The Real Me

One of life's greatest challenges is to be the same person no matter what situation or context you find yourself in.  Being genuine and true is something I really care about - if you see me at church or home or with a group of friends, you'll see me being me.  Granted there are times that I fall short of this lofty goal but that only makes me want to succeed more in this area. 

Something I realized is that before you can be genuine in all of your life, you really need to know who you are.  If you know who you are and what you care about, you can always compare actions you are taking in the moment with who you are and see if they line up.  So, to start my first post off with a big bang, I thought I would give you all (meaning Jason and Jessica, since they will be the only ones who read this or at least post lol) a glimpse of who I am:

- I am a husband: Rebekah and I will celebrate 11 years of marriage this coming September.

- I am a father: I have 4 incredible children: Charis (9), Selah (7), Cosette (5), and Judah (2).  They have taught me so much about myself, life, and wonder.  A lot of my life is lived with my thoughts on them.  

- I am a minister:  Even if I wasn't working at a church, I would consider myself a minster.  I believe that all followers of Christ are minsters and carry the immense joy of being agents of love and hope in this world.  Right now, I currently work at Vineyard Christian Fellowship at the barn as a worship leader, children's pastor, and various other random jobs.  It's a job that is very rewarding and has lots of challenges.

  

- I am a brother: My family is very important to me and even though half my siblings are across the country right now, each one is special in my heart.  I think it's really cool to have adult sisters and brothers who you are friends with and want to spend time with.  I know there are a lot of adult siblings who want nothing to do with each other so I consider myself blessed. Oh and it's really cool for my kid's to have cousins that they love.  I never had that growing up.

- I am a son: Both my parents are pastors at VCF too so I have to balance co-worker and son everyday.  It's a special challenge to work with your parents when you're an adult but it's been a real blessing to have both of them as examples for my ministry and life.  I'm pretty sure we've fought more in our adult life than any other of my siblings but that also creates a special closeness you just don't get if you don't fight!  One thing I can say is that I would not be a minster without their influence and they challenge me in my faith on a regular basis.

- I am optimistic: Really, I like to think positive about most things.  In this day and age, it's easy to get "realistic" but I always find myself looking and expecting the positive in life.  Even though this can be a problem at times (for instance, if a kid gets hurt I never think it's a big deal and that can annoy Rebekah at times) I feel like it's also a gift that I can share with others.  So don't expect a lot of complaining or negative talk at this blog.  Sorry all you "realistic" types!

- I love competition: I love games where there is a loser and winner.  I find games where "everyone" wins boring and lacking any real drama.  I used to be sad about going to heaven cause I assumed that there would be no competitive games there and everyone would win all the time.  I have since revised my views on heaven to include competition, but the losers don't get mad or sad.  Now, my fierce competitive nature has landed me in trouble.  Once, after losing a game of ping-pong (a very serious and important game in the Latshaw family) to my brother Jason, I was so angry I threw my ping-pong paddle at him.  He ducked and it sailed over his head and lodged - handle first - into the door!  Boy, my Dad was not happy about that but I'm pretty sure Jason was smiling inward.  Even though I have allowed my competitive nature to go too far in the past, I still love it and will never give up my love for competition (just watch out if you play me in ping-pong).

- I love to inspire: I grew up believing that I wasn't creative.  I liked math and science and history.  I was a terrible drawer.  My two siblings, Jessica and Jason, were really good and I just figured it was their thing, not mine.  I never even sang or acted growing up.  What started me thinking that I could be creative and artistic was trying out for our school's high school musical in 11th grade.  I only tried out cause I really liked Rebekah and wanted to be with her (and she had the lead role).  So I tried out, got a part, and had to sing in front of hundreds of people. Since this time I have learned that I love to inspire people with creativity: drama, music, design, etc. 

- I love watching sports:  Philly baby!

Ok this is the conclusion of The Real Me Part I.  Come back to see Part II.