There I was, working with my family in the garden on a hot summer day. As I am crouched down, pulling weeds from around our tomatoes, I hear a noise so I look down the road and see something glimmer in the distance. Whatever it is, it is coming faster and faster, rushing down the road, leaving a huge trail of dust. When the object finally came into view, I realized this was what my family called the Silver Bullet. The silver bullet was a silver Lincoln MKZ and was known in my neighborhood for zipping up and down the road on a regular basis. It was operated by my 77-year-old great aunt Cathleen, or as I call her, Auntie! My auntie and Uncle Dale lived just down the road from our family and were a huge influence on me growing up. Auntie may have a foot made of lead, but she certainly has a heart of gold. That day, she had already played the organ at our local church and was driving fifteen miles to Holton so that she could play at the next Mass there. After that, she was going to help her grandkids with their 4-H cooking projects. This is just a day in the life of Auntie; she has always spent so much time serving and investing in others. Before retirement, she had spent many years serving others as a nurse. Even after retirement she helps with community dinners, 4-H events, supports our high school at almost all of our ball games, and is intentional about visiting the elderly in our community. Auntie values others: her family, her friends, and her neighbors. She is able to live out what she values through her constant service to others. What would our lives look like if we were intentional in identifying our values and living for them?
One cold November day, my family and I were out in the pasture catching calves. My younger brother Joel and I were making our way across the pasture on foot when we came across a huge ditch. Joel was ahead of me, when he reached the ditch he easily leaped across it. I could not yet see how far across the ditch was, but after seeing my younger brother clear it, I thought that I could too. I ran straight for the ditch, but when I was a few feet from the edge, I saw that it was nearly ten feet wide! I dug my heels into the dirt, knowing I could not possibly jump that. Alas, it was too late. I had built up too much momentum and thus, tumbled off the edge and into the ditch below, into four feet of standing water. I emerged, sopping wet, freezing cold, just to see my younger brother laughing his tail off at me. Though I spent my entire life on a farm, it was not something that I was skilled at. Falling into the ditch that day was not all that bad, but for me, it was the culmination of all the struggles I had. Through the years working on the farm I had fed cows every day in the freezing cold during the winter, built fence during the heat waves of the summer, thrown square bales in one-hundred-degree weather, and spent entire days picking heads off thistles. I was lost and confused. If I do not care about agricultural life, then who am I? It was not until a few years later where I was able to understand what my core principles were. One night, I was feeling pretty stressed and irritable. I had a bad attitude at that time, and when I was in a bad mood it was unpleasant for everyone around me. The whole day I was being disrespectful to my parents and my siblings and my dad finally had enough. He said, “John, let’s go outside.” I knew I was in trouble—I was afraid of what my dad was going to say. But when I got out there, he was as calm as could be. For the next few hours, we talked about everything that was stressing me out, why I was so angry, and how I was struggling with my faith and life on the farm. He reassured me of my worries and helped me understand some of the things I valued. That night, I had a glimpse of some of my dad’s values: faith, loyalty, authenticity, and hard work. I realized that I shared these with him and understood that it was from my agricultural background that I learned these things. I learned to appreciate agricultural life for the values that it instilled in me. Though I’m not good at farming nor do I plan to become a farmer, I now understand that I can apply these values in other avenues, for me that’s teaching agriculture.
In our journey of life, we may not know our destination. When I was in high school, I was lost. I struggled a lot with not knowing what I wanted to do and it caused a lot of unnecessary stress in my life. In fact, I still don’t know these things, which maybe you all can relate with. But, that is why have our values. Our values are the intangible characteristics that guide our decisions in life and define us. Our values serve as our compass, if we reflect on them constantly and stay true to them, they will never fail to point us toward our destination. For instance, I know my values are faith, loyalty, authenticity, and hard work. By following these, they have brought me to many wonderful and memorable experiences in FFA, in my church, within my family, and in my education in high school and college. When we identify the things that we value, we can live more purposefully throughout our day-to-day lives. 
What are your values? Think about the things that guide your decisions. Choose your three most important values. Grab these thoughts, hold onto them, and when you return home, write your values down on a piece of paper and place this list somewhere you’ll see it every day. Mirrors, desks, and cars are all good places. *pulls list from pocket* Here is where I keep mine. This helps me remember what I stand for and guides me on my journey. When we identify our values, we can know ourselves better and live more constructively because of it.
Last January, several of my state officer teammates and I were headed to South Africa for the International Leadership Seminar for State Officers. We were in Kansas City, waiting in the airport for our flight. Skyler plopped down with a croissant in her hand that she had bought for breakfast. And she was going on and on about how buttery her croissant was. I then made the comment “I can’t believe it’s not butter.” When I had said this, a man in military uniform behind us turned around and said “I was totally going to say the same thing.” We all laughed and struck up a conversation with him. As we talked to him more and more, we invited him to come over and sit with us. He did, and we learned a little bit more about this man. His name was Jeremy, he was from Missouri and he was on his way to DC to complete his training to be a Blackhawk mechanic. Jeremy was an incredibly nice guy, he had lots of funny stories and was interested in getting to know us. Eventually, one of us asked him “why did you choose to serve in the military?” He paused for a moment to think and responded with one of the most inspirational words I had ever heard. Jeremy said “I love my home. I love the down-to-earth people of this country and care a lot about our way of life. That’s why I’m sitting here talking with you all, getting to know you. And that’s also why I chose to serve. Because the people of this country are valuable to me, and I want to protect that.” When I heard this, I was amazed. Jeremy knew his values, and by following them, they led him to his purpose. By investing in people just like us, he was living true to his values of helping others. In turn, they pointed him to his purpose: to protect those he loved by serving his country.
It’s okay not to know your destination. But, that shouldn’t discourage us from taking the wheel on our journey! This means going above and beyond to serve your values. Perhaps one of your values is integrity: taking the wheel could be competing with sportsmanship on the field or the court. Maybe you value responsibility: taking the wheel can mean accepting additional duties in your FFA chapter, celebrating the results or owning up to your mistakes and correcting them next time. When we act upon our values each day, we blaze a trail on our journey that directs us toward our destination. Jeremy acted upon his values by investing in others and enlisting in the military. Because of that, he is moving closer and closer to understanding his purpose. By living for our values, we become the drivers on our road to destiny.
How can we live according to our values? Remember the three values we identified earlier? Each day let’s consider if our actions reflect these values. Try this while tying your shoes in the morning. While putting on our right shoe, think about the things we’ve done “right”–decisions we’ve made that reflected our values. As we put on our left shoe, think about the things we have “left.” Perhaps we find we failed to perform according to our values. Maybe we uphold loyalty, but we gossiped about a friend. Or we value others, but we passed up an opportunity to help someone in need. How can we improve and live according to them in the future? It could be apologizing to our friend that we gossiped about and asking for forgiveness. Maybe it’s sacrificing your personal time to invest in others. When we incorporate our values into our day-to-day lives, we can make leaps towards our understanding of our overarching mission.
When my Auntie sped down the road, she always was driving with her values in mind—to serve others and grow relationships with them. When we identify our values like my dad and Jeremy did, and live by them each day, they point us toward a mission that is lasting and rewarding. Identifying and living by our values will ensure we are directed towards our destination. Dig deep to find the things you value. Incorporate your values into your daily life. Take the wheel and let your values be your guide.
“Identifying and living by our values will ensure we are directed toward our destination.”