Okay. You’ve heard the pitch.

You know why I built precat.io. You know what Iggy is (and isn’t). You know where we’ve drawn the line.

Now I’m asking you to try it.

Try precat.io

Not because I think it’s perfect—it’s not. But because it’s ready for real people to use, and I want feedback from the people who’ve been with me along the way.

Here’s what you can do right now at precat.io:

Without an account:

• Daily Examen — review your day with God

• Common Prayers — guided prayers like the Our Father and Hail Mary

• Custom Novena — create a 9-day prayer journey around any intention

With a free account:

• Everything above, plus your conversation history saved

• A two-week free trial of all premium features

  • Gospel Prayer — use imaginative prayer with the daily Gospel reading

  • Ask Iggy — your AI spiritual companion

  • Discernment — guides you through Ignatian discernment

  • Iggy’s Voice — add full audio conversations (yes, he has a Spanish accent)

No credit card required. Just an email.

After the trial, you can decide if the paid features are worth it. They cost more to run on the backend, which is why there’s a subscription—but the core tools stay free forever.

But here’s what I actually want from you:

Feedback.

What’s confusing? What’s missing? What felt off? What surprised you?

Did Iggy ask a question that stopped you in your tracks? Did something feel too robotic, or too familiar? Did you try to break it?

I want to know. Reply to this email or leave a comment. I read everything.

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You subscribed to this list because something about faith resonated with you—maybe a video on discernment, maybe a post about Ignatian spirituality, maybe you were exploring spiritual direction. However you got here, you’re here, and I’m grateful.

This is the thing I’ve been building. I’d be honored if you’d kick the tires.

Peace,

Chad

P.S. — If you find it valuable, tell someone. If you find it problematic, tell me! Both help me to improve Iggy.

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If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably in one of two camps.

Camp one:

“Interesting—an AI companion for prayer and discernment. I’m curious.”

Camp two:

“Risky—spiritual guidance is serious. Should an AI be anywhere near this?”

I’ve spent a lot of time in Camp Two myself.

When I started building precat.io, I kept asking: where’s the line? When does a tool become a replacement? When does convenience become a shortcut around something sacred?

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Here’s where I landed.

Iggy will never:

• Hear your confession or offer absolution

• Tell you what decision to make

• Replace the sacraments

• Pretend to be a priest or spiritual director

• Let you bypass the hard, slow work of real discernment

Iggy will:

• Ask you questions (lots of them)

• Help you notice patterns in your prayer life

• Walk you through the Daily Examen

• Sit with you in uncertainty without rushing to fix it

• Point you toward a human director when you need one

That last part matters most.

precat.io has built-in safeguards. If your conversations suggest you’re in crisis, grieving, facing major trauma, or wrestling with something beyond what an AI should touch—Iggy will tell you. Directly. And point you toward real help.

This isn’t a loophole or a shortcut. It’s a tool. Like a journal. Like a devotional. Like the Liturgy of the Hours app on your phone.

You wouldn’t stop going to Mass because you have a Bible app. You wouldn’t skip confession because you journal about your sins.

precat.io works the same way.

It’s for the 11pm moments. The Tuesday afternoon fog. The “I don’t even know what I’m feeling” stretches that happen between Sunday Masses and monthly spiritual direction sessions.

It’s not the destination. It’s a companion for the road.

If that distinction matters to you—if you appreciate a tool that knows its limits—I think you’ll appreciate what we’ve built.

Next email, I’ll invite you to try it yourself. And I’d genuinely love your feedback.

Until then—

Chad

P.S. — If you’re a spiritual director, priest, or someone who works in Catholic ministry, I’d especially love to hear from you. Reply to this email. I want to know if this lands right, or if I’ve missed something.

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Last time, I asked whether Catholics can use AI for spiritual guidance. A few of you replied (thank you—I read every one), and the responses confirmed what I suspected: people are already doing this, but they’re not sure they should be.

Before I go any further, let me say this clearly: AI will never replace a spiritual director. It won’t replace a priest. It won’t replace the sacraments. If you have access to a good human spiritual director, keep seeing them.

But here’s the reality: spiritual questions don’t always come on a schedule. It’s 11pm, and you’re replaying a conversation that left you unsettled. You’re facing a decision and need to process it now, not in two weeks when your next appointment opens up. You want to pray the Examen, but you’ve never done it and don’t know where to start.

In those moments, most people either do nothing—or they type their question into ChatGPT.

So let me tell you what I’ve been building.

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Over the past year, I’ve been developing an app called precat.io, which is Latin for prayer. At its heart is an AI spiritual companion named Iggy—yes, named after St. Ignatius of Loyola—designed to guide users through Ignatian prayer practices like the Daily Examen, discernment, and even custom novenas. On the Ask Iggy page, you can even ask your deepest spiritual questions, and Iggy will respond in a warm, Spanish accent!

I know what you might be thinking: Isn’t that just ChatGPT with a Catholic skin?

It’s not. And the difference matters.

When you ask ChatGPT a spiritual question, it draws from everywhere—the entire internet, with no filter. You might get a response that sounds authoritative, but you have no idea if it’s rooted in authentic Catholic teaching or a mix of New Age spirituality, pop psychology, and someone’s blog post from 2014.

Iggy is different. He’s been trained to draw from specific sources that Catholics already trust: the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatian tradition, Scripture, and solid Catholic teaching. When Iggy guides you through an Examen, he’s following the actual five-step structure Ignatius developed. When he helps with discernment, he’s drawing on the Rules for Discernment of Spirits—not an algorithm’s best guess based on internet averages.

You’re not being asked to trust AI. You’re being asked to trust Ignatius, the Exercises, and Catholic tradition—delivered through AI.

Try precat.io now!

There’s another difference too. ChatGPT loves to give advice. Ask it a question, and it will confidently tell you what to do. But that’s not how real spiritual direction works. A good spiritual director asks questions. They help you notice what’s happening in your own heart. They don’t hand you answers—they help you find them.

As a spiritual director, that’s how I designed Iggy. He asks. He listens. He guides. He doesn’t preach.

Is it perfect? No. I’ll be honest about the limitations next time—because there are lines AI shouldn’t cross, and I’ve thought a lot about where those lines are.

But if you’ve ever wanted to pray the Daily Examen and didn’t know where to start, or wished you had someone to help you process a decision without scheduling an appointment or feeling like a burden—Iggy might be worth a try.

The Daily Examen, Novena, and Common Prayers features are free. No account required. And you can access the advanced features for a limited time. Try it right now at precat.io.

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I’d love to know what you think.

Peace,

Chad

P.S. — To bring Iggy to life, I gave his voice a warm, slightly Spanish accent, like you’d imagine from the Spanish saint. I would love to get your feedbac

k on it.

It’s been a while. Almost two years, actually.

I could give you the usual excuses—life got busy, priorities shifted, kids needed attention—and all of that would be true. But the real reason I went quiet is that I’ve been wrestling with something I wasn’t sure how to talk about.

Like most of you, I’ve watched AI explode over the past couple of years. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini—suddenly everyone has access to a tool that can answer almost any question instantly. And people are using it for everything, including questions about faith.

That’s where it gets complicated.

I’ve seen Catholics ask ChatGPT about discernment, about prayer, about whether they should stay in a difficult marriage. I’ve heard from people who typed their deepest spiritual struggles into a chat box because it felt safer than talking to a priest. And I get it. There’s no judgment from a machine. No awkward silences. No fear of being misunderstood.

But here’s the problem: when you ask ChatGPT a question about your spiritual life, you have no idea where the answer is coming from.

It might draw from St. Ignatius. It might also pull from a Buddhist meditation blog, a self-help guru, and a Reddit thread—all blended into one confident-sounding response. For questions about productivity or travel recommendations, that’s fine. For questions about your soul? That’s a real problem.

So I started asking myself: is there a way to do this responsibly? Is there a way to use AI for spiritual reflection that’s actually grounded in something trustworthy?

That question led me down a rabbit hole. And eventually, it led me to build something.

I’m not ready to share all the details yet—I’ll save that for next time. But I wanted to start by asking you the same question I’ve been wrestling with:

Can Catholics use AI for spiritual guidance? Should we?

I don’t think the answer is a simple yes or no. But I do think it’s a conversation worth having, because people are already doing it whether we talk about it or not.

More soon.

Peace,

Chad

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P.S. — If you’ve ever typed a spiritual question into ChatGPT (or thought about it), I’d genuinely love to hear about your experience. Just reply to this email. No judgment—I’m curious what led you there and whether it helped.

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If this short, 134-page book is not already on your shelf, it should be. (Available on Amazon here.)

A Short Read?

A few weeks ago, I went on a weekend-long silent retreat, which is an experience that I would recommend to anyone. It’s a great opportunity to recharge your spiritual battery and get back on course with your spiritual life again.

It’s not my first retreat, but it’s the first time I’ve gone in a few years (a long story), so I was excited to have the chance. Each time that I go, I like to bring a book along that will help me focus over the weekend, and this time, I chose Abandonment to Divine Providence.

Why? It’s short. It has been on my Amazon Wishlist for ages, and I wanted a quick read for the short weekend retreat. What I didn’t expect was how long a short book like this would take me to read.

Abandonment to Divine Providence is not a book to quickly read through; it’s a book worth savoring every page.

Surrendering to God’s Will

Without too many spoilers, the overall theme of the book is surrendering to God’s will - something most Christians claim to do, but most of us struggle with.

When Jesus was in the garden the night before His death, He modeled the “not my will, but Yours” approach to prayer for us. In His most challenging moments, Jesus gave complete trust to God the Father.

Jean-Pierre de Caussade challenges you to do the same. Do you trust God enough to completely surrender to His will?

It’s easy to say that you trust God when life is all sunshine and rainbows, but what about the days filled with dark skies and downpours? Do you still trust God during the storms of life?

Finding Purpose in God’s Will

Ultimately, as de Caussade teaches us, surrendering to God’s will brings your life meaning and purpose, and that is the heart of this book.

Following God’s will could simply be an act of obedience - something you do simply because God commands it - but the real impact comes when you freely submit to God’s will. From the large decisions in life to your everyday choices, submitting to God’s will leads to understanding the purpose of your life.

For years, I have shared this view because it is a central theme to Ignatian spirituality, but I have never seen it put so elegantly as this.

Fair Warning

Abandonment to Divine Providence is not for the faint of heart. First, it’s not an easy read - it’s chewy. The translation from 18th-century French to modern-day English offers many memorable quotes (so have your highlighter ready), but that also means it can be a slow read. I consider myself a strong reader, and I still had to fight through it a bit.

Over and over again, I found myself reading and re-reading passages to fully absorb what was being said, but not just because of the writing. The challenging, thought-provoking concepts forced me to take time to grasp every new idea.

The chapters are only two to four pages in length, but that was the perfect amount to wrestle with in a single sitting.

How to Read Abandonment to Divine Providence

My best recommendation is to treat it like a devotional. Whether you start your day with it, or curl up with it before you turn out the lights, Abandonment to Divine Providence is great to read one short chapter at a time.

Each chapter is enough to spend the day with, slowly absorbing the message. But carry it with you, because I’m sure that you will want to refer back to it.

And if you have decided to purchase it for yourself, here’s a link to the version that I read on Amazon.

Buy Now

Shortcut

If you want to dive deeper into the Abandonment to Divine Providence without buying the book, I did a short YouTube video on it. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want more of my video content to go directly to you.

May God use this book and this message to help you on your faith journey.

Thank you for reading Directional Faith — your support allows me to keep doing this work.

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Where are you in your faith journey? Are you walking alone?

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Why You Need a Spiritual Guide

For many, finding God is a solo exercise - but it doesn’t need to be. I journeyed alone and was generally happy in my Christian life. Yet, I could feel there was something more out there. Years went by, and I grew deeper in my faith than most, but I still struggled at times. Finding people to guide me spiritually is what made the difference. Here’s how it can help:

To Find Direction

Taking a walk through the local forest preserve is fine for anyone, but to take a serious hike through the mountains without a guide can leave you lost, and even in physical danger. Imagine hiking Mt. Everest without a guide - you probably wouldn’t return.

Yet we often go out on adventures with a simple map and compass in hand, hoping to reach our destination. But a map and compass won’t do you any good if you don’t know how to read them.

The Bible is our map, and the church is our compass. For everyday journeys, like a stroll through the forest preserve, you’ll do just fine, but the moment that life gets difficult, the map and compass will only you serve as well as you know how to read them. Unfortunately, by then, it’s too late. You’re lost in the woods and desperately seeking help.

A spiritual director is someone who can help you read that map and compass to understand God’s will for your life. Even in those leisurely strolls through the forest preserve, they can guide you to the most beautiful spots and challenge you to take paths that the average person has never seen before. Most importantly, they can guide you through those difficult moments as well.

To Be a Spiritual Companion

One of the most dangerous choices you can make when exploring the wilderness is to go out alone - especially as a novice. If you get lost or injured, there is no one there to help.

Even the most experienced hikers can get lost or injured. There are always stories on the news of some avid outdoorsmen or adventurer who has been missing for a week. The common denominator in many of those stories is that they went out alone, and when tragedy struck, there was no one there to help.

Having a companion walking beside you on the journey gives you a second opinion to make sure you don’t get lost, and they will be there to help you if you’re injured. They are even there to encourage you to the top when the steep climb takes every ounce of energy you have.

So why do most of us walk the path of faith alone? Why do we expect to know which path to take without someone by our side? Having someone traveling with you, someone you trust and can freely open up to, ensures that you will never be alone - regardless of what obstacles you face.

Get the Most Out of Life

So far, I’ve spent most of this time talking about how a spiritual director can prevent you from getting lost or hurt. Maybe that was because of my own rocky experience with faith that I hope to help others avoid the same. But now that I’ve learned how to avoid the dangers on this journey, I’ve realized how having someone to guide me has helped me to get the most out of life.

An experienced guide will lead you to that waterfall that the average hiker would never find. They will challenge you to the top of that vista because they know the view from there is life-changing. And you will grow in knowledge enough to become a guide for others on their journeys.

My faith has always been strong, but I’ve developed a deep, rich, and personal connection with God. I can thank my guides for helping me to get there.

Where are you at? Do you want to develop that relationship more?

A New Path

I spent two decades aimlessly wandering the forests and mountains of my Christian life - continually getting lost and hurt. Stubbornly, I took the same paths over and over again, struggling to find my destination (a deeper faith) and repeatedly getting hurt in the process. But then I invited a pair of guides into my life, who helped shape the decisions I would make to a new path.

And want to help you do the same. Every journey is unique. I needed knowledgeable guides that could help me navigate my journey, and now I’m ready to help guide you on yours.

I’ve been working with a handful of people over the last few years as a spiritual director in my free time, but now, I’m expanding that to a full-time ministry. If you’re looking for a guide on your spiritual journey, or want to find out more about what spiritual direction is, click on the link below.

Learn More About Spiritual Direction

SPECIAL OFFER: For a limited time, try spiritual direction FREE. Book a 1-hour, no-obligation session today. Feel free to share this offer with others!

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Do Prayers Go Unanswered?

God answers all prayers, but the answer might not be what you hoped it would be. You might ask God for something in prayer, and then He doesn’t seem to answer. But simply because He did not give you what you ask does not mean that He didn’t answer your prayer. Instead, see that He might have something else in store for you entirely.

God will always answer your prayer, but to recognize it, you have to be open to whatever the answer may be - it might come in a way you did not expect.

Just this week, I was praying for an opportunity to serve God more. By day, I run a small IT business, but my heart wants to work for God full-time. Part of that time will be writing and creating content, such as videos for YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, and the rest of the time will be spiritual direction.

The reality is that making a living off that combination can be difficult, and with multiple mouths to feed, I assumed that I will always work in IT - at least part-time. But recently, God has put it on my heart to seek part-time work in ministry. Why not devote all of my time to God in some fashion?

So I started praying, and it didn’t take God long to answer.

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Align Your Heart to God’s

St. Ignatius believed that the key to answered prayer was aligning your heart with God’s. He said,

“Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises (23)

First, you must understand the “end for which we are created.” Simply put, to love and have a relationship with God, so your primary goal should be to focus on growing closer to Him.

Ignatius is simply reflecting what can be seen in Scripture. The Gospel of John tells us,

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” - John 15:7, NRSV

If your desires are to grow closer to God, your prayers will reflect that, and they will then align with God’s will. Essentially, God’s will becomes your will, and when you pray, your prayers will be answered - because God’s will is always done.

The next day, after I gave my prayer to God - asking that His will be done in my life to serve Him in whatever way He chooses - I received an email. Someone I just recently met from church wrote, “We have an opening on staff here. Wondered if you might be interested?” It was the part-time position in ministry that I had prayed for.

Where Do His Answers Lead Us?

My immediate response to that email was excitement. I prayed, and God answered. But did He? Is it a definitive answer? Will this new position be the answer to that prayer I made just a day prior?

Time will tell.

There’s still a lot to discern. I have to figure out if the position being offered is a good fit financially and with my schedule. They still have to discern whether or not I am the right candidate for the job. So the answer may not be as simple as what I had first imagined from those initial feelings rushed over me.

But if nothing else, whether in this position or one I have yet to find, God did answer my prayer by showing me that a position like this is a real possiblity. That sense of joy I felt from the beginning helps me to know that I am on the right path, and by aligning my heart with His, I can feel that it is God’s will to continue seeking a position until I find one (although a part of me deeply hopes this might be the one).

Not my will, Lord, but yours.

The Benefits of Pruning Your Faith

Gardening is not my specialty, but for Jesus’s followers, His parables would have rang true in their lives. And in today’s parable, it helps to understand how pruning can lead to new growth.

In John 15:1-2, Jesus said,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.”

When a vine is dead, there is little option but to completely remove it, but even vines that continue to bear fruit need to be pruned or trimmed back from time to time. When a plant is pruned, it actually encourages new growth in the plant.

Pruning Removes Dead Vines

Whether you like to admit it or not, there are aspects of your life that are not producing fruit. They are no benefit to you, and in many ways, may actually be robbing precious energy and nutrients from other parts of your life.

Pruning the dead vines from your life, whether they be bad habits, distractions, or even people, will allow you to focus on the parts of your life that are producing good fruit. All of your energy and focus can go into growing your faith, loving others, and making a difference in the world.

Pruning Gives Shape

Have you ever seen a bush or vine that is left to grow on its own? It will get out of control fast! A beautiful garden will become a mess within a few short seasons if it is not routinely maintained.

Plants care little about aesthetics and focus solely on reaching out for the sunlight, which causes them to grow randomly in all directions. Your faith left unmaintained will do the same. As you seek out God, you will be drawn in many directions, and although each is good, it will not allow you to thrive.

Meanwhile, a carefully manicured garden is breath-taking. The plants become works of art as they are carefully shaped into the clean shapes we expect. Likewise, carefully shaping your relationship with God helps it to grow into a more well-rounded faith, and it will become stronger and more rigid in the process - allowing you to bear even more weight from the fruit you produce.

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Pruning Produces More Fruit

The pruning process actually encourages the plant to produce even more fruit as a response to the damage done. For those of us without green thumbs, it is like exercise. When you push your body through physical exercise, the muscles are actually torn, and in response to that damage, your body grows larger, stronger muscle tissue. Trimming a vine, like in Jesus’s parable, would have the same impact.

Sometimes, God will encourage that pruning process through the trials you face. The damage caused by suffering can actually lead you to new growth - it’s an opportunity to respond in faith as you face challenges.

Without struggle, it would be easy to fall into complacency, and you would have little reason to increase your faith. But as you face new challenges, your mind, heart, and soul see how faith has allowed you to overcome them, so they respond by inspiring you to seek even an deeper faith. In fact, St. Ignatius of Loyola once said,

“If God sends you many sufferings, it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola

(This, of course, coming from the man who took a cannonball to the leg, which led him to completely giving his life over to God.)

What Pruning Do You Need to Make?

Trimming the dead vines can be difficult because you are literally attached to them, and pruning to give shape feels as if we are removing perfectly good vines for the possibility of more growth, but if you trust in God, pruning will allow your faith to produce even more fruit than you could fathom.

What pruning can you make in your life today? Share in the Comments.

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Four Types of Soil

Crowds gathered around Jesus as He began teaching, and He shared with them one of His most powerful parables: The Parable of the Sower. Jesus sat down by the sea and said,

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!” -Matthew 13:3-9, NRSV

In this parable, the soil represents your heart, and you must prepare your heart - and the hearts of others - to receive the message and love that Jesus is planting in your life. The four types of soil are:

• The hardened path

• The rocky ground

• The ground covered in thorns

• The rich soil

Before diving deeper, which soil best represents your heart?

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Many of Jesus’s parables are left open to debate, but in this case, He has actually given you the answer. Further down in Matthew 13, He explains what each form of soil represents.

The Hardened Path

Immediately, this reminds me of the world at large. Modern society has become so hard-hearted that it simply does not understand, or even try to understand, the message being shared in the Gospels. Many feel that Christianity is about rules, dogmas, and judgment, but in reality, our faith is about the beauty of God’s love and mercy.

But even as a Christian, you might sometimes harden your heart. It’s a defense mechanism. Pain, suffering, and doubt can cause you to retreat within and reject the work Christ is trying to do in your life. Only through trust (and a whole lot of prayer) can you break through that hardened ground to prepare the soil for the seeds Jesus is planting in your life.

The Rocky Ground

Many Christians come and go. Regardless of which denomination you belong to, I have personally seen it across the board. People join up, get on fire for their faith, but that flame quickly dwindles. Their faith was a raging fire, but raging fires can be hard to control, and they quickly burn out. The moment troubles come, the flame consumes all of the fuel and eventually goes out.

Another reason large fires struggle to stay lit is because they take a lot more maintenance. You have to keep adding piles of wood and fuel to keep them burning that brightly. That’s why building a strong, sustainable fire - even if seemingly smaller - is much more effective.

To remove the large boulders from your soil, focus on one stone at a time. Don’t try to build a large fire on top of the boulders, clear out a small area and build the fire of your faith free from stones. Then, each day, continue to remove more stones to clear out a bigger area. Your faith will slowly grow in maturity and become more stable in the process.

The Ground Covered in Thorns

Living the Christian life in modern society is difficult. Temptation comes from all directions as we are bombarded with messages through social media, television, and other technologies. The devil has learned how to make good use of each of these tools.

Like the hardened path, society seems firmly planted among the thorns. In fact, the modern world embraces the the thorns - completely unaware of the damage that they are doing.

Removing the thorns takes constant effort. Like a gardener pulling out the weeds, you must routinely clear the thorns from your life. The moment you begin to relax, the thorns begin to creep back in and often go unnoticed until they have fully surrounded you. Sin poisons the soil and leaves faith unable to take root and grow in your life.

The Rich Soil

To find the rich soil, you must venture off the hardened path to find softer ground, and then you must remove the stones and clear the thorns that will prevent the seed from taking root. It is a lot of work, but as Jesus tells us the harvest will be bountiful.

Faith does not come easy. Jesus freely offers it to you, but you must work to ensure that your heart is prepared for it. You must water the soil with love to keep it soft, remove the stones through prayer and steadfastness to allow faith to take root, and battle against the temptations that threaten to choke out the beauty Christ has implanted in your heart.

And as you become an expert gardener yourself, share your green thumb with those around you. The Word is not a message to keep to ourselves; it is meant to shape the entire world. Help others prepare the rich, deep soil that will allow faith to take root and grow in their lives as well.

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Spiritual Highs, Spiritual Lows

The one certainty in life, as Christians, is that there will be times of spiritual highs and spiritual lows. You will have times when your faith is on fire, and you experience pure joy. Faith comes easy at this point. But then life shifts, and the darkness returns. Your faith slips as sadness, anger, frustration, and despair take root, which makes prayer, worship, and times of fellowship become a chore.

St. Ignatius had a term for each of these. He called those times of closeness to God consolation and those times of distance desolation. We’ll dive deeper into both at some point in the future. But for now, let’s discuss those spiritual lows you experience.

A False Sense of Security

When life is going your way, it’s easy to fall into a false sense of security. Things are going well. As you spend more time in prayer, reading Scripture, attending church, and spending time with other Christians, your faith feels untouchable.

There is an immense joy that seems unbreakable.

Inevitably, something will come along to break the unbreakable. A death in the family, a broken relationship, financial troubles, or an addiction relapse will seemingly erase all the progress you have made spiritually.

Sometimes, it doesn’t take a major calamity to shake our faith. You might have a disagreement with someone at church or in your Bible study group. News of another church leader being corrupt will challenge what you believed. Or it might simply be boredom.

Whatever the cause, you begin to question everything that you once held dear. Your breakable faith now seems fragile.

How to Prepare for the Storms

You cannot wait until the storm has arrived to start preparing. It’s too late. Long before the storm is on its way, you must prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Take the steps now to be ready for whatever challenges may come.

The primary goal of Directional Faith is to help you accomplish that. You must:

• Develop a closer relationship with God

• Learn to discern God’s will for your life

• Examine your day through prayer

• Build trust with the Holy Spirit to guide you through the dark times

Of those goals, building a deeper relationship with God - a closeness that can weather any storm - must be your first priority. You must go beyond believing in God to having faith in God.

But simply knowing the storms are coming is the first step in the battle. Together, we’ll talk about what steps to take from there.

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A New Resource

To help you grow in your relationship with God, I have been working on the 30-Day Faith Challenge - a series of short daily devotional videos focused on loving God, loving yourself, and loving others. Find them on your favorite social media site. Go to:

• YouTube (on the Shorts tab)

• Facebook (under Reels)

• Instagram (under Reels)

Watch the intro video here.

Quick Reactions

Swipe left. Swipe left. Swipe right. Swipe left. In the age of social media, apps, and instant gratification, we make quick reactions to everything. By the time you’ve read this 3rd sentence, you’ve already decided whether to keep reading.

But before you swipe left on this article, stick with me for a minute!

Grabbing your attention is hard. I have a split second to convince you to open and read this article. I need a headline that grabs attention, a cover image that sparks curiosity, and content that challenges or inspires you. Within a split second, you will react and decide what decision to make.

If I’m lucky enough, you might open and read what I have to say, but then getting a further action, such as a like, comment, or share, is even harder.

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Our attention spans are short, and quick reactions are simply a part of life. But when it comes to your faith, and your life in general, do not just react to the world around you - reflect and then act.

Quick Decisions

Quick reactions are just quick decisions at their core, but do you see them that way? Every reaction you make, no matter how small, involves a choice. Are you actively making that choice or simply following your first instinct?

Too many quick decisions lead to impulsiveness - something I have struggled with most of my life. I’m not afraid to act. Unfortunately, quick decisions have led to poor decisions. I did not take the time to think it through.

Those quick decisions always have consequences. Eventually, you will deal with the ramifications of those choices.

Poor reactions lead to poor decisions which lead to poor results.

The Remedy

A few weeks ago, I challenged you to ask yourself one simple question. That is an exercise in pausing before making a decision. Instead of reacting, you are reflecting and then acting.

This does not require deep prayer - it simply requires awareness. Be aware of the decisions you are making. Instead of passively following your first reaction, take a moment to reflect and make a better decision.

Your first reactions are usually based on instinct or raw emotion, but reflection brings in your deeper thoughts, controlled feelings, and measured faith. By taking a few extra moments, you are allowing yourself to quickly discern which decision brings you closer to God. You begin to have directional faith.

After you reflect, then you act. Let your reflection become action.

Actions based on even the smallest reflections will lead you closer to God than your initial reactions ever will.

Inviting God Into Your Daily Life

The evil one knows who you are. He wants you simply to react to the challenges and temptations thrown in front of you - regardless of how good they may initially seem. Simply reacting allows him to get his claws in deeper.

Reflecting on what God wants from you takes away that power from him, and instead, invites God into your decision making process.

Many struggle with living out their faith daily, and this is the solution. Making decisions jointly with the Holy Spirit is what develops your faith. Instead of inviting God into the conversation at the end of the day in prayer, He will be ever-present in each decision you make.

Don’t just react - reflect and then act. Remember, it is a lot easier to pause for a moment in prayer to make a good decision than it is to clean up the mess from a bad one.

And in one last moment of reflection and action, make sure to share this post with someone who needs it, subscribe if you haven’t, and then watch this short 1-minute YouTube video.

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When You Stumble and Fall

On this journey of life, you will stumble and fall along the path. It’s not a matter of if but when. Even the greatest saints and heroes of the church had times when they struggled. But how can you prepare for those falls?

The primary goal, of course, is to prevent yourself from stumbling again. In John 8:11, Jesus told the adulterous woman, “Now go and sin no more.” But do you think He actually expected her to be sinless? Of course not.

Beyond simply avoiding sin, you can also prepare yourself by planning what to do next when you do stumble. Having a plan for handling mistakes prevents them from sending you backward, and instead, allow them to become an opportunity to grow.

The Next Step

The next step you take after stumbling is the most important. Handling your missteps matters more than what first caused you to stumble.

Do not get stuck in your failures. The greatest temptation you face after stumbling is to not get back up again - staying on the ground as you wallow in self pity and shame.

Even if you get up, taking another step forward may seem impossible. You’re stuck. Fear prevents you from moving forward and may even cause you to never take any step at all.

And the worst option is stepping backward. Because you fear stumbling again, you get up but take steps in the wrong direction, and your faith slips as you feel unworthy of moving forward.

But God still loves you.

Get up, dust yourself off, and take a step forward. Trust that God will use your missteps as opportunities to gain wisdom and grow in faith. Your failures do not define you.

Overcoming Failure

The song “What If I Stumble?” by DC Talk inspired this post (showing my age here). In that song, the band feared they would stumble in the spotlight. They’ve inspired millions on their journey of faith, but any misstep they make is public. Every struggle is open to the world.

As I commit myself to writing again, I fear stumbling as well (even on this much smaller stage). And as I shared in a recent YouTube video, failure almost prevented me from continuing this ministry.

But despite my past, despite my failures, I am here, and I am taking steps forward to share what I have learned with others. I trust God has a plan and a purpose for my life. My failures have become my mission, and my tears have become my voice.

You can learn and grow from your mistakes and missteps as well. See them as opportunities to trust more in God than in yourself.

Sin is a reality. You will stumble. Avoid sin, but accept you will sin again. Only then can you prepare yourself for what steps come next.

Surrender, Not Obey

Forcing yourself to obey God’s commandments rarely works out well, yet many Christians measure their lives based on that idea. The depth of your faith is not determined by your ability to follow the rules and doctrine, but by your willingness to surrender yourself to a God who loves you.

Obedience is often an act of fear, whereas surrender, in this context, is an act of trust. Surrendering your life to God shows you trust more in His will for your life than your own wants, needs, and desires. It shows you believe His plans are greater than what you can imagine.

Trusting the Father

As a parent, instilling obedience is not my primary goal. Many parents try to force their kids into obedience, only to find that those kids will eventually rebel - if not now, they will later. Instead, I have focused on earning my kids’ love, respect, and trust, so that when I tell them something, they willfully submit to the idea. They trust me.

Adults can see the bigger picture, beyond what a child can understand. Kids may think they know everything but quickly find out that’s not true. Especially tweens and teenagers! They are convinced they have all the answers, and getting them to listen is challenging.

As a Christian, you may be like those young kids - convinced that you have all the answers. It makes you trust more in your own thoughts and ideas than God’s. You won’t let go.

But God, like your parents, has far deeper knowledge than you. God is omniscient, as in all-knowing. How can you possibly believe that you know more than Him? Trusting Him, then, is the first step toward a deeper faith.

Full Surrender

Surrendering fully to God comes through indifference, that Ignatian approach we discussed last week. Indifference challenges you to not prefer health over sickness, wealth over poverty, or long life over short. The key to indifference is that it only works when you fully surrender to the idea.

After close to 15 years of applying this approach, I can say that it’s not always easy, but it will completely change your perspective. My life, especially in recent years, has had its share of trials, yet I continue moving forward because I believe that God has a plan for all of it.

Are you ready to surrender to God’s will? If so, read last week’s article on indifference as a start. We’ll continue building from there. And if you’ve liked these articles so far, the best way you can help is sharing or forwarding this to others. Let’s grow this community together!

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Faith in Indifference

As you discern in life, you will face challenges and find that God’s will is not always easy to see. Quite often, your greatest challenge - the very thing preventing you from seeing God’s will - is your own will and desires, and that’s where indifference comes in.

My first post titled “What is Directional Faith?” described St. Ignatius’s First Principle and Foundation, a basic map for the Christian pilgrim. But there is one part I left out because it deserved a conversation of its own:

Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things. (The Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Let me highlight one particular (and challenging) part of that:

Do I have your attention yet?

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What is Indifference?

Indifference is the lack of preference for one outcome or another. Ignatius takes that to an extreme. He is telling you not to prefer health over sickness, or riches over poverty.

This goes against everything modern society will tell you!

Indifference is countercultural. In a world hyper-focused on your own wants, needs, and desires, Ignatius dares you to be indifferent. Instead, he asks you to give your life to God and to trust in His will for your life.

It’s natural to want to succeed, to find love, and to live a long life, yet your goal as a Christian is to not let those goals become what defines you.

Why Indifference Matters

Approaching life and prayer with indifference requires giving your full trust to God’s will. If you prefer one outcome over the other, then you haven’t let go completely, which will impede your progress.

In prayer, you promise to “surrender” to God’s will, but still secretly hope that it will lead you to financial blessings. You trust in God’s will for your life - as long as it’s a healthy one. In other words, your prayers come with strings attached.

On the flip side, you cannot prefer the worse option either. Some will want poverty, sickness, and to give up their lives as the ultimate display of pious religiosity. But is that really God’s will for them?

God’s will is not up to us. The sooner we accept that, the easier our faith journey becomes.

Finding Indifference

You may hope that God’s will aligns with your will, but instead, you should align your will with His.

This is not a simple task. Ignatian indifference is not natural. You will literally need to retrain your thoughts and emotions. When you pray, acknowledge your thoughts and desires, and then hand them over to God. Trust in His plan for your life. It may not turn out the way you hoped, but it might also turn out better than you imagined.

Remember, directional faith is about seeing how your life experiences, both good and bad, can lead you closer to or further from God. When you plug indifference into that equation, your prayers should not be for the positive outcome, but for the outcome that positively impacts your spiritual life. Instead of praying for the blessings of this world, seek the greatest blessing - a life with Christ.

With an indifference mindset comes the realization that the path taken does not matter - only the destination. Whether the road before you is smooth or rough, the journey will be worth it.

Now, go back and re-read “What is Directional Faith?” with an indifferent mind. Then leave a comment if this is beginning to come together for you.

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Discerning the Little Things

Most of the focus in discernment teachings is on the bigger picture decisions in life, such as where to go to college, which job to take, what is my vocation, and should I get married. But as I discussed in the last post, What is Directional Faith?, discerning the little things matters as well.

But how can you discern the little things when they happen so quickly? There’s seemingly not enough time to make a thoughtful decision.

In my own life, I have simplified it down to asking myself one question:

Obviously, in a greater context, I am asking myself, which option will lead me closer to God? What direction in faith will this take me? By making this choice, will it affect my relationship with God in a positive or negative way? For simplicity’s sake though, I keep it to that simple phrase.

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What Would Jesus Do?

For anyone around in the 1990s or early 2000s, you would have heard the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” It was often abbreviated as WWJD and emblazened on bracelets, t-shirts, necklaces, and bumper stickers.

I love the concept of that phrase, but it might have been missing one thing: an application to true discernment.

For many people, that phrase led to looking at each choice as a moralistic one. Am I doing the right thing? Am I following the 10 commandments and the rules set by God? It challenges us to follow in the footsteps of perfection - something that leaves us destined to fail.

I think a better version of that line is, “What would Jesus want me to do?”

By framing it differently, the focus shifts back to us and what we can do in our lives. It grounds us back in reality. Then, it becomes a little easier to follow.

Deciding Between Two Goods (Or Evils)

The simplicity of WWJD also leads us to believe that one choice is good, and the other is inherently evil. But what happens when they are both good or both evil?

For example, I can work an extra few minutes to catch up, which helps me provide for my family, or I can take that time to spend with my kids. Neither one is evil, but most would know how to make that choice.

So by asking ourselves, in that moment, “what direction will this lead me?”, we can better make a choice between two goods or two evils.

That very situation happened to me recently. The kids were home from school, but I was still working. I wanted to make the most of my time with them, but I had obligations at work. What to do?

NOTE: I never said discerning was easy!

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Taking Your Time to Discern

Choices fill our everyday lives. From the moment we decide to get out of bed to the moment we go to bed for the night, there are choices to make. We make most of those choices on autopilot, with little thought to them. But taking a moment to discern God’s will in that choice can have a big impact in the long run.

We do not have enough time to go through the full discernment process for every small decision. In time, I will teach you how to discern those larger life choices, but for now, I wanted to start with something you could apply immediately.

It takes very little time to answer that simple question of “what direction will this lead me?” Generally, you just know in your heart what the right answer is (and we’ll talk about how that works in the future as well).

So start practicing that. When you face a choice during the day, just ask yourself that simple question. Make it a habit, and it won’t take long to see the results. Your faith will feel stronger and more in-tune with God’s will than you would have imagined.

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And in case you were wondering what choice I made… we went out for ice cream and had the best afternoon together.

Directional Faith

As Christians, you might reflect on your faith journey by examining the pivotal moments of your life, but the reality is that the little moments, the small decisions you make daily, can have an impact as well.

When you begin a journey, such as this pilgrimage called “life,” you will spend most of the time looking forward to the destination. Along the way, you might notice certain waypoints along the path - the memorable moments from your journey.

But each step on the journey is important. If you are not paying attention to each step, ensuring that you are staying on the straight and narrow path, you can quickly go off course. A common Chinese proverb states that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Every step matters, from the first one you take.

That’s where you are right now. As you read this, you are about to take the first step on a pilgrimage to your Creator. You must pay attention to where you are going - you must have directional faith.

The First Principle and Foundation

The idea for directional faith is based on the Spiritual Exercises, written by St. Ignatius of Loyola. It begins with his “First Principle and Foundation,” which reads:

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created.

Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him… Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

Simple enough. Well, it is simple enough to understand anyway, but much more difficult to put into practice. My goal with this site is to help you do that. Let’s start by breaking that down.

Our Purpose

We often look for purpose in all the wrong places. For many, we look for purpose in our careers and jobs. But what many find out too late is that it does not bring the happiness or contentment we sought. The same can be said for seeking wealth, power, and popularity.

Ignatius challenges us by saying that we are created for one purpose: our life and relationship with God, which is built on the pillars of praise, reverence, and service. It’s Christianity 101. Few would argue that.

However, we still put a lot of focus on job titles, the size of our bank accounts, and the number of followers we have on social media.

You were not created for any of those things. God created you to have a relationship with Him - no to see how much you could attain in this life. That is not your purpose.

The Purpose of “Stuff”

So why do we have things in our life? Why do we have jobs or careers? Why do we own things, such as houses, cars, and everyday items? Heck, why do we even have relationships with each other? What purpose do the people in our lives serve if they are not our purpose?

In this second phrase, Ignatius gives us the reason: to help us serve our actual purpose of building a relationship with God.

The things in our life are not put here simply for our enjoyment. That’s where we go wrong. We make attaining a certain status our goal. We make owning more objects our goal. We make building certain relationships our goal.

But those things are not our goal. They are simply opportunities to grow closer to God.

Our careers give us an opportunity to share God by the good work we do for others. Our finances give us an opportunity to share and bless those less fortunate. And our relationships give us the opportunity to love others as God loves us.

Everything in your life, and everything not in your life, is simply an opportunity to grow in faith.

Finding Direction Through Opportunity

What does any of this have to do with directional faith? Because every opportunity, every object, and every person who comes into our lives leaves us with a choice: will this bring me closer to God?

You might break things down into good or bad, but it’s not that simple. Not all good things will lead you to God, and not all bad things will pull you away. In fact, it might be the opposite.

Here are some examples:

• A new job might give you more security and allow you to provide better for your family. But long hours might lead to less time with your kids and less energy to serve at your church.

• Saving money might make you a good steward of God’s blessings, or it might turn you into a greedy, selfish person.

• That new boyfriend or girlfriend might give you an opportunity to share God’s love. It also might lead you down a lustful path.

On the flip side:

• Taking a lesser job may not pay as well but will allow you to bond more with your kids.

• Living in poverty may leave you hungry but teach you to depend on God.

• Being single may feel lonely, but it will allow you to focus on building a relationship with Jesus.

So, as you can see, it is not black and white. Every situation is different. Ignatius is challenging you to recognize that difference.

Will your choices today lead you closer or further from God?

The Little Decisions

Of course, I started off with the big decisions, the milestones of life. Yet the little decisions can matter just as much.

As I pointed our earlier, our little decisions lead to the bigger ones. We don’t wake up one day as the CEO of a large company. It takes many smaller, daily decisions to get there. What did it take to get there? Were you ethical, or did you do “whatever it takes” to succeed?

In that new relationship, the little decisions will define it. Are you intent on loving that person by showing them kindness and respect? Or are you consumed with lust and what you get out of it?

The little decisions affect your life because they are the footsteps on your journey. If you take misstep after misstep, you will never make it to your destination. We can say that we are followers of Christ, but our footprints are the proof of whether or not we do.

Ignatius said that “our desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.” That means making tough choices sometimes. That may mean passing on a job opportunity or ending a toxic relationship. Discern what God is telling you.

Next Steps

Our life is full of decisions, and it’s hard to navigate on our own, which leads to my primary focus - teaching people how to discern God’s will for their lives and apply it daily.

When you look at the Directional Faith logo, it is a street sign with a giant cross on it, and just as a normal street sign would do, it is telling you which direction to turn, and in all aspects of your life, turn to Jesus.

So if you want to join me on this journey, I encourage you to subscribe and get the latest posts in your inbox. Just hit the Subscribe button below. Future articles may be a little shorter (this article ran a little long), though we’ll see about that.

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I look forward to going on this pilgrimage together. Peace.

Ignatian Spirituality

Over 500 years ago, a cannonball struck St. Ignatius of Loyola in the leg during battle. That “cannonball moment” led him to change his life radically, and Ignatian spirituality was born.

It’s not a religion in and of itself, it is simply a way to approach our Christian faith. Ignatian spirituality serves as a map to a deeper relationship with Jesus.

Many Paths, One Jesus

There are many paths that you can take on your spiritual journey. You can learn from St. Augustine, John Calvin, Thomas Merton, Billy Graham, St Thérèse of Lisieux, St. John of the Cross, Martin Luther, Henri Nouwen, St. Catherine of Siena, or even Joel Osteen (it’s your journey, not mine).

As different as those voices are, they had one goal in common: building a relationship with Jesus. And my personal favorite voice, St. Ignatius of Loyola, was just the same.

What stands out about Ignatius’s method is its practical approach to everyday life. His goal was not only to help you follow the path to God, but also to do it in a practical way.

Discerning God’s Will

As we grow and mature in our faith, we hope we are following God’s will for our lives. But what is God’s will? How do we know? And even if we think we know, how can we be sure?

Ignatian spirituality, among other things, has a strong focus on discerning God’s will for your life.

• What college should I attend?

• Should I date this person? Should I marry this person?

• Where should I live?

• Should I take this new job?

• How should I serve my church?

• Should I become a priest or pastor?

That’s a lot of shoulds. And each one of them has an answer. Ignatian spirituality can help you discern that answer.

Other Key Thoughts

Beyond discernment, Ignatius was known for some unique, if not radical, approaches to faith. So much so that he faced the Inquisition multiple times. Yes, that Inquisition - the “burn at the stake” Inquisition.

It was the height of the Reformation, and Ignatius tried to rise above all of it simply to lead people to a personal relationship with God. Catholics can accept him because the Church accepts it (hence, he didn’t burn at the stake). Protestants can accept it because he promoted controversial ideas.

See, everybody can like him, right?

His ideas included:

• Trying to find God in all things.

• Using our thoughts and emotions to guide us to God’s will.

• Being a “contemplative in action.”

• Examining your heart daily in prayer.

• Serving the whole person (“cura personalis”).

Instead of going deeper into it, here is a link to the Directional Faith main website where I offer The Ultimate Guide to Ignatian Spirituality.

Learn More About Ignatian Spirituality

On this site, I will take Ignatius’s approach: helping others to apply spirituality to their daily lives. I want to help people grow deeply, madly in love with God through the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Direction

For many, the journey of faith is not an easy one. We attend church, read books, listen to podcasts and YouTube videos, and spend time in prayer daily, but we still feel lost.

Spiritual direction might be the solution for you.

Normally, spiritual direction is a 1-hour monthly session that is similar to sitting down with a priest, pastor, or therapist. That might be in-person or through an online tool like Zoom.

In that session, you will share your faith journey with someone trained to guide you further along that path. You can talk about your struggles and get advice to overcome them. And when you do, you can celebrate your successes together.

For many, meeting with a spiritual director helps them to realize that they are not alone on this journey.

Why You Need Spiritual Direction

First, let me begin by saying that I meet with my own spiritual director monthly, and he has been a constant in my life during some challenging times. But why might you need a spiritual director?

Our priority as Christians should be to develop a relationship with God. The problem is that many of us do not know how to get there. You’ve followed the recommended path but still feel distant from God.

• You’ve read countless books but don’t know how they apply to your own life.

• You spend time in prayer every day yet never feel a connection with God.

• Each day, you read Scripture and don’t really understand what it means.

• After church each week, you feel uplifted, but that joy doesn’t last throughout the rest of the week.

• You attend Bible studies and leave with more questions than answers.

You’re not alone.

Many Christians struggle with these same issues. Reading about discipleship and becoming a disciple are two very different things.

That’s where your spiritual director comes in.

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Your Spiritual Director

A good spiritual director is someone who is mature in their faith and has been trained to guide others down that same path. They are experts in directing you towards a deeper relationship with God.

Spiritual directors come from a variety of backgrounds, denominations, and paths. Some will meet with anyone, whereas I limit myself to just Christians (regardless of denomination).

With these different backgrounds, each director has their own method or process. I take a more practical approach to faith - showing people how to incorporate faith into their daily lives. Others may focus on more contemplative practices. In the end, go with someone who fits with your own personal journey.

What qualifies someone to be a spiritual director?

Sadly, there are no formal certifications, so it will be up to you to do some research. Many turn to their priests and pastors, but with their busy schedules, it would be impossible to meet with everyone in their church.

Enter the laity.

There are plenty of programs at universities that train people in spiritual direction, such as the Master’s program I took at Loyola University Chicago. There are also organizations that specialize in training spiritual directors for the task. Either way, ensure that your spiritual director has had some formal training.

More Information

If you want to know even more about spiritual direction, go to my Directional Faith website’s guide to spiritual direction.

Looking for a Spiritual Director?

Currently, my schedule is full, but I will start taking on new clients in the Fall (2023). If you would like to stay informed, make sure you subscribe, and I will post information about my upcoming Fall schedule.

A New Chapter

Many of you followed the Directional Faith YouTube page, but I have not posted for a while. What happened? Will I ever post on there again?

Let’s start with what happened…

Becoming a Jedi Master

First and foremost, things were busy - too busy. As many of you know, I was busy working on a Master’s in Christian Spirituality degree at Loyola University Chicago, and the workload picked up near the end.

As part of the degree, I specialized in spiritual direction, a practice where you guide other Christians in their spiritual life. You become their spiritual counselor of sorts.

To complete that portion of my studies required actually becoming a spiritual director, so I set out to do just that. The response was overwhelming! I was looking for a handful of people willing to work with me during my internship, and there were more requests than I could handle. Still, I took on 10 brave souls for the year, and I still meet with several of them to this day (even after graduating).

As time went on and graduation drew near, I had the final research and integration project to complete, which was a lengthy 50-page research paper that took up most of my time.

Life was busy, and I decided to take a step back intending to return quickly.

And then life happened…

Enter: Life

At some point, I’ll possibly share some of the personal struggles that I faced over the past year. Things definitely did not turn out as planned. But for now, I will start with this.

Just as I entered that final year, my mother became gravely ill, and in a few shorts months, we lost her to cancer.

This triggered other catastrophes and issues in some relationships, and things have not been the same. But for right now, I won’t get into that. Let’s just move forward.

The Next Chapter

So am I done with YouTube? No, I don’t believe so. In fact, I have some different plans for it in mind.

With my original videos, an 8-minute video would take 8 hours to make. It was time-consuming. I enjoy the process and creativity of it, but it took up a lot of time.

My goal now is to streamline the process and continue to work on other platforms.

Towards the end, I started doing a livestream video each week. This worked pretty well, but I don’t think that I had a large enough audience for it yet. Still, it made me think of another plan, and it will rely more on writing - my first love.

Writing

In a future post, I will go into detail on why I decided to focus on writing, but I realized I could use my skills as a writer to help with YouTube.

One of the most difficult parts of creating YouTube videos was the editing. It took HOURS! To avoid that, I plan on pre-writing most of it in a more podcast-like style.

Are you cringing?

I know… another podcast. But I hope the content will actually be better. I’ll be able to sort out my thoughts and present them clearly. I can even take the audio and share it on other podcasting platforms.

With pre-written material, I can drastically cut down on the editing time and actually produce more content - content that can be shared through audio, video, and even the written word.

And that’s where substack comes in.

What’s Next?

Follow this substack, and you’ll receive an email every time I post a new article, YouTube video, or podcast. Let’s stay in touch!