About three months ago my friend Morgan Snyder sent me a copy of Phil Vischer‘s Me, Myself and Bob. It arrived in my mailbox at a time where I was facing many opportunities to charge the field in ministry, business and some personal pursuits like finishing my 1/2 done novel and start a book on connectors.

Morgan has been studying and holding events around the theme of  what a man goes through during his thirties decade. At forty two I have been facinated by his discoveries and how they compare to my own life. Over the last decade he has been interviewing many men in thier later years, asking them what the thirties decade was all about and what they have learned looking back.

One lesson that resonated with me is to not take on too much too early.  Just like a tree, we are meant to mature in a way that both sustains and strengthen, preparing us for greater strength in the future.

In reading Vicher’s book I found myself realizing how much we can make our plans and dreams dominate above everything else in our lives, forsaking the more important things.  The book chronicles his life up to the collapse of Big Idea Productions, his beloved company from which he built the powerful brand of entertainment the world knows as Veggie Tales.

So in the wake of Vischer’s memoir I am taking as Morgan says, the lowest seat at the table in many of my activities. I have the rest of my life to publish, lead and push. I am not saying I won’t do some of that now, but I am going to purposefully pay attention to the deeper things in my life first.

And last, I added Phil to my list of authors that engage on line both here and twitter. It is great to see him responding to fans. He has a lot of people excited about what he has to offer.