Got A Better Story (Letter to Donald Miller)

Dear Mr. Miller,

My name is Omar Jesus Bravo and I am writing you to say thanks…  For inspiring me to “get a better story”, follow Jesus Christ whole-heartedly, and live a “page-turner” life!

It all started in February of 2007 when I saw you speak at the Fusion / Right Now Conference in Orlando, Florida.  At the time, I was working as an Account Manager at a Fortune 100 Company, I had a six-figure salary, and I was a year removed from my divorce.  Money, materialism, and the American Dream had been my Lord for quite sometime (which was a huge contributor to my divorce), and I knew that this needed to change.

To make a long story short, after hearing your message about “Story”, I got down on my knees and prayed to Jesus Christ that He make me a part of “page-turner” that brought maximum glory to Him!  You see, my story had gotten stale…  This first few chapters were great:  Born and raised in Layton, Utah, youngest of nine children, started working in the migrant farm fields at the age of five (through age 17), moved to California for college, president of my fraternity, degree in Computer Engineering, employed by IBM and Texas Instruments, married my college girlfriend, literally traveled around the world, and all by the age of 26.  And then I became the guy in your message who was saving up to buy “a Volvo”.

Since hearing your message in Feb ’07, I quit my corporate job, served as a fulltime volunteer for two years, started and led a Young Professional group at my church, participated and led international mission trips to India, Malaysia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, developed a video illustration called God the Potter with my now wife (who is a professional Ceramic Artist), did a short stint as the COO of a non-profit, and I am currently working as a Web Design Instructor at a Vocational School where my primary function is to interact with and care for students, full-time (no admin responsibilities at all!).

In short, Jesus Christ answers prayers.  The past three years have been the wildest, most adventurous, page-turning years of my entire life!  I have no desire for a Volvo, I have no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow, and I’ve never been happier.

I praise God for you and your message and pray that He continue to use you to change the world.

Thank you so much for your time and I hope to one day shake your hand and say “Thank you” in person.

Godspeed,
Omar Jesus Bravo

Here is Don Miller’s response (via Twitter):