Health, Wealth, and Faith

 Jack Stradinger Blog #1
Yesterday I had the honor of Face timing my brother in Christ and mentor, William Douglass. Unlike most, my mentor is actually the same age as me at only 20 years old. My apologies for posting my blog so late, but I believe I have a very valid excuse, my mentor is a very busy man! To start my blog I thought it would be great to talk with my friend William about the way his week is scheduled, executed, and how he still finds time to be the man after God's own heart in the way that he is called to be. 

Lately, he wakes up six days a week at 5:40, prepares his food and makes a green drink. Health is one of his “pillars”; right now he is taking care of his body through redesigning his diet. In his rush he receives vitamins and minerals from a super nutritional mix of lemon, honey, cinnamon, a berry powder, maca root and apple cider vinegar. During the majority of his time working, he wakes up at 4:40 AM  gets ready for work and rides the metro for about an hour and a half, waiting for 30 minutes in between stops, eventually arriving to Athena manufacturing at 6:40. At first, the metro seemed like a drag to him but he quickly came to realize how valuable this time alone was. He started reading a fictional novel, The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov, for pleasure. Throughout his commute he also reads crypto currency news, makes investments and keeps track of price fluctuation. He has the Blue Letter Bible on his phone and reads through the New Testament during that time as well. He does this because of his belief that God designed us to learn, create, and share. He feels that readings of all sorts give him the ability to expand his knowledge daily. Minus the fact he has to go to bed early; the metro is something he looks forward to as a place where no roommates can distract him. Most people who are interested in what he is doing were extremely open and eager to hearing about his life on the bus, even going so far as helping a Metro bus driver invest in crypto currency‘s, giving him a new hobby (He is currently managing and constantly developing 30 investors portfolios). Once he arrives at work he begins his 9-hour work day. Once he gets home, he’s headed to the gym to workout. He gets back to his apartment around 6 to prepare food for his roommates which follows with them sitting down and talking about their days and what is going on in life. He gets back to the grind by 7 where he begins reaching out to all his clients that are currently investing in crypto currencies, he works till 10. This follows with a shower, some reading in The Good Word, then it’s lights out.

To help grow his relationship with the Lord, every Sunday aside from church, he meets with a disciple making group with nine other guys where they discuss their weekly struggles, highlights from the word, ways they think God is trying to show himself in their lives, and how they can introduce the Christian faith to those around them. On Mondays he helps set up and take down a group Bible study hosted by STUMO A campus ministry that reaches out to guys and girls who would otherwise have no urge to grow their faith alone. 
William also shared with me something that had been bringing conviction upon his heart. I wanted his words to personally be on the page, so here it is!

“I have thought about the less fortunate around the world and unlike the usual feeling of guilt that ends in nothing more than a slight dip in my mood, during Passion Conference, I came to the realization that I wanted to do something about it. I began funding my sponsor child at Passion through the ministry Compassion and I decided I didn't even want to know who I was funding at the beginning, I didn't want to think about how cute he or she was, or where they lived, or anything that would take my mind off of the purpose of it all. I just wanted to help them and know that my money was going to support a child in need. Just this week I finally realized what a great opportunity I had; I could talk about My Heavenly Father to this young child. I reached out to the Compassion Foundation and I will find out who I am benefitting soon. I am so excited to begin asking this child how God has affected them, and help them build a strong relationship with God. I am constantly praying that whoever I am helping is doing well and is protected and surrounded by Gods mighty angels. Now I can check in and see how they are doing and actively influence them towards the Lord.”

Now you may ask, “why is William not in school, he seems so hungry to learn?”Well… Williams parents both lost their jobs right as he was graduating high school. So he was left with only enough money to complete one semester of college at the University of Texas! But this is proof as William would say that God truly does work in mysterious ways. He is working hard as he can this year to make enough money so that he can transfer to Wheaton College where he can major in Computer Science.William motivates me to constantly to strive to work to the best of my ability and honor God in all things, especially in Health, Wealth, and our Faith!