Richard Potter

The first of my two words came directly out of Life Younique’s Passion 360 exercise, where I asked close friends, coworkers, and family “what three words you would use to describe what I am passionate about.” My closest friend, Eric, responded with “deconstruction.”

Eric and I became acquainted in 1999 while attending a Willow Creek church leadership conference. He was struggling with his role as a husband and father, and I offered to sit with him in his confusion. Later we served together as small group leaders and took weekend camping trips together with our sons. For several years we had a standing monthly meeting at a favorite pizza pub. But he had never used the word “deconstruction” before, that I could recall.

I called Eric shortly after he sent his three words. “What do you mean by ‘deconstruction’?”

“It’s the closest thing I could come up with,” he said. “When I’m entangled in a bundle of confusion, you help me take a step back and sort through the issues so I can consider them one at a time instead of all at once.”

Life Younique affirmed that I have been deconstructing chaos for much of my life. It gave me the tools to articulate my calling. Life Younique opened my eyes to the value of naming things as a means of gaining power and authority over them. In naming my LifeCall, LifeCore, LifeScore, and LifeSteps, I am empowered to filter out the many things I can do and focus my resources on the one thing I must do.

I am called to honor God and serve others by Deconstructing Chaos: excavating truth, exposing grace, and drawing people closer to the Divine. And the closer you get to the Divine, the more clearly you reflect God’s irrational, unconditional love.