I love summertime.  Outdoors, the beach with the family, cookouts, and even a little mild sunburn can be enjoyable.  Many merchants plan vacations this time of year.  Smart ones begin the Christmas merchandising plan as well.  But, this article is not about that, it is about YOU, your life, and your heart.   

I attended a great birthday party just the other Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and not a typical birthday party!  This party wasn't one of the children's birthday parties I attend escorting my ten-year-old, or seven-year-old.  The party was for my new friend (I'll call him Jerry), who my wife and I have come to know and love over the last few months at our church.  You see, this was his first birthday party in a long, long time. 

Jerry’s life has not been easy.  One of the side effects of growing up too fast was that birthday parties stopped happening pretty early.  On this particular birthday, my friend was out on a day pass from doing time for his offense.  Twenty-something years old and from the tough streets, he always has a ready smile for everyone he sees; he’s been reborn, and is getting a fresh start.  And, although his last several years have been spent in prison, he was out on a day pass, and with three weeks until his release, he is no longer a prisoner.   

In a prior article on Life Balance, I wrote about the challenge of balancing work, family, and life commitments.  This time of year, I'm concerned about my friends who are so busy making a living that they forget to make a life. 

A popular song says, "This is your life, are you who you want to be?"  This is a good time of year to ask yourself what’s working.  What’s not?  How do you know the difference?  Where is your heart in this e-business thing? 

You might even be ready to tackle the bigger questions:  Are you growing in knowledge of who God created you to be?  Is your health and fitness better this year?  Do you have a better relationship with your spouse and children than you did last year?  Are you becoming a better friend?  Are you too busy making a living to really make a life?

Prisons aren't only made with walls; they also can be mindsets, habit patterns and comfort zones that keep us from realizing our potential.  Is your heart capacity to love, to grow and live passionately growing and increasing or contracting and diminishing?   

Many believe that we are transformed by the people we associate with and the books we read.  I tend to agree.  Three summers ago, I took a step of faith to do something unusual (for men especially).  I felt that God was challenging me to start a Saturday morning adventure and discussion group at a local coffee shop.  Not just any coffee chat but AT 7:00 AM ON SATURDAYS AT THAT! 

My thoughts were, “OK, God, well, FINE, and if no one shows up, I'll just be obedient, read my book by myself with You, enjoy the time unplugged, and drink coffee…”  But, I went ahead and I invited friends that I knew, new people I had just met, and other mountain bikers. 

Guess what happened!  Unbelievably, guys showed up!  Dozens of them over the years have drifted in and out, depending upon the season and work and when babies were born.  Several of us even went mountain biking on great epic adventures after coffee.  At first, it was a meeting before the main event—mountain biking.  But the group evolved differently than any of us had expected: it became about the journey together.  Gradually, the mountain biking diminished as the main event, and something far more important happened.  We became committed to one another's growth, hope, and future.

I'm so thankful for my supportive wife, who saw the value in my investing in a group of adventure cohorts we affectionately came to call The Wild Men.  This rag-tag group is named after the book, Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.  The primary premise is that we are all created on purpose, for a purpose.  Every man has a passion to pursue, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.  As William Wallace says in Braveheart, “All men die, but few really live.”  We challenged one another to live real life, fully alive, full-on-whole hearted-living with fear, but fearless. 

As our Saturday meetings continued, a Monday group was added with a fixed number of key leaders at a local YMCA at 6:30.  Drawn to the group were men of influence and authority who were discovering their roles as fathers, leaders, and guides.  Several awesome members of these groups took the book and our program to other churches, and a couple of men even brought what they’d learned into a local prison.  This is the intersection of where my modest effort formed a ripple, and through the efforts of others, opened doors for Jerry.  Had I not started a little gathering that began to gain momentum, my good friends would have been very unlikely to visit the prison.  My new friend Jerry would be re-entering our community with far fewer prospects.  Instead, he is re-entering life with a hope and a future, with a support network, a good job (connected with his gift with people), a car, and a place to live.   

So?  What does that have to do with you?  I think there are a number of folks across the country who also want to make a difference, to serve, to live well, and to grow personally and professionally.  If you are interested in participating in an E-Merchant's Mastermind Small Group that will explore a book per quarter and discuss via teleconference, let me know.  I'm stepping out on a limb, making myself available again, in a different medium and different time, but I'm sure it will be good.  I've learned that the more I seek to give, the more I receive. 

I look forward to hearing from you Wild People out there! 

 Every Success, 

Matthew Ledford 

A few of the books the Wild Men read and recommend:
Wild at Heart, John Eldredge
Nine Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life, Henry Cloud
Getting Things Done, David Allen
Today Matters, John Maxwell
Success is Not an Accident, Tommy Newberry