what is wolow?

and why is it called that?

wal·low /ˈwälō/

: to devote oneself entirely : to become abundantly supplied.

wolow /way+of+life+to+follow/

A way of life worth following.

wolow is about devoting ourselves entirely to the pursuit of meaning. It is about creating a way of life that is so abundant that we create a way for other people to follow.

Our responsibility is to blaze a trail, so that the people that come after us create a highway.

philosophy + theology

I grew up in a home where we talked about philosophy, theology and how to live all the time. I didn’t realize it when I was a kid, but the older I get, the more I realized that I was raised in a philosopher’s home.

Most of the time when we think about philosophy, we think about books that are 1000 pages long that somehow say nothing and solve nothing. We think about old, poorly dressed men who are one breath away from insane asylums who only want to ask questions that don’t have an answer and identify problems that can never be solved.

That’s not how we should define philosophy.

“Philosophy is nothing else than to search out by reason what is right and proper and by deeds to put it into practice.” // Musonius Rufus

I didn’t grow up reading Greek classics and mythology. I grew up with core values, a family mission statement and parents that strove to be their best for God, us and each other. They sought to live a good life and teach us to do the same.

My dad started a church to teach people how to become what I call practical philosophers. Theology is the study of God, philosophy is the study of how to live a good life. Our church sits at the intersection between these two things. We believe that God wants to show us his way to live a good life. The life he intended.

In John 10:10 AMP, Jesus said:

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”

The word “abundance” that Jesus uses there is the greek word - περισσός - perrisōs. It means that which is not ordinarily encountered, extraordinary, remarkable. Beyond what is necessary. God intends for us to have more than a good life, he intends for us to have an extraordinary, remarkable life.

That doesn’t just happen because we know God or know the Bible. It happens because we decide to live according to what Scripture teaches.

Philosophy is merely deciding how to live.

We should take our theology and combine it with philosophy to live a great life + have an even better eternity.

The goal of our church, and now my life is to help people develop a biblical philosophy of life that empowers them to reach their God-given potential.

the story

I now have two kids of my own. As lockdowns began in 2020, I started to think about my personal philosophy of life and how it would affect my kids. I was raised with a certain philosophy of life and certain values. But that is no guarantee that those things will be passed down to my kids.

When I was in my 20’s my dad sat me and my sisters down and said this:

“There are a lot of lessons you can learn from me. There are a lot of things you can emulate. But if you’re going to apply anything I have done to your life, I want you to follow me in living our family core values.”

The Craft Family core values are //

• Honor

• Positive Attitude

• Excellence

• Generosity

When we do these things, we live out the fifth value, Leadership.

Fast forward to 2020, what if I could define the things I wanted my kids to follow me in right now? What if I could raise them that way today?

I opened up Google Docs and began writing about my personal philosophy of life. I sent it to my dad for him to review and he said “this is your first book.” I never saw myself as an author or writer. I never wanted to be one either. I grew up in a world where everyone “has a new book coming out.” I didn’t want to be “book guy.”

But I’m grateful for my dad. He’s helped me discover my potential my whole life. That leads us to where we are now.

being “book guy”

My philosophy of life became my first book. The Way to Live. I did a small “beta” pre-release of an unedited version at our church last year. I just completed edits on that book and it will be released hopefully by the end of 2022.

My second book is called “Elephants in the Room.” I am in the editing process with that book and it will release in 2023.

It takes a lot of work to publish a book. Especially if you’re self publishing. There’s writing, editing, layout, design and more! I have the books mostly done. They’re just not printed. For me, anything I write becomes a living document that I’ll work on and change over time. The Way to Live started at version 0.0.1, the beta version was 0.9.5, the published version will be 1.0.1. I will more than likely never stop editing that book.

There’s also a lot that I write/create that would be helpful to people, but I haven’t had anywhere to put it until now.

With wolow, I can have a place to post both free + paid content that I write and create. I can also personally connect with people who see that as valuable.

Eventually, printed books will come out and I’ll share a lot of what I write outside of here, but this is where you’ll get a first look at everything that I create and work on.

You’ll also get access to this content way cheaper than if you just bought the books.

the plan

Starting this week, I’ll be posting 1-2 chapters from The Way to Live 1.0.1 per week. You’ll also be the first to get access to the Elephants in the Room content as soon as it is edited, as well as anything else i’m working on. I’ll add in some thoughts from time to time on church, leadership and other things I think about. I don’t have it all figured out. This is just the first step. I’ll figure out the rest as I go. Right now is a good time to JUST DO IT.

Thanks for reading this, valuing my contribution and subscribing.