I was blessed to meet Amanda Hoenes. She’s a young lady from Missouri who served in the Marine Corps. You may know her if you saw her story. She paddled the Missouri River and Mississippi River in a canoe in 2021. Just her dog and herself. It took several months to complete the journey. Along the way, she kept a blog on what was going on. And she didn’t hide anything. She talked about both the positives and the negatives. She didn’t sugarcoat it. She wanted people to understand the full scope of the journey.
Amanda and Charlie 22 Outdoors have a lot of similarities in their missions. As we talked about her past, her river journey, and what her future looks like, it became very clear to me that she was trying to figure out the best way to serve others. What is the best way to use her talents and resources to serve others. And I think she is somewhat surprised about the attention that she has received from what she has accomplished. But I also think that the attention is well deserved. My reasoning for that is because her story is reaching people. And those people are telling their stories. And then others are telling their stories. It will continue on, and on, and on. And we know from experience, that when veterans begin telling their stories, it helps them heal one story at a time. The same can be said for civilians. We all have stories.
Something else we talked about is how the Bible is full of stories. Stories that we can learn from. There are stories that show God‘s grace. There are stories that show how God is faithful. There are stories that are lessons for us. And there are stories that motivate us. Just as Amanda‘s motivates others. Just as Amanda’s is going to motivate me. And if we seek knowledge from the Bible, we will find answers. These are answers that will help us with our futures. Because the answers can guide us. Also, if we read the Bible and take it in to our hearts, it shows that we have a hunger. We have a hunger to draw near to God. And he knows that. He will see that. And he will bless that. And then he can use our stories to help others. He can use our experiences to show others his grace and his glory. So today I challenge you to continue diving into the word. Seeking wisdom. Be hungry to grow closer to God. And then watch how he blesses your efforts and your futures.
