We have just recently started an intergenerational C3 Forum and I must admit that I am amazed at how open and honest guys are to share their stories and to share their journeys. I appreciate the millennials because they want to be authentic.

We are all afraid of being real with each other for fear of rejection. We are afraid to be totally transparent with our wives or families. “If they only knew” so we keep on trying to rally, fire it up and present the good story.

There seems to have developed in our newly formed group in a very short time a tone of transparency, I’ve seen guys press in with each other and ask the next question and not just let something said slide by without digging into it. As I shared that I wanted to spend more time in reflection and prayer, seeking God’s nudge, it seemed like a pretty safe share until someone asked me what that looked like. As I stammered for a moment and suggested more quiet time, more journaling, the follow up comment was real, “Let me check with you later in the week to see if you’ve gotten after it.”

Hmm, I actually had to do something about it, I knew that someone was going to call me later that week or for sure ask me the next time we were together. I took time to pray, to listen and to journal my thoughts. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is the critical verse in the passage, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord.”

“When you seek me with all your heart”. Are we seeking Him with all of our heart daily, hourly, in tough situations at work, with our family? Are we leaning on Him or our own self appointed power? Do we fire it up and fake it until we make it or are we seeking the Lord’s face, whispering His name and surrounding ourselves with others.  The power of C3 is sharing our lives together, all of our lives. As Jon Sharpe shared last week in 52 Voices, a Manifesto: “I value living an authentic life where nothing is hidden and I walk in the light with peers”.

It’s at that critical point of sharing the depth of life together that we are drawn to be in a community that matters. So, matter for yourself, for your business, your community and for your family.

Rick Carter

To contact Rick you may email him at: Rcarteredmonds@gmail.com