Hello Steemians!
This is my first post and I'm glad to be on board. I'm relatively new to all things blockchain, but I'm trying to read up, adapt and adopt as fast as possible.
This being an introductory post, let me tell you a little about myself. First off, I'm married to my life partner, Sharon, who I met in my last year of college. We actually met roughly 31 years ago from today's date and we've been married for 30 of those years. I think we've been able to maintain a long-lasting relationship because we're best of friends, we're partners in life, business and everything we do. We both also have a really strong and mutually affirming spiritual life.
We have two children and a grandchild, who of course is the apple of our eyes. I start with my family because they are the most important thing in the world to me. I'm a real family person and I enjoy hanging out with my wife, kids, extended family and friends.
Professionally, I'm sort of an oddball, so bear with me. If nothing else, I'm hope for the person with diverse interests whose been told that in today's world you need to stay in your lane and become known for one thing.
Frankly, I don't dispute that wisdom. I mentor people from all walks of life, and I hear myself dispensing that advice at times. It's just never worked for me.
I have about 100 blog posts all over the web so you can read up on me, but here's the Reader's Digest version. I became a lawyer 25 years ago, because my granddad, who was a merchant, suggested I become his business attorney. At the time, I was 5 years old, and didn't know what that was, but I made up my mind I would become whatever he was talking about.
(Sidebar, as we say in the legal field. This is a great example of how impressionable young people are. Your words are powerful. Be sure that you plant words of love, wisdom and faith in the people that you influence. Whatever you plant, negative or positive, will surely grow).
So, I became a lawyer and went to work for a big, fancy law firm. My granddad passed away before I got licensed, but I always feel his presence. He was my inspiration. My grandma, on the other hand, was the business maven. She and granddad ran several businesses and they filled me with an equal love for business.
I would eventually combine both loves by leaving my fancy law firm and starting several businesses, some of which failed and some of which succeeded. One of those business ventures was my law firm, which I founded 20 years ago and still operate today.
After a few years in business, my wife and I felt that there was something more that we needed to do. In short, we felt a higher calling to serve people in our community. This led to the next big adventure in our lives when we started the Oasis Compassion Agency, a nonprofit organization that feeds the poor in our community, provides them with clothing and jobs.
you can look us up at http://www.oasiscompassion.org.
This is our labor of love and our way of placing hands and feet on our Christian faith. Nowadays, it seems people of faith have a lot to say about issues, but we decided we would actually DO something about it; not just talk or point out how wrong everyone else is. OK; enough of the soapbox. I'm really not soapboxy or political. I just like to see faith demonstrated by positive action.
It wasn't very long after founding The Oasis in 2002 that both Sharon and I were ordained as ministers and began a neighborhood church; all the while running the law firm and The Oasis. The church continued for roughly 4 years and we closed the mission in 2008.
That was when I began self-publishing books. I published several ebooks and two paperbacks. My second paperback is a legal thriller with a spiritual message, called "The Runner." It's the first in a series, and I am finally getting down to business on finishing Book Two. My small, but patient fan base has been waiting on that for a while. What can I say? I've been a little busy.
So, as you can see, I'm a bit of an odd bird. Lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, minister, writer, etc. I've always had the philosophy that you should go for your dreams, no matter how unlikely they may seem. I don't want to die with my song unsung.
I told my wife, if she outlives me to place on my headstone: "There lies Wayne Gill. He went for it!" Amen; that's a sermon right there, ain't it?
That's all I got for this post. It's now 12:46 a.m. Eastern Standard Time in the U.S. Which means it's now 9/26/17 and a "real-time" verification of my authenticity as a human. Lol.
The rest of my story can be found on my website and social media pages. You can check them out here:
https://twitter.com/InspiredByWayne
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-gill-33488b4/
https://www.facebook.com/WayneGillInspires/
I really appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the Steemit community, and I look forward to spreading a message of hope, love and and fulfillment as we embrace our God-given abilities and talents, and learn how to love and serve each other.
Cheers to all.
Wayne