Overwhelmed - in a good way....

Radical by David Platt - have you read it?

I just finished it a couple of weeks ago and my mind is overwhelmed, in a good way. Here's a sneak peak if you have not read it.



My book is now full of my own notes, full of highlighted areas where I found statements so profound that I am not sure as to what I should even do with them.  Statements like this, "What would happen if we stopped giving the poor our scraps and started giving them our surplus?"  Or this one..."The American Dream:  To make much of ourselves, The Gospel:  To make much of God."

A few more.....   "Isn't the hidden assumption among many Christians in our culture that if we follow God, things will go well for us materially?  Such thinking is explicit in health and wealth teaching and it is implicit in the lives of Christians whose use of possessions looks virtually the same as that of our non-Christian neighbors."  In my book this area is highlighted with a big "OUCH" written next to it.  And, "There is never going to come a day when I stand before God and he looks at me and says, I wish you would have kept more for yourself."

Okay, so enough of the quotes - I could go on and on b/c so much of it stood out to me, but my mind is racing and evaluating the things we are doing in our lives.... or not doing in our lives for that matter.   I look around my house and see things.  Don't get me wrong we don't have the best things by any means but we have nice things and things I am not sure why we really even need.  My kids are learning the game quickly of things.  "Mom, can we have a DS?"  "Mom, when are you going to get an IPhone?"  The whole mom can we get that is a regular in our house.  And I have to say internally I want the IPhone - oh yes I do.  Internally I don't like denying myself and I don't do it well.  I can't help wondering am I only giving away scraps, does my life look like the non-christian who is seeking materialism.  I think materialism has been a speck in my eye that I didn't even realize.  OUCH!  And the whole statement about standing before God and knowing he will never tell me I wish you would have kept more for myself just puts into perspective that at some point he is going to ask me what did you give.  What did I give?????????

So the speck seems to be removed but now what?  Can I just say satan is moving in closely.  He really is and I honestly didn't even know it.  We have an amazing opportunity ahead of us - we are going to be able to pay off all our adoption debt with our taxes this year (YEA God!) and ohhhhhh how thoughts of materialism are creeping back in.  How badly I want to do this or want to do that. The typical American dreamer says, "hey I got a tax return back, what can we go buy!"  Not only is he tossing wants and desires in front of me but he's twisting around the principles of the word in my own mind.  One minute I am feeling solid about our choices according to scripture and the next he is making me feel guilty about them.  In the midst of all that this thought from the book keeps popping back up, "Our neglect of the poor illustrates much about ourselves."  What is it that I want to illustrate about my life?  Self is not one of them.  It's not one of them that I want my children to learn either.  We are far from rich in American standards but in worldly standards we are among the wealthiest.  Just for fun try finding out for yourself how rich you really are http://www.leastof.org/worldwealthcalculator 

I don't know that I have any major conclusions yet.  I don't seem to have the final answers on where or what God is leading me to but what I do know is he is moving me to consider something bigger than the American dream.  What happens to it anyways when I am gone from this life?  Most people's possessions are sifted through and distributed between family members then sold off to others who want to accumulate more stuff.    I know we have done okay in this area - we've not overly indulged ourselves by any means but He is definitely pushing me further.  We definintely can do better!

I am eager!  I know He has more in store - better things than the things sitting around me as I write this.  If you've been wanting to read a book that will challenge you and you haven't read this one - pick it up and give it a try.... although your head might be spinning afterwards!

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