Radical

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoicm4wnQ4c&feature=player_embedded

I just began reading this book by David Platt, and with only the first chapter under my belt, I have so much to consider. You want challenging?…this book is it. It is so challenging that one quote from the front of the book (where one generally finds rave reviews), Russell D. Moore warns that while some books are commended, saying ”you won’t want to put it down” the enemy is begging for us to put this book down. And you may feel compelled to listen. It’s hard and already uncomfortable but surprisingly resonates so true so in the pursuit of truth you read on. Apart from the power of Christ in me, this call is completely unreasonable. But it begs me to contemplate how simple it would be to be radical in the culture. The way we live is so much in opposition to so much of what Jesus called us to practice. And yet, my life is NOT radical right now and it makes me long for and pray for that change to His glory – not just in me but in all Christians.

The Small Stuff

Have you ever felt like you are having a terrible day when everything just refuses to go the way you planned? We all have those days when Murphy’s Law seems to trump everything.

My sister, Emily called me last week to chat and her first words were, “I’m having the worst day ever.” She was on her way home midday, driving a co-worker’s car so she could get an extra set of keys and then return to work to unlock her own vehicle, having spent 90 minutes in transit. Her day had already been a string of unfortunate mishaps and inconveniences when she quickly stopped in the restroom. All was going fine until she slung her purse over her shoulder and the keys sailed across the small space and plopped into the bowl……..of an already mid-flushing toilet. And all the keys, several metal keychains among them, disappeared into the great unknown…. REALLY – HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN! A visit to the janitor deepened her frustration as he tried to retrieve them with a magnetic snake apparatus all the while sharing his astonishment that she saw the keys and still flushed. She tried to make him understand it didn’t happen that way. But what was the use? The outcome was the same…..

So she called me to pass the time. I was glad. It gave me the chance to talk to her about the book she loaned me, Choosing to See by MaryBeth Chapman, wife of Steven Curtis Chapman and mother of Maria Sue, tragically lost in an accident in their driveway in May of 2008. I was surprised Emily had been able to get through the book as the mother of twin seven year olds. We talked about how real MaryBeth Chapman was and how frank she was about her struggles with things not going according to plan and her walk with God before and through the grief. And at one point my sister stopped. “God had me call you for just this. This truly is nothing like a bad day. He needed to remind me of that.”

Later she called me and laughed. She heard this song and it gave even further meaning to her day. God is so good to speak to us, through all the stuff. Even the little stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqqdA8LHN7I