When I (James W. Goll) was 48 years old, in summer of 2000, I had a dream and wrote it down in one of my many journals. It stated, “When you are 70 years old you will write a book called Lessons from the Woodshed.” Fascinating. What a peculiar word for the Holy Spirit to give! At the time, I remember thinking I would definitely need to be 70 years old to have enough wisdom and life experience to be able to share something transparent, real and impacting.
Frankly, I forgot this dream until I was preparing to teach a class on the prophetic for Wagner University. I knew I was to include a session on “The Power of Journaling.” So, as I was packing to fly from Nashville, TN to Los Angeles, CA, I felt led to grab some of my journals to take along as Exhibit A, B and C for the class.
When the time came for me to teach the fabled class, I was a bit daring and just opened up a journal to any random page. I read the date of the journal entry, the location of where I was when the entry took place, and the summation. The entry was dated “Fall of 2012.” Imagine my surprise as I read this word about “Lessons from the Woodshed” in front of the class. I was flooded with thoughts and feelings as I was now 60 years old. I had survived 9 years of cancer, experienced the loss of my wife, and I was in the midst of learning a host of life lessons. I thought, “Now that is amazing! Well, thank God, that book is another ten years off!”