Looking back over the past couple of years, I think one of my biggest positive steps was in the discovery of my river analogy. For those of you who don’t know it, I liken all of life, all of history, to a river. You put in at Point A (your birth, for example) and you put out at Point Z (your death), and everything in between looks a lot like going down a river. There are twists and turns, shallows and deep spots, fast current and slow current, and on and on. Some things resemble each other, while other things are new and different and changing. If you pay attention during the journey, you’ll pick up learnings and lessons that will give you 80% of what you need to know for the next stretch of water. The remaining 20% you’ll have to make up as you go along. Like time itself, the general thrust of the river is always moving ahead (note: moving ahead isn’t always progress, it’s just moving ahead). The river metaphor has revolutionized my work, business, calling, and ministry in history.