Read and Leap

Whenever I'm contemplating making big changes that require a pretty big leap of faith, it always encourages me to read stories of others who took a leap of their own and lived to tell about it (and who, indeed, had their lives transformed by God in ways beyond their wildest dreams). Here are some links to a few blogs that I regularly follow who lately seem to be living out this theme of turning their lives over to God and allowing Him to do big things:

• My friends Betsy and Chad are adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia. They already have three beautiful boys of their own, but a year or so ago felt called by God to add to their family through international adoption. Just last week they moved to the head of the adoption list and received pictures of their precious new daughter. Go here to read the story of their journey, and please keep them and baby Addison in your prayers.

• Kristen of We Are That Family is on a journey with her own family to help pregnant girls in Kenya by opening Mercy House. Although I don't know Kristen personally, I really appreciated at this post on jumping into the hands of God.

• Jon Acuff of Stuff Christians Like cracks me up with his astute and often biting commentary on Christian culture, but he also writes some very serious and thought-provoking posts. I particularly love this post on ignoring the soundtrack of doubt that threatens to derail us when we face challenges.

He Goes Before Me

I've been giving more and more thought to my future, to where I want to be geographically, spiritually, relationally, physically, career-wise, the whole nine yards. For the most part I get excited thinking about the future, but from time to time I feel totally overwhelmed and a little freaked out.

Thankfully, in those freaked-out times God often sends a reminder my way that He's got my future all planned out for me and under control. He's nudged open some unexpected doors lately that reassure me of His provision. I keep reminding myself that He's going before me to prepare the next chapter of my life. I'm not going anywhere, literally or figuratively, that He hasn't already mapped out in advance for me.

As these unexpected reminders of His provision pop up, I'm trying to journal about them as an added reminder down the road. It's unfortunate that I can quickly forget what He's done for me, so I need that written recount. I think that when I'm able to look back and read of some of the things He's done to prepare the way for my next place in life, I'm going to be amazed at His timing and His total provision for me.

In the Mood

I'm trying to live a more intentional life without finding myself falling into a rut. That's a hard line to walk at times. This morning I was thinking about circumstances where I tend to act according to my mood at that particular time. While spontaneity can often be a rewarding thing, sometimes it can cause trouble.

Case in point--my wardrobe. On Sunday nights I usually make a mental list of what I intend to wear to work each day, making sure that each item is washed and (if necessary) ironed so that I don't run into any unwelcome surprises when I get dressed in the morning. However, lately I've found myself changing my mind in the morning about what I want to wear that day, and so I go through my closet trying to find another outfit that I "feel like" wearing. I realize that I'm extremely blessed to have so many clothing items to choose from (too many, really) but I keep changing outfits it's hard to get out the door and make it to work on time.

Another example--food. Many times I'll bring a healthy lunch to work or plan to go home for lunch for something cheap and wholesome. But then a co-worker can invite me to go out eat Mexican or some other favorite food, and suddenly it's adios healthy lunch, hola enchiladas verdes. That ends up not only wreaking havoc on my diet but on my wallet as well.

It's hard to find that balance between being spontaneous and sticking to my well-thought-out plans. Does anyone else find it hard to find that balance?

Oh, My Aching Toes

Last week I joined a small group ladies' Bible study that is reading the book Radical by David Platt. I'd heard a lot about the book before I began reading it, namely that it was a, well, radical call to American Christians to turn from complacency and our secure lifestyles and begin earnestly seeking the lost.

I have to admit that I am reading this book with a bit of trepidation. This book is forcing me to take a good hard look at how I'm spending my time, money and energy--and the answer is not always pretty.

For the small group study, we're going to alternate between reading and discussing the book one week and doing some sort of service project the next week in order to put what we're reading and discussing into action. We're trying to find ways to challenge ourselves to get out of our comfort zones and our secure little Christian "bubbles" and to truly seek the lost. This is definitely going to be a challenging study. I'm already four chapters into the book (it's hard to put down) and I find myself being confronted with bold statements like this excerpt:

How many of us are embracing the comforts of suburban America while we turn a deaf ear to inner cities in need of the gospel? How many of us are so settled in the United States that we have never once given serious thought to the possibility that God may call us to live in another country? How often are we willing to give a check to someone else as long as we don't have to go to the tough places of the world ourselves? How many of us parents are praying that God will raise up our children to leave our homes and go overseas, even if that means they may never come back? And how many of us are devoting our lives to taking the gospel to people in hostile regions around the world where Christians are not welcomed? Certainly few of us would be so bold as to say we "would just as soon God annihilate all those people and send them to hell," but if we do not take the gospel to them, isn't that where they will go? (pg. 64)

Ow, ow, owie, ow, OW. That's the sound of my toes being stepped all over.

I'm excited (and nervous) to see what direction this study will take and where God will lead us. It seems that so many of us are tired of just going through the motions at church and living for ourselves instead of living to serve God and others. Who knows what changes God may call us to make. Read Radical at your own risk--you might want to wear some steel-toed shoes just in case.

Keep on Keepin' On

A decade or so ago, when I was not long out of college and in the early stages of my career, my parents encouraged me to open an IRA for my retirement. Even though retirement was (and still is) several decades away, they knew that the sooner I started planning and investing toward it, the better off I'd be in the long run.

And so after meeting with a financial advisor, I opened a Roth IRA and set up my bank account to make automatic payments to the IRA each month. I'm not the type of person who checks my investments every day or even every month; typically I just glance at the quarterly statement, give a little "Hooray!" or a little sigh depending on that current statement, and then file it away. I know that it's going to be a long time before I touch any of the money in that IRA and so there's not really a point in obsessing over how it's doing on a day-to-day basis. I have to trust that my investments will pay off down the road.

That's good advice for me to consider as well in other areas of my life. Right now I'm having a bit of a rough patch with a friend. We go through periods where we're extremely close and hang out all the time, then other times where life pulls us in different directions. Currently we seem to be on different paths and don't see each other very often. This friend has a lot on their plate and there are times when I don't want to bother them with what's going on with me so I just don't.

I can see that not talking to them is not a good thing for our friendship. I think I've been focusing on how our friendship is doing day-to-day and responding accordingly. If they have time to talk to me or we get to do something together, then I feel like all's well in the world. If they're too busy and we don't talk for a while, I feel really distant and not always wanting to invest more in them when, at that particular time, perhaps they can't give me the return on investment that I want.

So I'm realizing that I need to view this friendship as a long-term investment. Sure, there are times when I'm giving more in this friendship than they are, and there are times when they're giving more than I am. There are probably always going to be those up-and-down periods. I want to keep investing in this friendship and trust that, in the long run, it will continue to pay off. Some of that investing may mean communicating better with this friend and letting them know about my struggle to share what's going on with me when I sense that they've got so much on their own plate. I guess that's something I'll have to get over. After all, honesty is a big part of a successful friendship, right?

Look Up

It's so easy to get caught up in the things going on in and around my life. Our annual fall meeting is coming up next month so work is steadily getting busier and more stressful as the meeting dates approach. I've got a long list of projects for around the house that need to be tackled. Plus there's the everyday minutiae of bills to pay, car tags to renew, yardwork to be done, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. that eat up so much of my time and focus.

That's why I really needed the reminder from today's reading in Colossians about not just thinking about earthly things but thinking about Heaven as well. I like the way the Message puts it:

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. (Col. 3:1,2)

My natural inclination is to keep my head down and focused on what's going on around me, but I'm going to try to look up more. How about you?

Goal-Setting Time

This is the first bona fide fall weather weekend we've had (and by fall weather, I mean highs below 90), so there could not be a better day than today to spend some time outdoors. A weekend alone at the beach would have been ideal (maybe next time), but today I took the free route and drove out to a small church near the outskirts of town that has incredibly lovely gardens. Thankfully there weren't any church activities going on at the time, so I was able to find a spot without fear of being interrupted. With the sounds of birds chirping and a water fountain trickling in the background, I sat down with my Bible, journal, notebook and a book I'm currently reading (God's Joyful Surprise by Sue Monk Kidd).

My daily Bible study is with a one-year Bible, and today's Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 66. As I sat soaking in the beauty of the garden, I couldn't help but think that these first couple of verses were quite appropriate to the setting:

This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?
Could you build me such a resting place?
My hands have made both heaven and earth;
they and everything in them are mine.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

“I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts,
who tremble at my word." (Isaiah 66:1, 2)

The New Testament portion of today's reading proved to be timely as well. It was from Philippians 3, where Paul talks about forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. Aside from just wanting to spend some quiet time outdoors, my main reason for this little getaway was to spend some time dreaming about and planning for the future. Unfortunately, I can easily get caught up in thinking about the past and sometimes find it hard to move on. I needed the reminder from Paul that what lies ahead is far more important.

After my Bible reading, I journaled some goals for myself, some short-term, some long-term (and some that will probably be lifelong goals). I've realized lately that there are a lot of things I do in practically every area of my life that are not deliberate. One of my overall, lifelong goals is to live a life that is full of purpose and deliberate thought and action, really taking responsibility for my life and not just letting life "happen". That's not to say that I'm in control of my life (God is), but I've become lazy in quite a few areas and need to live with more purpose.

With goals set, I then wrote out a long to-do list of projects to be done around my house. One of my major goals for the next year is putting my house on the market, and these projects must get done first. Now that the projects are written down and staring me in the face, that will go a long way toward getting my rear in gear and getting those projects done instead of just thinking about what needs to be done.

I could have easily done all this at home--living alone does have its advantages, including quiet time pretty much whenever I want it. But I knew that it would be so tempting to just veg out on the couch or spend time on the computer instead of spending this time goal-setting and contemplating the future, so getting away to a quiet place definitely helped me focus more. I'm thinking that I should do this goal-setting and evaluating on a more regular basis, at least twice a year or perhaps even quarterly (I could do it when the weather changes each season).

Do any of you ever spend time goal-setting and making plans for the future? Where's your favorite place to get away and have some quiet time?