Our Story
Who are you and Why are you here?
Like so many Christians do you live a busy life often feeling frazzled and overwhelmed?
Do you feel caught in the flow of a fast current swept along from activity to activity wondering how to slow down and experience the rest that leads to the full life that Jesus promises?
At FocustLife.com we develop tools and courses that will empower you to discover and live out your True Identity (who you are) and True Calling (your purpose), thus walking with you towards a healthy, integrated soul.
The life Jesus promises is available. We can help you live into it.
We have spent many hours thinking about our place in the world...
If these questions hit home, and you want to grow, then you are in the right place. Keep reading...
FocustLife.com is all about empowering you and your community to fully embrace your True Identity and True Calling which can only be found in Jesus.
Specifically, we focus on soul care, community, coaching, healthy relationships, leadership, and creativity.
What readers & students are saying...
"From looking at God's view of rest, to growing in self awareness in many areas that affect my ability to truly rest in God, to learning practical steps that can be taken throughout the day to remain in Jesus' rest there are so many ways that this class has helped me. The material is very well thought through, with breadth and depth and also helpful as a reference for the future."
Alison
"This class was very insightful & provided many opportunities for good reflection on God, His word & rest. I came away with lots of helpful tools and a renewed perspective on soul rest."
Melika
"This class has helped me identify areas in my life that keep me from resting fully in the Lord and given me some tools to help me overcome these obstacles. I highly recommend it to anyone noticing a need for more rest in their lives."
Joy
My Journey
Our lives are often changed by a line in a book or a phrase in a conversation. Indirectly, that is how the first seeds of Focustlife.com were planted in Turkey in 2010. I (Duke) was in an MBA program at Bilkent University in Ankara, and our family took a break in Antalya. While there we met with some friends who were in the process of starting an online community of artists focusing on promoting peace in cultures mired in conflict.
I appreciated their idea but what stuck was the idea of an online business. It was my lightbulb moment. The seeds were planted that grew into CaptivatingCappadocia.com, my travel website focusing on everything the Cappadocia visitor needs to know to maximize their time in one of the most amazing places on earth.
I poured myself into that for the next few years and loved it, but eventually, I handed most of the writing over to my partner. I was aching to write more about walking with Jesus and culture, about integrated souls and leadership, about community and healthy relationships.
Once we decided to return to America, I began planning for this in earnest. I talked to friends about joining me and went through countless potential names before landing on FocustLife.com.
Our call as disciples is to focus on Jesus. Spelling focused with the T integrates the idea of focusing on the cross, on Jesus. In our current fast-paced, technology-driven environment focus and attention are scarce resources. Distractions are so plentiful we have to learn the skill of paying attention. With our phones beeping or vibrating constantly and 24-hour news cycles and mountains of information from all over the world available at a click, focusing on what is most important requires a herculean effort unless we make intentional decisions and create habits or disciplines that foster it.
This is a huge struggle for me which is why I have spent most of my adult life fighting against the tide both for myself and my family as well as for those in my sphere of influence. As I dealt with my own root issues and found resources that helped, I starting developing tools and curricula. The feedback was positive so I continued down that road. The FocustSoul Course was a fruit of these efforts.
Focustlife.com is the culmination of 20+ years of learning to be who God made me to be and walk in His love. I still experience deep shame and can act like a jerk. I need Jesus as much today as when I first heard about Him as a child. In fact, I have yet to meet someone who needs Jesus more than I do. This awareness helps me in thinking about the soul in our modern world with all the brokenness and junk that flows through our days.
I have read widely and bring that into my thinking and writing. I do not think I have ever had an original thought, but what I can do is connect disparate ideas into a unified whole. The products and courses and posts on Focustlife.com will be unique in their tying together many different sources and developing paths forward that fit many different personalities and contexts. There is no golden key that will solve everyone's problems.
If you have been a Christian for more than a few years, you have seen fad after fad come and go. You probably found some helpful and some relatively useless. God, in His infinite creativity, has made each of us unique and yet we still fit into certain character or personality groupings. As humans, we all have some shared experiences. For this reason rather than teach one model or one path, I have found that recognizing the differences, providing many options, and letting people choose what works best for them is the most helpful approach. This is what you will find on Focustlife.com.
The main measure of success for me for each visitor is this: Do you love Jesus more after reading our posts, using our products, and taking our courses?
If the answer is Yes, then we have done our job.
If the answer is No, then please write us and let us know how we can improve.
Since FOCUSTLIFE started...
10
Number of times I re-wrote this ABOUT page!
22+
Years of experience helping people discover their True ID and True Calling
100s
Happy Customers
2
Courses we currently offer
1000
Goal: Number of students by December 31, 2022!
Duke Dillard
Born 1969 in Germany, Adopted
Grew up in Chattanooga, TN
Accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior in 1978
Graduated from Washington & Lee University 1987
Teach for America - LBUSD
Rode bicycle with two friends from Seattle to Boston
Worked for Crystal Cruises in retail department
Married in 1995 to the perfect woman for me
7 precious children
Lived in Germany, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and America
Currently in Denton, TX
My story:
Born in Germany on February 12, 1969, I was adopted at four days old by American parents serving in the US Army. We moved to America before my second birthday, and I grew up in Chattanooga, TN.
Our local church was a big part of my life, a place I found meaning and friendship, but looking back I can see that I was much more concerned with obeying the rules than loving Jesus. Going to a Lutheran school during my elementary years with the daily Scripture memory was important in my formation. We have continued it with our kids.
PRAYED A PRAYER
At age nine I prayed a prayer of repentance and salvation but have no memory of it. My mom reminded me of it years later. Actually, as far back as I can remember I was serious about following Jesus, but had little to no practical understanding of grace until much later in life.
My neighborhood was packed with kids, and we were always outside playing a sport, tag, or riding our bikes or skateboards. I have tons of great memories as a kid as well as some painful ones which have deeply impacted my soul. Experiencing Jesus' healing touch over many of these wounds has brought real freedom, but I have no lack of areas that still need His touch.
After high school I double majored in Economics and German and played soccer for four years at Washington & Lee University. Upon graduation in 1991 I moved to Los Angeles to begin teaching with Teach for America (TFA). I quit after three and half years having barely survived 6th and 8th graders at Stephens Middle School in Long Beach. Moving overseas was supposed to be the next adventure, but I was in for a surprise.
To explain that I need to go back a bit to my beginnings with TFA. The class of 1991 arrived at the USC campus for training during the summer before we were placed in our districts around the country. One evening as I was returning to my campus apartment I met a guy whose bicycle was broken. I fixed it for him and while we were talking he invited me to a Bible study he had started. I started going to church with him which eventually got me to Rolling Hills Covenant Church. Entering their College Group marked the first time I had eyes to see and a heart that wanted a group that radically loved Jesus in a contagious way. I joined a discipleship group and started meeting weekly with a group of guys.
Dillard Family (2019): (Top to Bottom, L to R) Hudson, Colton, Kaylie, Weston, Hayden, Emily, me, Laurie, and Keaton
A couple of weeks later I met the woman who would become my wife and a week after that I repented of my lukewarm pursuit of God and went all in. In one month a new course for my life had been set.
Another sign of that change was seen in my summer trips. In spring 1992 my best friend from university, Robert Weisgerber, graduated and we met in Seattle with another friend from W&L and rode our bicycles 4300 miles to Boston. Every day of our 56 days on the road produced a great story, but this is not the space for those.
A year later I was on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Aktau, Kazakhstan with a group from RHCC. And a year after that I was leading a group to the Philippines to work with a church on the island of Negros. Both summer trips were wonderful and confirmed my call.
MARRIED AND MOVING
In 1995 Laurie and I married which meant a postponement of my overseas call. I got a job with Crystal Cruises in their retail department (offices in LA). The job was as brainless as could be, but after three plus years teaching middle school my nerves were frayed, and I worked for six months before realizing how boring it was. I continued in the job for a couple of years which meant we got a free Alaska Cruise which was spectacular. If you ever get a chance to see Alaska don't miss it.
In early 1997, pregnant with our first child, Laurie and I quit our jobs, jumped in our car and drove from LA to Chattanooga and back to say goodbye and share our plans for moving to Kazakstan. We boarded a plane in September and joined a group of Americans and Australians serving the region of Mangistau on the Caspian Sea. Emily, our first child, was four months old when we moved. Our second and third children, Hudson and Hayden, were born while we were there. Hayden was born in Kazakstan but due to complications we had to be air-evacuated to Vienna where he spent eight days in a hospital. He recovered, and we returned to Aktau. A few months later in 2001 the Kazakh government decided we were not welcome and forced us to leave the country. We were devastated.
ANOTHER MOVE
Two years later we moved to Uzbekistan with four children (Keaton was born in LA) and some of our colleagues from Kazakhstan. Three years later in 2006 the Uzbek government refused to renew our visas (along with almost every foreigner in the country), and we returned to America again with five kids in tow (Colton was born in Tashkent).
TURKEY AND BEYOND
In 2007 we moved to Ankara, Turkey with six children (Kaylie was born in LA) and most of the same colleagues, and I began the MBA program at Bilkent University. Our time in Ankara was very difficult mainly due to my sin and immaturity, but God was faithful to guide and care for us and in 2011 we moved to Cappadocia with seven children (Weston was born in Ankara). Unlike Ankara our time in Cappadocia was wonderful, and we saw God do many wonderful things. Eight and a half years later we moved to Dallas, TX where we are living today.
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