LifeEclected

I just found Shaun Groves’ blog thanks to The Nester’s recent trip to Tanzania and it got me so moved here I am a month after procrastinating a post, excited to get going again.

Here’s why:

a. It’s stunning from the design to the amazing photography. I enjoy good blog eye candy!

b. His writing style is clear and easy to understand. I spend my days typing out corporate-speak so I can appreciate someone who’s words speak to me so powerfully.

c. He’s a singer with a scruffy beard, which basically defines my musical tastes, so that’s good.

d. This post has me wrecked.

He writes about “Downward Mobility” and how people may be called to something different from corporate ladder climbing or dual income houses or striving for international fame. Some people are called to serve, to be a servant and to become a sacrifice.

Philippians 2:7-8: Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

My pastor recently shared a message about powerful, audacious faith (a la Steven Furtick) and he talked about how we should be CONTENT and NOT COMFORTABLE.

But it’s when you obey God in the small things, when you’ll be able to obey him in the big things. That’s audacious faith and that’s when he’ll be able to work through you. 

He then challenged us to think about where we live in the fear of the visible or in the invisible faith?

Whew!

Once I picked myself up off the floor of that one… I was able to find some closure on a situation I had recently.

I was offered a job.  But this job would have meant a big life style change for my family to the tune of a significant decrease in our income.

I was so excited about it. My time in Guatemala with Pray America building houses and loving on kids in 2010 changed something inside me in terms of my desire to help people in need like I never had before.

The fact that I ever considered it is evidence of a HUGE change and growth for me. I spent a lot of years focused on nothing but my career and getting that next promotion or opportunity.

I don’t share this on the Inter-web lightly. This is some big accountability. I’m also not sharing it to pat myself on the back. In fact I’m sharing it because circumstances were that we just weren’t ready to take a big step like this. We had fear and ultimately a lack of faith about the big step we were going to take would be TOO big.

“Downward Mobility” is what I crave, but I have to do some “house cleaning” to be able to make that work. I had to turn it down.

Saying “no” led to a terrible time period of self pity (“oh poor me, I can’t make less money”), anger (“if only my procrastination didn’t cause me to put off things we should have taken care of sooner”) and sadness.

Talk about first world problems!

But I know what I have to do to be ready for the next opportunity…no matter what it is. I have some things to figure out, simplify and get right no matter what my career and calling (which for right now feels like two separate things!). I need to be thankful for what I have: a good job, an amazing family, my health, my home and the amazing people around me.

A good friend once told me to take advantage of the season I was in before I wished for the next one.

Sounds like good advice for me now.