Radical

Isn't it amazing, the timing of things...  In the middle of all the hoopla with Mike's job (prior to the actual end of that chapter), we attended our second Secret Church event.  It rocked our worlds, to say the least. So, in the midst of all of the stress about work, God was at work in our lives - especially regarding our stuff.

Who would have thought that attending a Secret Church service in April of 2010 would be the beginning of understanding for our family.  That Friday evening, God really opened our eyes to what His Word REALLY says about our posessions.  That night, we purchased a copy of Pastor David Platt's new book, Radical.  Mike and I both began reading it immediately.  It was like our eyes had been opened to the truth of God's Word and what it says about stuff.  Reading Radical also drove us into God's Word fast and furious.  We didn't just accept scriptural references.  We looked them up for ourselves.  Studied them, and prayed about them. 

We were challenged to dive deeper into our Bibles and our relationship with Christ.  Through that, we realized that we were harboring so much idolatry in our own lives.  We had sought after the American Dream, and somehow explained away Jesus's call to the rich young ruler in Luke 18, or when Jesus explained the cost of following in Matthew 8.  But, faced with what we knew we needed to do... how could we make it happen?  We felt compelled to downsize in so many areas, but the pull of posessions and the American Dream was still strong in our lives... or was it? 

What if...

I must start blogging more often. God is doing too many amazing things in our lives, day in and day out, to still be stuck on what he was doing last year! So, let’s continue in the story of how He brought us here…

You would think that an extra $30 per month wouldn’t make that much difference in the kingdom of God. We just thought it was a small step to help take us to the next level in obedience to God. But, from the day we wrote that first check with the additional money, things seemed to spiral downward.

Mike’s job became more and more demanding. (Mind you, he was already working extended hours.) Travel became more and more frequent, and there were literally weeks at a time where we didn’t see him. He would travel 8 hours one way on the weekend, just to see his family for 1 day, and then return to where he was having to work. In a period of 3 days, he had to drive from Birmingham to Michigan and then back to Louisiana for business. It was crazy!

And, the travel and long hours weren’t all that was going on at his workplace either. Management was in turmoil, and there was pressure from above to make some major changes. We started having THOSE conversations at night. You know the ones… What if they do the same thing to me as they have to the other employees? What will we do? How will we pay our bills? Everything seemed so uncertain.

My ladies bible study group was my solace. I had (and still have) some great prayer partners there who continually lifted us up to the Father. I am so thankful for that precious group of ladies. They were probably one of the hardest things for me to leave when we moved.

And then, it happened. The 14 hour work days and weeks of traveling at a time were no longer enough. Our world was shattered.   At the time, it seemed that way.  But, looking back, God was cracking open the shell that we had placed around our little lives, so that He could get to the heart of the matter and have full reign over our hearts.  And we are so glad that He did.