What Fatherhood Has Taught Me About God’s Love

Fatherhood has taught me more about God’s love than I could have ever imagined.

You see, the moment I held my son for the first time, everything changed.

Suddenly, I looked down as I held my baby in my arms, and I was filled with the purest love I’ve ever experienced.

There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him. He was mine. My only begotten son. Nothing else really mattered, because my son was in my arms.

He needed me and his mom. He was completely and utterly dependent on us.

You really can’t love someone in that way in any other circumstance.

The Holy Spirit revealed to me that this is how The Father sees Jesus.

And through Jesus, it’s how He sees us.

So, being in touch with just how flawed my love is, since I am merely human, I was instantly overwhelmed with awe at the perfect love of the Father.

How could He love me even greater than I love my child?

It’s miraculous. Despite my sin, He’s forgiven me and welcomed me into His family.

This is the heart of God. This is who Jesus is. This is the greatest news in history.

That Jesus loves us and made a way to reconcile us to Him.

Praise His name.

Why I left College and Never Looked Back

Did I make a huge mistake?

This is what I wondered when all of my friends were heading back to school for the fall semester, and I wasn’t.

I’d had little faith in university education for a long time, but I never thought I’d act on it.

Yet here I was, watching everyone else return to school as I was gearing up to start this niche program, Praxis.

During the two-week window between when I would have returned to school and the Praxis opening seminar, I had to wrestle with my new reality.

What am I doing?

It was a crucial moment in the story arc of my life.

I had to face this. I had to beat it.

If I couldn’t beat it, who knows where I’d be today?

After deep internal contemplation and wrestling, I arrived at the opening seminar.

And everything changed.

I was hooked. Completely and utterly converted. Praxis wasn’t just some program, or alternate path. It was a new vehicle to prosperity.

It radically changed my life.

I did not make a huge mistake.

The real mistake would have been sticking with the mainstream, refusing to step outside the status quo, playing the game of life by the pre-set (but not mandatory) rules of engagement.

If you (or someone you know) are questioning the status quo, don’t dismiss it.

Ask the question. Relentlessly pursue the answer.

No matter where you land, at least you’ll be able to say you gave it the ole’ “college-try” 😉.

30 lessons in 30 days–what I took away from daily blogging

Here are 30 lessons I learned this past month:

  1. I really enjoy writing industry-specific posts 
  2. I really like creating content on a less conventional platform
  3. I love writing about Jesus
  4. Blog posts can be really helpful in creating value props 
  5. Blog posts are excellent ways to package a project or idea
  6. Blogging daily is a reasonable and achievable goal
  7. People actually read my posts, and I really appreciate it 
  8. Haikus are such a / great backup plan to have for / a blogging challenge
  9. Honest writing makes for really great material
  10. Less is usually more
  11. My wife is excited for me to stop writing during bedtime
  12. My website looks a lot better with more content
  13. Writing in the real world is completely different than in formal education (I already knew that, but this reminded me)
  14. A lot more people can relate to you than you might think, and that’s usually a good thing.
  15. DevOps is cool
  16. Worry is a waste of time
  17. Taking offense is a waste of time
  18. Not everyone is going to like you
  19. Ideas are fun to talk about
  20. We cannot rejoice in others’ believing the truth, but rather in the truth itself
  21. Identity crises are heartbreaking
  22. I am just like the prodigal son–I once departed, but Jesus called me home
  23. When feeling stuck, change into jeans
  24. I need to prioritize disconnecting from technology
  25. It’s okay to fail, as long as we use it to get better
  26. Perception makes a huge difference in life
  27. Rest is mandatory
  28. It’s important to share in our struggles
  29. Disruption leads to success

And finally:

  1. Everyone should write. 

It doesn’t have to be public. It doesn’t have to be eloquent. It doesn’t even have to be “good.” (that’s subjective, anyway.)

Writing every day this past month has really helped me shape my voice as a writer, but it’s also molded my thoughts in general. 

Everyone should experience that. 

Signing off

Well, I suppose that’s a wrap on September’s challenge. Thanks for joining me on this journey! It’s been a blast.

I appreciate any and all who read my posts, it’s been a nice motivator to keep on writing. I’m looking forward to continuing this practice in the near future, so stay tuned.

Cheers,

John P. Ciannello

10 Things to Do Instead of Scrolling

Scrolling. 

I don’t have any real stats, but it’s got to be one of the top addictions in America today. It’s a major problem. 

So, instead of mindlessly and endlessly plummeting through the abyss of social apps and online content, here are 10 things that you can do instead that will have a positive impact on your life.

  1. Read a book.
  2. Write about literally anything.
  3. Call a friend. 
  4. Create a new goal.
  5. Pray.
  6. Go for a walk. 
  7. Make a new recipe.
  8. Go to a new coffee shop.
  9. Plan a trip. (real or imaginary)
  10.  Create a value proposition for your company, a company you’d like to work with, or for a business you want to start.

Don’t let the temptation to scroll overtake you, because time isn’t the only thing it’ll kill–it’s coming after you too.

Let’s be better.

Keep a loose grip

Once upon a time, I was a football player. I loved the game and decided to go play college ball. That was my plan, and I was so excited to make it happen. However, I graduated high school in 2020…so I’m sure you can assume how quickly my plans changed without my approval.

So, everything went awry. I was at a school that I only decided to go to because I wanted to play football, I was away from my family, and honestly, I was lost.

Nothing was going the way I had planned.

But it got better.

Fast forward several months, and enter Praxis. A business-driven apprenticeship training program that absolutely changed my life.

Here I am, 2.5 years later, with relevant experience in the fast-paced startup world, a wonderful wife, and a baby on the way. I couldn’t be more excited about the trajectory of my life now.

So, I definitely had plans for my life back in 2020. I thought I knew what the best course of action was. I was certain of it. Turns out, I had it all wrong, and I’m so glad I did.

Things didn’t go as I once intended, but once I let go of my intentions, I was able to step into a life that I couldn’t have come up with at that time.

Of all the things I’ve learned from that experience, the most important is this:

Be great at what you’re currently doing, be ready for the unexpected, and don’t grip your plans too tightly, because sometimes when you let go, you find something so much better than what you had in mind.

Light

Darkness cannot overcome light.

The darker a space is, the brighter the light is.

So in our darkest hour, it is then that the light of the world can shine the brightest.

It is then that He can come in and show us His glory.

Let Him shine His light on you.

The things you’ll hear, places you’ll go, and sights you’ll see will be so much greater than what you ever imagined for your life.

While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
John 9:5

Son, Husband, Father.

Today is my wife’s birthday. She had to go into the office and I had a few things to write, so she requested I write them all before she got home in order to maximize our time together tonight. So, here’s today’s blog post. 

Her request reminded me of something very important: My marriage is my first ministry. Not that I had forgotten, but it still served as a great reminder of my identity and my calling. 

Chiefly, I am a son of God. A member of His family through the power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. 

Then after that, I am Emma’s husband. Called to love her as Christ loves the Church. 

Soon, (even though I have already embraced the role) we will meet our child, and the responsibilities of fatherhood will begin. 

Then, and only then, come any other ministries the Lord calls me to.

As men of God, we must understand and embrace this hierarchy if we hope to live the Christian life and live it well.

Above all else, we are children of God. Welcomed back into the family. Bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. Praise God for rescuing us. If we understand this, then the Lord will empower us to be good husbands. 

To be a good husband we must die to ourselves daily, to embrace a sacrificial love, as Christ did (does) for the Church. Love is patient and kind. It isn’t jealous or full of pride. To love our wives well, we must first accept and cherish the love that Christ has for us. 

Then, the Lord will help us to be good fathers just as He helps us to be good husbands. As we love our wives with Christ-centered love, our wives feel safe, protected, and cherished. This then encourages and enables them to be good mothers, and together we can love our children well, and raise them up right. 

After you’ve made sure all these things are in their proper place, then you can be empowered to be a good steward of the other ministries the Lord has called you to.

If our alignment isn’t right from the top down, everything will be thrown off. 

So, with that being said, it’s time for dinner and cake 😁.

Disruption comes before greatness

Greatness always disrupts. 

What makes something great is that it presents a challenge to the status quo. It disrupts. 

Grand slam businesses disrupt. Game-changing athletes disrupt. The gospel of Jesus Christ disrupts. 

The key to greatness is to disrupt. To come into the mundane and challenge the complacent. To encourage people to aim for a higher standard.

By nature, we don’t welcome disruption. It freaks us out. It scares us. 

It means we have to do something different than what we’re used to. It means we have to sacrifice. It means we have to be uncomfortable. It means we have to change. 

But it’s on the other side of the change where we see greatness. It’s then that we see why we sacrificed, why we made ourselves uncomfortable, why we chose a different path. We see that the work we put in brought us to something so much better than we ever imagined. 

At first, disruption is hard. 

But when we embrace it, and press into the thick of the challenge, the reward on the other side is far worth the sacrifices made to get there. 

So, if you want to do something great, welcome disruption with open arms.

I can’t wait for this

The excitement that I experience when I feel my child’s kicks and pokes from the inside of my wife’s belly is like no other. 

I can’t wait to hold my baby. 

Love. Joy. Anticipation. Ferocious protection. All things that have multiplied during this pregnancy. 

Other dads keep telling me that I won’t get it fully until I see the baby face-to-face and everything changes. I can’t wait for that moment.  I can’t wait to raise this little one. To bond. To make memories. To be a father. 

I’m pumped.