Journals @ Awaken This HeartThe musings of Pastor Corey Gibson on leadership, ministry and life.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

I do a lot of retrospection, introspection, and thinking out loud. Oftentimes, it’s good for me to just get things off of my chest and out of my mind as I move forward in life. When I do this, I like to invite my readers into what’s going on in my head. So, this is a mind dump… a long mind dump. I haven’t done a mind dump in 3 years, so brace yourself.

Life Updates

• The end of 2022 and the start of 2023 were great. I moved to a new townhouse in a different city to be closer to friends (more on that later). In December, I received a pay raise at my job. Two weeks after my raise was granted, I was offered a new promotion, which brought on a big pay raise alongside a new title/position. As a lateral move in my company, I was hand selected by our Director of Development, with approval from my Supervisor and also the Director of Support who I was under. I love the company I work for. I have been with them for 3.5 years now, and have been making a positive name for myself. Thankful to the Lord for leading me to this company!!!
  
  
• I moved to a new city to be closer to friends and make it easier for us to hang out. This wasn’t too big of a deal, since I work from home and can live anywhere in the US. The drawback of doing things for others is that it’s not always reciprocated. Those same friends, now are nowhere to be found. They don’t hang out or come over, I barely hear from them. Silence… Ghosts. This is hard for me because I am a friendly person, a lover of community, and someone whose love language is quality time. It makes it especially hard when I decided to come back to TN instead of going home to Atlanta to be with my family and close friends there. LIFE LESSONS LEARNED! Sometimes, leadership is a call to isolation for a season. Sometimes, elevation and promotion are invitations to the bittersweetness of loneliness. It’s pruning season, folks.
  
  
• Oftentimes, the “I’m sorry” and apology won’t fix the issue. For those times, required actions and intentions are the solutions. You have to work 10x harder to repair it. It’s not easy! It requires work, consistency, and intentionality. And other times, the “I’m sorry” and apology AND intentional actions won’t matter or satisfy. The damage’s done. The relationship, the opportunity, and the desires are severed. The brokenness is deep, the wound is deep. Scars! There are some things that can’t be repaired, some people you can’t re-friend, some relationships that can’t be mended, and some opportunities that just don’t come around again. While life is super fragile… the way you handle it matters.
  
  
• My parents just celebrated 40 years of marriage. This is huge, especially in today’s society where people are just calling it quits. The staying power and commitments are work but so worth it. Super happy for them. There are times when divorce is absolutely necessary and biblical, but in 2023 — that is not the case for the majority. To add to the celebration, at the end of May, I will be 27, I mean 37.
  
  
• My cousin’s wedding was in April and I was a groomsman. I went to get my final fitting and found out that I lost some weight. It was evident as the guy was measuring me and noting that I have come down from the 1st fitting 6 months prior. This has equated to losing 30lbs., inches in my chest, waist, and neck. Eating healthier/cleaner, working out more, and changes in medicine/supplements. I am probably the healthiest I have been in a very long time. And more work will be done, but I’m happy with the progress.

Announcement

And finally, SUPER EXCITED about a new resource that I am partnering with and producing with close friends. This new endeavor is simply about conversations. Conversations around life, community, discipleship, and the void. Conversations that will make you cry, laugh and gain perspective. And conversations which are really a collection of stories and a masterpiece of a beautiful design called humanity.

We will strip back the layers, dig into the unique voices and ultimately circle back to the conversations that shape us. This has been a 5-year dream and process in the making with one of my favorite conversationist, Hannah Overman. We will co-host CIRCLE BACK PODCAST. Hannah’s husband, Matthew will be producing and engineering for us. We will have a guest host each week as we dive into needed unfiltered conversations. This new podcast will be a little different than my other podcast (Kingdom Threads Podcast – pending) which is more geared toward leadership, biblical principles, and gospel conversations. Circle Back Podcast will launch in June 2023 and will be available every Tuesday on a podcast platform near your device. LIFE IS A JOURNEY, LETS TALK!

friendship, life, mind dump, Mother's Day, Podcast, Promotion

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