It was only just a Dream...

One thing that has been on my mind a lot lately has been trying to figure out what it means to live radically for Christ.  I have been inspired lately by a few different people who I have seen take HUGE steps of faith to follow what they believe is their purpose.  But I have all these conflicting desires in my heart of hearts...I want to reach out to the world, to deliver physical and spiritual care to the hurting (which I guess is really all of us), to give of myself to the point where I know at the end of the day that I did the most and the best that I could.  But on the other hand I am attracted to the American Dream.  I want a cute little house that I can decorate to my taste.  I want a couple more dogs.  I want a thriving 401k so I never have to worry about my financial future.  I want a successful career.  I want a huge budget for clothes so I can just go buy something when I am sick of what I have in my closet.  I want a car that is newer than  '98 (no offense Honda).  To be honest, my desire for these things usually (like about 99% of the time) overpowers my desire to get out of my comfort zone and give 'till it hurts. 

I am borrowing the book "Radical" by David Platt.  I am only a few pages into it but I can already tell it is going to change the way I think about some things.  The last book that really changed my mindset was "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller.

I don't feel like I'm rich.  But when I look at stats like what can be found on globalrichlist.com it changes my view on my income a little bit. Here's a graph I borrowed from there:


This graph shows the yearly incomes of the approximately 6 (soon to be 7) billion people on earth, making the wealth distribution (or lack thereof) very obvious.  This really shocks me.  I am used to hearing about the poverty in certain areas of Africa and South America (both of which I have witnessed firsthand), but I would think that our incomes would be pretty average when you consider the other more developed countries.  Apparently not.  I feel really privileged to live in a place where I have been given so much.  But it also makes me think of Luke 12:48 - "When someone has been given much, much will be required in return".  I don't really know what the right course of action is for us at this point.  All I know is, I would be pretty embarrassed to stand before God at this point and show the little that I have done so far with what I have been given.

I've always told myself that there is nothing wrong with spending a lot of money on a nice big house or nice clothes as long as I am tithing 10%.  I'm starting to think harder about this.

Here we go!

I've thought about starting a blog for a long time, mostly because I wanted a way to communicate my thoughts a little bit more clearly than I can on using other mediums (like Facebook or Twitter). So here goes!

There are a few things you should know about me.  I'm not a huge fan of organized religion (or at least what it has become), but I can't keep myself from loving Jesus Christ.  I have a great husband who I hardly every get to see because of our conflicting work schedules. We have a golden retriever named Kia who reminds us on a daily basis why we're not ready for children.  I've spent about half of my life in Alaska, with the rest of it spent in or around Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

Some things I am really into/interested in are:
Jesus and Johnny (already mentioned, I know), travel, missions, Donald Miller books, tortilla chips, personal finance, nursing and health care, photography, adventure, education, marriage, goals, home decor, dogs, running, youth ministry, cold coffee drinks, road trips, Chipotle, and Honda.  I love music but my singing voice is horrendous.

Things I 'm not so fond of:
dark chocolate, debt, flying (turbulence), computer problems, APA formatting, unclear expectations, wet socks, muffin tops and the fact that tanning and diet soda are linked to cancer.