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When I was a young child, some of my first exposure to the outdoors was through magazines that my Dad subscribed to. I would read the tales of Fred Bear and Chuck Adams and as I got older, I began to read more. When I was a teenager, I started reading outdoor magazines from cover to cover. Each and every article would take me off to a distant land. One moment I would be on Kodiak Island chasing bears and in the next article, I would be climbing mountains chasing the elusive bull elk. Each article took me away to a place I only dreamed of going. As I got older, I realized what a great job it would be to travel the globe chasing critters with a bow and arrow and writing about it for the world to experience. I dreamed about hunting, writing, and making a difference in people’s lives, the way some of the writers I grew up reading about have made a difference in my life.
I was finally able to start chasing my dream a couple years ago. What a ride it has been! Just like anything, it has had its ups (like chasing elk at ten thousand feet) and it has its downs (like when you hunt elk at ten thousand feet for a week and see nothing but brush and trees). I am pursuing my dream of writing full-time and it is slowly taking shape.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of going to an outdoor writer’s conference in the state of Washington. If there is one thing I learned while I was there, it was to chase my dreams. Every person I met while I was there - some were famous writers, and some people that just write for fun; said the same thing: chase your dreams - it is possible to make a living writing! My dream has always been to be a writer. I do not have a writing degree, but I have the goal to become a writer. Jesus was a carpenter by trade and his disciples were fisherman and look at them. They were amazing! God transformed them and because they trusted him, he allowed them to do amazing things.
Now maybe your goal is to become a basketball player, a football player, or a fireman. It does not matter what your dreams are; chase them! God gave you the desires in your heart; he made you who you are. By ignoring those dreams you are, in a way, turning your back on his plans. So many people go through their entire life wishing they had chased their dreams or gone on a trip or bought some land or… Whatever it is people want most, they often don’t do it because they are afraid of failure. I am also afraid of failing, at times. Jesus might have been afraid as well, even though he knew he was the Messiah. You will never accomplish your goals if you don’t try. A friend of mine is a painter by trade; a very good painter. But he was not happy being a painter. He really wanted to be a youth pastor. Without having a college degree or formal training, he began to volunteer for different youth events and eventually he became a full-time youth pastor in a day and age when a degree is usually a must have. He broke the mold. God gave him the desires of his heart because he trusted God and followed his dreams. I am sure he had second thoughts, but he dove in and he was in over his head. The Lord provided for him and gave him the confidence and knowledge he needed.
Just remember, that if God is first, everything else will follow. Babe Ruth often struck out. But every strike out brought him one step closer to a home run. The Wright brothers wanted to fly and they crashed more times then we can count, but eventually they succeeded. Also remember that people around you will often put you down if your dream is out of the realm of the main stream. Do it anyway and prove to them it is feasible. You can be an example of the fact that with God, all things are truly possible. Keep on keeping on!
With that said, I must go shoot my bow. Elk season is just around the corner and there is a big bull with my name on it, or so I hope. Psalms 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart”. Go get ‘em!
| The editor of God’s Great Outdoors’ Internet Outdoor Magazine, Tracy Breen, has lived his entire life in Muskegon, Michigan. He was brought up in a family full of hunters and trappers and he grew to love outdoor adventures at an early age. Tracy’s father trapped for a living during the late 70's until the fur market fell apart in the early 80's. At that point, he took up taxidermy which he still does for a living today. Due to that influence growing up, Tracy decided early on that one way or another he would make a living in the outdoors. Also, being brought up in a home with a Christian foundation, Tracy wanted to somehow tie the two together, but was unsure how this could happen. It was by God’s grace and in His perfect timing that Tracy contacted Gerry Caillouet about a magazine idea. Tracy’s project was to be in print, while Gerry had been praying for someone who could help God’s Great Outdoors by editing and running the Internet Outdoor Magazine idea he had in the back of his mind for several years. After many weeks of prayer with his pastor and others, Tracy Breen accepted the offer to become a part of God’s Great Outdoors as the new Internet Outdoor Magazine editor. Besides the time outdoors, God has used another aspect of Tracy’s life to prepare him to serve in this position with God’s Great Outdoors. Tracy states, “Something else that has made me the way I am is the fact that I have a mild case of cerebral palsy. This has always affected the way I walk and I have had to learn to hunt and trap somewhat differently at times because of my disability. Although it can get me down because I can't walk through the marsh the way I would like to or be as quiet as I would like in the woods, I get by and realize that many have it a lot worse. I am extremely excited about the opportunity God has given me to serve in this way by putting this magazine together. Hopefully I will also be able to use my disability to help others with similar problems; proving that a disability can't stop you from enjoying the outdoors if you put your mind to it!” Tracy and his wife Angie have been married since August of 1999 |
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