like it would start a good conversation, please share this with your friends and ask them to subscribe.

It would help me a lot. Thanks for reading! 

New videos coming out weekly: https://youtube.com/@thejacobhayward?si=JHgwOjGP_-FwY3l0

Follow me on X for newest updates: https://x.com/thejacobhayward?s=21