Iron Sharpens Iron . . . Or Dreams.

We all have someone we look up to.  Someone who we admire and hold in a position of honor higher than ourselves.  Someone who is stronger, faster, smarter.  Someone who made it into the professional spotlight, skill, or talent level of which we want to partake in as well.  A position that, if we were honest, we would desire to be right there beside them.  Whispering secret tricks of the trade, workout routines, and swapping Jell-O cups from the bottom our lunch boxes.

So, let me ask you . . . and without putting much thought into it, who is the first person who comes to your mind?  My bet is that someone already did. 

Here’s my short Hall of Fame list: 

As I grew up, I wanted to throw a touchdown pass like Joe Montana.  I wanted the on-ice dominance of Mario Lemieux.  Shoot hoops like Jordan.  Paint like Bob Ross.  Preach like local pastor Ken Abraham.

When I was a bit older, I admired and dreamt of pitching like Roger Clemens.  And diving into my painting passion, I mimicked my college professor, Bud Gibbons, a master of art.  I wanted to paint just like him.  I soon took on his style.

In my twenties, I held spiritual mentors in high regard.  Some shaped and formed me.  In those years, I wasn’t concerned with throwing a football any longer.  Instead, I had sights to raise a family and make an impact in my community.  In reality, I was already doing so.  In 2008, when life tragically stopped, a saint of a man who still mentors me today stepped into the trenches, got his hands dirty, and has been there through all the hardships of my life.  I am ever thankful for that man.

And now, here, in the purpose of where God has brought me today, I have another that I hold in high honor.  I’d like to share him with you.  His name is Charles Martin.

As an author, I have my favorites.  Everybody that likes to read cannot help but gravitate toward a particular author or style.  I have favorites of both.  It’s human to have favorites.  And I hold Charles Martin in a special place.  He might not know it.  He may never know it.  But if you ask me the question I presented in the first line of this blog post, Charles Martin comes to my mind.

Who is that someone that you respect in life? 

Don’t we all have someone we look up to?  Someone who we admire and hold in a position of honor higher than ourselves?  Someone who is stronger, faster, smarter?  Someone who made it into the professional spotlight, skill, or talent level of which we want to partake in as well?  A position that, if we were honest, we would desire to be right there beside them?  Whispering secret tricks of the trade, workout routines, and swapping Jell-O cups from the bottom our lunch boxes?

Let’s say you are into running.  And let’s say you enjoy running so much that you dream of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  And you not only want to qualify for the marathon itself, but you want to finish it.  And you want your friends and family to see you cross the finish line.  If that is your goal, and that is where you want to be, you’d be wise not to call me for running advice.  If you want to be a marathon runner and finish the Boston Marathon, you better find someone else who can achieve that dream as well and hang out with them.  You better find someone to train with.  You better find someone to practice with.  Someone faster than you are.  Someone more determined than you are.  Someone with more grit.  Someone who will push you.

Calling me up and asking me if I’d run with you to the corner store and back will not see you to your goal.

I don’t run.

Isn’t that why we hold people in esteem?  Those people that are achieving what we want in life?  People who are doing what we want to do?  Who are called in the same calling?  Isn’t that the reason why we put them in that special place?

My goal as an author is to give people hope.  The whole reason I write is to show people the light that I hold and carry inside.  My reason for being.  My purpose.  I live to tell someone else about the hope that has given me breath.  That hope is Jesus.

And through the dark night that I’ve walked through, I’ve somehow managed to hold that candle of hope without letting go.  And by holding it, a whole bunch of you also took notice.  And you are holding candles of hope now as well.  It brings joy to my eyes.

Charles Martin is doing the same.  That is why I admire him.  That is why I hold him in a place and say, “Yep.  He’s doing what I want to be doing.”  He writes to show people hope.  He lives a normal life as a normal man with real-life interests and hobbies and simply shares Jesus through his writing.  That, in a nutshell, describes me. 

Something very special happened this week.  Something that made me a bit weak in the knees.  Something so cool it caught my attention.  More so when I got home from the bookstore.

In this crazy dream of following God’s will for my life and heeding the purpose He has laid out before me, I came home from snapping a photo.  A bookstore decided to shelve my latest novel.  Yes.  A real bookstore.  They shelved Wonders In The Deep.  The first bookstore to do so.  A wonderful bookstore.  And when I went in to see this sight for myself, I couldn’t help but catch my breath.

I found my book.  I saw the cover. It stood out a mile away.  I couldn’t help it.  And in that special moment yet another cover stood out.  A name.  Equally as striking as my own a mile away. 

My book was shelved right next to Charles Martin’s. 

Directly underneath his brand-new release, The Record Keeper, was my novel Wonders In The Deep.  I about fell over.  My eyes continued drifting.  The next shelf down was Martin’s previous book in his trilogy, The Letter Keeper, and also my personal all-time favorite, Send Down The Rain.

Yes.  I about fell over.

I want to give Majesty Christian Bookstore in Greensburg, Pa a huge shoutout for taking on my book.  I want them to be blessed a thousand times over.  I want a ton of people to go and buy books and Bibles and all sorts of things there.  Hey, I want people to go and buy Charles Martin’s latest.  The whole trilogy in fact.  I want to thank Majesty Christian Bookstore for providing our city with Christian material.  Material that can help hold that candle of hope in a dark world.  A world that desperately needs what they are providing.

And I want to give all those spiritual leaders and mentors a shout out.  The ones of the past.  The ones of the present.  Those that help shape us.  Mold us.  Reach down and lift us up to where they are.  Where Jesus is.  To the level we need to be so that we can run that marathon, pass that torch, share the Good News to someone else broken and hurting.

Thanks to my mentors.  You know who you are.

Thanks to Charles Martin.  Someone I hold in esteem.  I’ll be sharing your books in the coming months.  Especially the ones that hit close to home.

But to the rest of us, to all those who have dreamy eyes like me, I challenge you.  Take heart.  Gain courage.  Find that mentor, coach, teammate, running partner, or friend.  Find someone who has their head focused in the same direction.  The same goal.  The same prize.  If you want to be stronger, find someone stronger.  If you want to be faster, find someone faster.  If you want to know more about Jesus, find someone from your church to help mentor you.  If you’re like me, and want to write Christian inspirational fiction, read Charles Martin’s books.  He definitely knows what he’s doing.

Proverbs 27:17 says it clearly:

Iron sharpeneth iron;

so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

I challenge you to find that dance partner that sharpens you.  Lifts you.  Strengthens you.  Builds you.  Encourages you.

Chase that goal.

And one day,

Your book might just be shelved beside your hero’s.

By Chuck Carr

You can visit Majesty Christian Bookstore’s website here.

Charles Martin’s website can be found here.

Thanks for visiting!