A New Adventure... sometimes awkward

When Christen and I left Holland to move to SoCal in 2008, we started a blog for our friends and family back home. Out of the 100 or so posts that kept everyone up to date with pictures, stories, and thoughts, approximately 2 of those were written by me! My wife is an excellent writer and is great at translating her thoughts into written word. I, on the other hand, tend to be much more of an internal processor and keep lots of thoughts to myself unless someone asks. But today I have turned over a new leaf - or at least I am getting a head start on my New Year's resolution. So here goes...

"I am a marriage and family therapist."

This is what typically comes out of my mouth when people ask about me or what I'm doing here; and this has been happening more and more these days since we have moved back to Holland, MI. We've been reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and trying to find a rhythm in this wonderful "happiest place to live in America". Part of this makes sense as I am trying to establish myself and a professional practice here. But I have to wonder: How do I really want to identify myself? My identity does not come from my profession, let alone my job. And is that really the most important thing about me right now? Let me try introducing myself by what I'm really thinking:

"My name is Tony. No, I'm not Italian. I have a beautiful wife who is 4 weeks from having a baby and I feel a mixture of excitement, bewilderment, love, and impatience about this! I am in the midst of developing a new community here and I feel called to be a good steward of the gifts I’ve been given and responsive to the glorious love of Christ which compels me to love my neighbor and speak of the grace and eternal life I have received. I have a vision for healthy living and spirituality; family-driven worship; deep relationships where people work through issues together; empowered families who live outside of the norm; mentoring and discipling relationships at all levels; people being open to and exploring their missional vocation and giftedness; and providing support, services, and relationship with lower-resourced people and those who do not follow Christ. I want to do all that in part through Marriage and Family Therapy, which I love and have been uniquely gifted."

...but who would really stick around to listen to all that? They just wanted to hear what my job was.

I want to live on purpose and make the most of my time here.