Somehow I am in my mid-fifties. I don’t know how I got here. On the inside, I still feel like I am a 20-something with boundless energy. On the outside? Not so much.

I have spent a lot of time lately reflecting, writing, and giving thanks to God for His faithfulness to me through the years. I have discovered in every season, God has mostly used people to shape and impact me.

People have always fascinated me. When I am on an airplane or at a baseball game and find myself sitting next to someone I don’t know, I almost always strike up a conversation. I am one of those people. My brother-in-law, who traveled a lot for work, says sitting next to someone like me is his worst nightmare.

When I was a kid, I went through a period of time of wanting to be an archeologist.  This was after my truck driver phase (what kid of the 70s wasn’t influenced by the television show, B.J. and the Bear?) and before my mobster phase.

An archeologist is someone who excavates ancient ruins to see how people lived. They have the incredible task of connecting the past with the present to help inform our future.

History has always been a passion of mine. In middle school, I did my two research projects on the Depression (what led to it) and Watergate. My love of history fuels my fascination with politics and current events. It is history in the making, history I get to live through.

I consider myself an archeologist of people. I believe every person I encounter has something I need to discover and learn.  My job is to mine for it.

I am a pastor by vocation. My best friend always tells me I am a good one because I really know the people of my church and their stories. My response to her is this:  I am simply nosey.

In my life, I have been a pastor, a city councilperson, a manager at a pizza place. I have traveled to Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and throughout the United States. What I have discovered is this; it is ordinary people with seemingly ordinary lives that have had the greatest impact on my life.

It has not been the superstar athlete making millions of dollars nor the award-winning actors that have shaped me (though Bruce Springsteen’s music did have influence). It is the ordinary people I have met along the way.

There has been a book burning in me for over two decades. Over the years I have journaled about the people I have met along the way as I have traveled this road of life. The people who have impacted, shaped, and made me who I am today.

I don’t know if I will ever write the book but I have decided to share the stories of 29 people who have deeply influenced me for the month of November. 29 people for whom I am grateful to God, 29 people I want to give thanks for.

Join me as I introduce you to some of the people I have met along the way.