About five or six years ago, I was on a run in the first week of April on a local trail through fields of grass and fading mustard plants. And a thought came to my mind: "Go Steven Go!" I stopped in my tracks. Those simple words came wrapped in a deep and profound encouragement to move forward in both art and music. Since then, I’ve held onto that God-moment; I think about it as April begins and my birthday approaches. In the context of a new month, in the emergence of spring, I’m inviting you into that moment when the voice of the Coach encouraged and inspired me forward into exciting and unseen things.

Today and this week, I happen to be backpacking with one of my closest friends on Catalina. So I'm writing these words on Tuesday before the trip (and before this Friday newsletter goes out). But I imagine the nature trails we will be hiking on the island will call me forward with mysteries that lie unseen around curves. There's something exciting about a path that twists and turns. We might know the name of the campsite we're heading toward, but if we've never been before or never walked the trail, the journey can be full of wonder and discovery.

The image above is from the same nature trail that I was running on all those years ago. It had twists and curves, but after running it many times, they had become familiar to me. The invitation to move forward on life's journey however is always into the unknown and unseen. While we might know where we are being called, the way there will surely be filled with curves. As I've moved forward in art and music, I've had many unexpected and wondrous moments around the bends in the mystery. 

If God were to say to you today: "Go!" in the voice of an encouraging coach, what do you think you'd be called into? Happy April!