Sorry I've been a bit MIA again lately. God's been doing a LOT of work in this girl's heart, and lots of preparing for a new season! I would love to tell you all about it right now, but I'm getting the firm sense that now is not the time. You'll all hear about it once God gives me the go-ahead, I can assure you! :)
For now I want to answer one of the frequently asked questions I get all the time about living the simple life. I'm hoping to turn this into sort of a series. If you're reading this and want to ask me a question about the simple life, by all means go for it! The only catch is I'm going to post the question and my answer here on my blog for all to see :).
The question I want to address today is: "What is the hardest part about living simply?"
My answer takes a lot of people by surprise. They expect me to give an answer like "giving up hair gel" or "giving up fashionable clothes" or "fielding everyone's questions about living differently." The truth is, those things really only bother me once in a while for a quick moment. Those aren't the hardest parts.
The hardest part of living a simple life is learning to say no.
We are taught to over-commit from day one. Children who are in way too many extra-curricular activities are put on pedestals as models of "success." Children who are in fewer activities are written off as maladjusted or socially inadequate.
I'm going to say something that I know will ruffle a lot of feathers.
Busyness is unbiblical.
Our souls were not created for all the demands we place on them. True, we should renounce laziness and be intentional about doing the things God asks us to do. But if we're being honest, most of us are doing a lot of things that He hasn't asked us to do. We try to get around that cold hard truth by only doing activities that have the "Christian" label, and our souls are paying dearly.
In closing, I want to challenge you to prayerfully evaluate your life and your schedule and ask God what He wants you to say no to. I'm almost positive there will be at least one thing. Also, let me assure you, once you give it up, you will wonder why you didn't so sooner ;).
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
When you're stuck in the middle
I recently read Lauren Winner's Still. She wrote it in the midst of going through a divorce. She talked about how she felt like she was in the middle of her faith life. She was mulling over the fact that there isn't a middle voice in the English language. When I read the book, this whole idea of being stuck in the middle was an abstract concept I couldn't wrap my mind around.
Then, last week, my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. My dad, who had never smoked a day in his life, who's biked a crazy lot of miles. And before I knew it, I was stuck in that same middle I'd just read about.
I don't have words for this place, but it's the same place the world was between Jesus' death and resurrection. I don't know where to go from here. Describing it as a season of waiting doesn't seem adequate.
During this past week, I've had moments where it seems like my life is going on with me. I'm there, but I'm not there. Sometimes it's as if I'm watching the rest of the world from behind glass, wishing I could touch it.
Yesterday started off as one of those days where being off this month felt like a curse. I had to do something. I went outside to pick crab apples for bread. I found myself studying them as I picked them.
All the vibrant shades of red and pink were so bright against the grayness of the rest of the world.
I came back in with my bin of crab apples. It took every ounce of strength to chop them up and add the lemon juice. But I couldn't shake the idea that I had to keep taking that next step.
When you're in that middle space between death and resurrection, sometimes the most worshipful thing you can do is keep doing the next thing.
Then, last week, my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. My dad, who had never smoked a day in his life, who's biked a crazy lot of miles. And before I knew it, I was stuck in that same middle I'd just read about.
I don't have words for this place, but it's the same place the world was between Jesus' death and resurrection. I don't know where to go from here. Describing it as a season of waiting doesn't seem adequate.
During this past week, I've had moments where it seems like my life is going on with me. I'm there, but I'm not there. Sometimes it's as if I'm watching the rest of the world from behind glass, wishing I could touch it.
Yesterday started off as one of those days where being off this month felt like a curse. I had to do something. I went outside to pick crab apples for bread. I found myself studying them as I picked them.
All the vibrant shades of red and pink were so bright against the grayness of the rest of the world.
I came back in with my bin of crab apples. It took every ounce of strength to chop them up and add the lemon juice. But I couldn't shake the idea that I had to keep taking that next step.
When you're in that middle space between death and resurrection, sometimes the most worshipful thing you can do is keep doing the next thing.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Love + Forgiveness = VICTORY!
"If you can love your enemy, then you already have the victory."
-from "The Help"
" 'But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.' "
-Matthew 5:44, NKJV
"Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' "
-Luke 23:34, NKJV
Yesterday, God gave me an opportunity to put these principles into practice.
I was driving home from the library. All of a sudden the car in the lane next to me darted in front of me (without signaling!), swerved around all the cars that were turning, and sped off. God must've given my reflexes an extra boost, because there was no way I would've been able to stop in time on my own.
As I kept driving, I began to get very angry. I was in a serious accident in 2010, and that was with all parties driving responsibly. So I have no patience for reckless driving. I was driving along, and then I heard Him speak.
I want you to bless that man.
I was quick to respond. "Um, yeah, not happening. I don't make a point of blessing people who nearly kill me."
I want you to bless that man.
"Why do I have to make the sacrifice if I didn't do anything wrong?"
If My justice were to come down this instant, would you survive the fire?
As I began to rattle off the standard prayer of blessing, I finally got it. If we want to be able to truly forgive, and love others with the love of Christ, we need to first receive His forgiveness. That cannot happen until we repent for our own sins and shortcomings.
-from "The Help"
" 'But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.' "
-Matthew 5:44, NKJV
"Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' "
-Luke 23:34, NKJV
Yesterday, God gave me an opportunity to put these principles into practice.
I was driving home from the library. All of a sudden the car in the lane next to me darted in front of me (without signaling!), swerved around all the cars that were turning, and sped off. God must've given my reflexes an extra boost, because there was no way I would've been able to stop in time on my own.
As I kept driving, I began to get very angry. I was in a serious accident in 2010, and that was with all parties driving responsibly. So I have no patience for reckless driving. I was driving along, and then I heard Him speak.
I want you to bless that man.
I was quick to respond. "Um, yeah, not happening. I don't make a point of blessing people who nearly kill me."
I want you to bless that man.
"Why do I have to make the sacrifice if I didn't do anything wrong?"
If My justice were to come down this instant, would you survive the fire?
As I began to rattle off the standard prayer of blessing, I finally got it. If we want to be able to truly forgive, and love others with the love of Christ, we need to first receive His forgiveness. That cannot happen until we repent for our own sins and shortcomings.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Elements of an Authentic Christian Faith
A reader challenged me to spend more time contemplating the fundamentals of the Christian faith. I froze up at first, not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the words.
I was mulling over it while I was doing housework this morning. I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to pull out Detrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship.
I froze again. That book was not on my beautifully crafted reading list. (I often freeze up when God tweaks my plans. You'd think I'd be used to it after almost 8 years, but nope.)
I opened Discipleship and found the words I'd been looking for. Sometimes the words we need are not our own. In this instance, I needed the words of this Nazi-resisting, pacifist German pastor.
I've italicized the words that describe the basic elements of the Christian faith:
"Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without community; it is the Lord's Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace is without discipleship; grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Christ.
I am not discounting the importance of forgiveness, baptism, communion, or absolution. But those are not the elements of Christianity, contrary to popular belief. Those are the results of being rooted in the elements.
I plan on digging deeper into these Christian elements as God directs, and I'll share my findings here :)
I was mulling over it while I was doing housework this morning. I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to pull out Detrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship.
I froze again. That book was not on my beautifully crafted reading list. (I often freeze up when God tweaks my plans. You'd think I'd be used to it after almost 8 years, but nope.)
I opened Discipleship and found the words I'd been looking for. Sometimes the words we need are not our own. In this instance, I needed the words of this Nazi-resisting, pacifist German pastor.
I've italicized the words that describe the basic elements of the Christian faith:
"Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without community; it is the Lord's Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace is without discipleship; grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Christ.
I am not discounting the importance of forgiveness, baptism, communion, or absolution. But those are not the elements of Christianity, contrary to popular belief. Those are the results of being rooted in the elements.
I plan on digging deeper into these Christian elements as God directs, and I'll share my findings here :)
Thursday, August 2, 2012
When You Can Barely Even Crawl
On days I don't have to be somewhere right away, I try to start off with prayer time. Sometimes it flows right away.
Other times, like today, I feel like I don't even know where to begin.
I'm still struggling in that place between the spiritual freedom of plain dress, and the temptation to own more clothing than I could possibly need. I still cannot explain in a single sentence why I'm compelled to wear plain dress. I still ask why so many bad things happen to god people. I still ask God why He gives free will to the people who clearly don't know how to use it correctly.
I consider ripping off my prayer cap, since the last thing I want to do is pray. I start to remember the last supper scene in "All Things New," the annual Easter production at the church I work at. It's a striking production because it's not fluffy. As Jesus washes the disciples' feet, His despair causes His body to sink progressively lower until He is slithering from one person to the next, barely crawling, pushing the bowl of water.
The Savior of the world was in a pit of depression so severe He could barely function.
Even though I was watching actors, something told me this might have been exactly how it happened.
I mull over this for a bit, and then I feel led to pick up Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest. I flip to today, August 2nd.
It has the very fitting title of "The Teaching of Adversity."
Almost instantly, I feel a little better. Not because I have answers, but because a few more glimmers of light are being shed on my situation.
The call to plain dress mirrors what our brother Oswald Chambers refers to as "being delivered in adversity." When I dress this way, something happens that couldn't happen until I started dressing this way.
As I close the book, I can feel God slowly lifting my withered soul up off the floor.
Other times, like today, I feel like I don't even know where to begin.
I'm still struggling in that place between the spiritual freedom of plain dress, and the temptation to own more clothing than I could possibly need. I still cannot explain in a single sentence why I'm compelled to wear plain dress. I still ask why so many bad things happen to god people. I still ask God why He gives free will to the people who clearly don't know how to use it correctly.
I consider ripping off my prayer cap, since the last thing I want to do is pray. I start to remember the last supper scene in "All Things New," the annual Easter production at the church I work at. It's a striking production because it's not fluffy. As Jesus washes the disciples' feet, His despair causes His body to sink progressively lower until He is slithering from one person to the next, barely crawling, pushing the bowl of water.
The Savior of the world was in a pit of depression so severe He could barely function.
Even though I was watching actors, something told me this might have been exactly how it happened.
I mull over this for a bit, and then I feel led to pick up Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest. I flip to today, August 2nd.
It has the very fitting title of "The Teaching of Adversity."
Almost instantly, I feel a little better. Not because I have answers, but because a few more glimmers of light are being shed on my situation.
The call to plain dress mirrors what our brother Oswald Chambers refers to as "being delivered in adversity." When I dress this way, something happens that couldn't happen until I started dressing this way.
As I close the book, I can feel God slowly lifting my withered soul up off the floor.
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