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 class, I was a bit daring and just opened 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!”
Then, in 2019, when teaching my course on “The Scribe,” I again pulled out some of my old journals. This time I turned to a different one. To my surprise, I found a confirmation. “When you are 70 years old, it will be important for you bring forth wisdom from your treasure chest to help others in their journey. Yes, Lessons from the Woodshed is to be a tool to help others.”
And here we are.
What will this class and book contain? I’m still finalizing the content for this class, but here are some possible lessons I will share: