On January 13, 1999 I placed my video camera on a tripod and began video journaling the season of my life that transformed me into the man I am today.  I had just separated from my wife and moved into a small house in the slums of South Seattle.  I had no idea how much emotional pain I’d be facing in the years to come and I had no idea that I’d need this pain to turn me into the man God created me to be.  For some reason I knew that I wanted to immortalize this season of my life through my video journal and so I began.

16.5 years later I went to work only to find out that my job at Microsoft had been eliminated.  I wrote a blog thanking Microsoft for my 12.5 years.  Little did I know the blog would go viral and nearly 30,000 people would read it.  I also didn’t know what I would do with my time but I knew that I wanted to search my soul to ensure that I’d spend the second half of my life doing what God created me for.

I met with a mentor of mine and he inspired me to write the book I’ve always wanted to write.  I spent the next few weeks praying and asking for wisdom on if this was how I should spend my time.

Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

I remembered my video journal but I had no idea where it was and I had no way of watching it (I’d recorded it on Hi-8 video and I no longer had the video camera).  My son and I went to a yard sale and bought 2 video cameras for $7.

On Labor Day I sat down to watch the videos for the first time since 1999.  I had no way of getting the video signal out of the camera so I watched it through the viewfinder.  Four hours later I knew I had to write a book.  God used that season of my life to transform me into the man I am today and I had a responsibility to share my journey so that others could find hope in their pain.

43 days later I’ve written 41,000 words and 11 chapters.  I will write my final chapter “The Joy of Family” and be done with my first draft by the end of the week.  My plan is to publish it by January 1, 2016.

If you’re interested in pre-ordering a copy of “Pain Drives Change” let me know!