An interesting thing happened to me recently. Have you ever played 'The Sims?' Basically, the premise of the game is to make a person or a family and then you build them a house, give them life aspirations, and see how their life plays out. At least that is how it is supposed to work. You may also create a distractingly ugly person for the sheer humor and then place them in a double-wide with the life aspiration to become the king of their pig-pen lifestyle, planting your figurative flag into the ever-increasing mountain of garbage growing in your home. I must say that my favorite part of 'The Sims' is creating an individual who is rough around the edges and then placing them in a poor home that has lots of potential. Then, once that Sim has reached an appropriate level of self-deeming success, I simply create a new Sim. Similarly, Guy has reached the maximum level of success I see fit for him. He is a world-renown actor, an irresistible play-boy, and so rich he wipes his nose with Benjamins and has a different car for every day of the week. So it's time for me to 'make a new Sim' as it were. I used to have dreams of being someone different. Someone important. Someone that the world looked up to and was even quite jealous of. My reason for this escape was because it was just that. It was an escape. An escape from my problems and the pains I was feeling in this life. Guy could do so much more than Brent ever could hope for. If there was something I didn't like about my life, I would simply change it in my head. Brent, you are poor...well...Guy is rich. Brent, you aren't getting attention from guys and girls that you want...well...Guy is loved by everyone, more importantly, Guy is DESIRED of by everyone. Guy had it all I thought. Brent had nothing. The interesting thing that happened to me recently is that I noticed something about my life. In sticking with 'The Sims' analogy; in the game you can, at least in 'The Sims 3', you can change your Sim's lifetime aspiration. So instead of being a celebrity they can hope for a lot of friends, an amazing garden, or to own 70 cats or something. Something else they can hope for is a family. That's something Brent can hope for. So, I'm 'creating a new Sim.' I realized in my life that fame and fortune are something that is dwindling as a hope for my future; partially because I will never attain either, but also because I have bigger plans. I noticed that in my Sim gaming I always had that same pattern. Create a Sim who is rough around the edges, place them into a poor place that has lots of potential, reach that potential, and then start over with a new Sim. I liked this because the fun was not having a huge mansion and a yacht and a killer body and nice hair and thousands of friends and...well..you get the picture. The fun in the game was reaching that success. I found joy in the journey. It's quite boring, at least for me, to cheat in the game and give my Sim everything he ever wanted. At that point, the game is over. There is nothing exciting for me to do anymore. So, I'm creating a new Sim. His name is Brent and, though he is rough around the edges and is in a poor place in regards to where he thought he could be, he has a LOT of potential. I thought I could make a blog without mentioning religion. Without bring God into it. I thought 'people will hate that. People will get turned off by that and tune out.' Well, the problem with that, which, really isn't a problem...is that I need God in everything. God understands the need for rough edges, lifetime aspirations that may not come when you want them or maybe even when YOU think you need them. God helps you to reach your potential and, thanks to Christ, you can always start over with a new Sim all the time. I'm excited for this new Sim. Brent will have a family. He will serve others (or at least try.) Brent will be rich; rich in children and the joys that they bring that you can't put a price on. Brent will have a super wonderful Sim wife. She, uh... she doesn't have a name yet, but God made her for me and right now He is working on her the same way He is working on me. The same way I work with my Sims and make them better. That's the fun part. That is the challenging part. Guy was fun for awhile, but I tend to think about a wife and children now more than I do of fame and fortune. I think of baby bottles and date nights instead of Champagne and Broadway auditions (although that doesn't stop me from singing 'I'm the Greatest Star' in my car all the time.) I think of tears of joy from holding my first baby and tears of sadness when my wife and I fight over how we are going to make ends meet rather than thinking of the temporary pleasure from sexual conquests and fighting with my agent over not getting a million dollars an episode for my hit T.V. show. So for those of you who enjoyed watching the life of Guy, I'm glad you enjoyed the ride. But for those who want to tune in next time for the exciting story of Brent, I'm glad you want to join me and am looking forward to the new story we can start together.