Dear reader, 

I’m glad you’re here. You have either stumbled here by God, or you’ve been following my journey for a while and are curious to see what comes next. 

Me too. 

This letter describes what I have and will continue to write about. Most successful blogs stick to one topic or niche. I’m not looking to be successful by the world’s standards. I’m not starting this to become a famous writer who goes on to win awards or write best-selling books. 

I’m here to write about anything and everything. 

My writing career began in 2011. I would dub that “the worst year of my life”. As you will come to realize that I am over dramatic when I write, but I cannot stress how much anxiety and chaos in my life pushed me into a medium that I could control. 

As my family moved from Michigan to New York, My family went from happy to sad, and my life went from loving every minute of it to… I kinda don’t want to exist anymore. My dad set up his desktop in the basement of a ridiculously small house that somehow nine kids squeezed into. And I would spend as much time in that basement to escape the chaos and noise of my life and writing of many different worlds that I could control. 

I could have characters' dialogue in a way that wouldn’t make me want to cry, when I couldn’t make any real friends I could create some to talk to. There is a lot to pick apart there, but that is where it all began. From there I went on to write one full book and half of its sequel, and then my writing evolved into a screenplay format as my love for movies grew more and more. 

I went on to begin roughly 17 different screenplays. Finishing 2 of them, and going on to producing and entering one of them into a Film Festival. It was a great story, very bad quality of a film. But I still made it in about 48 hours.  

I stopped writing abruptly in about 2016. I just left it behind without thinking about it. I attempted to create a blog in 2015 but I was doing everything in my power to have a successful blog that could make money so I didn’t need to get a job. So I dropped that and got my first job at a movie theater. I think I made the right choice. 

I would still have random ideas for stories here and there and I would jot them down on sticky notes and many many notebooks. But not taking it very seriously at all. 

The fateful year of 2020 hit. I could say things were going pretty well. I had moved out on my own for the first time, (Moving back to Michigan from New York) I had a good friend who encouraged my creative side so I ended up writing a second short film, and then a third one soon after that. 

It felt good to write, and I had forgotten the different emotions I would feel when I would pluck the words out of my brain and stab them to the page. It was a way to decompress and even process life events. I began to create the habit of writing something every day, whether it was journaling, writing down notes from my time studying the scriptures, or just long periods of prayers. 

2020 also kicked me in the gut. Through a long and unfortunate circumstance, I was forced to move from my location, leave my job, and not get to say goodbye to almost anyone in 24 hours. If you think you’re an adventurous person, try this, I guarantee your heart will ache on so many different levels, no matter who you are. 

I was forced to reevaluate my life. Obviously, God didn’t want me there if He moved me at the snap of His finger, I need to figure this out. I did a lot of research and prayer and was doing my best to sense and discern what God wanted me to do with my life. 

Enter The World Race. A missionary organization that sends students and adults across the world for the sake of evangelism and the opportunity to experience other cultures. 

I was intrigued, so I applied and I was accepted. They gave me the daunting task to raise $18,000 and they gave me one major tool to do so. 

A blog. 

My writing self had kicked into gear yet again. I was writing almost every day, some days multiple posts (or letters as I called them). I was charged up, ready to go into what God was calling me to do. It felt as if God really wanted me to write as if it was one of God’s gifts to me so He wanted me to utilize it. 

I did. Boy did a write like a whirlwind, sharing all the things God had done, and talking about fundraising all the way. I absolutely sucked at fundraising. But I was asking God time and time again if he would fund my missionary journey in 100 days. 

He did it in 99 days. 

I was so full of joy in 2021. I was eager to hop into the mission field and serve God in the ways that He had prepared for me. Then to my surprise, I was removed from the field due to my being unfit for fieldwork. 

Yep… 

You could say my momentum for writing diminished again. I went and dove into God’s presence doing my best to be grateful and content with what He was doing. Sometimes I would share what I was thinking or struggling with. Many many angry letters towards The Church, and how they don’t live out what they preach. Time and time again writing little blips and blops here and there, putting this skill up on the shelf not really desiring to use it ever again. 

That brings us to January 13th. The rehearsal dinner for my little sister’s wedding. I sat down with my grandmother and she asked me why I had stopped writing. (She was one of my greatest fans and biggest supporters) I told her that I still did write here and there, but I didn’t make the time for it anymore. 

“Mitch, God gave you that gift. Don’t you dare waste it.” 

That might not have been her exact words, but that’s how my brain remembers it. That’s stuck with me for a while. As you can see I didn’t listen right away. I wrestled with leaving the previous World Race blog so I could begin my own, and building up a small library of letters so people would have enough to read when they first arrived here. 

All that to say I have and will continue to write a bit of anything and everything. Screenplays, stories, poems, songs, discourse, rants, anecdotes, the ramblings of a broken man who wants to seem wise to his peers,  reviews on what I watch, read, and listen to, real-life lessons, and stories from my personal experience. What you will find here on this blog is nothing like anything else you’ll ever find. It will seem chaotic and even overwhelming at first, but just know that you are glimpsing into my brain and heart whenever you read these letters. You will get to know me little by little the more you read. 

I’m not doing this for my own personal gain. I’ve given up on that. I am writing to you so that you might hear the truth of the scriptures, and know that there is someone out in little ol’ Iowa who is gracefully broken and still walking with God. I’m rooting for you as you read. 

My letters might resonate with someone you know and love. Send them their way. Never ignore the urge to share something that might encourage someone in their own walk of life. 

The End of this letter has come to pass, now the others can begin.

Your fellow wannabe writer,

-Mitchell