So you know when something starts as an idea…. and you kind of think about it a lot… and then all of a sudden you are seeing this idea everywhere and slowly but surely it kind of overtakes your thoughts for awhile? Maybe that’s just how my brain works… but thanks for coming along for the ride.
For weeks now I have been praying for missionaries in America like Gary and Lisa who have dedicated themselves to serving my generation and waking us the heck up! Or Colleen and Jeff who graduated from college and decided to put off the world of jobs and home owning and pursue their passions. Colleen is doing campus ministry with athletes at UD and Jeff became wrecked for boys living in inner city Wilmington and has committed to Father them through Urban Promise.
And the January squad has been on my mind… how myself and other past racers have an opportunity and responsibility to carry their cause, cover them in a thick blanket of prayer and support.
I keep wondering how it’s possible that people who have decided to follow God’s call could be struggling with finances. I understand (in a very basic way) that there’s a financial crisis. Right now, I live in the world of grad school where everyone is living on borrowed funds (hellooooo student loans!). Cash is tight. But I still buy coffee…. and fuel up my car to drive wherever I want…. and buy Christmas presents out of tradition…. why? I think consciously I know where my money should be spent…. and occasionally I get it right. But culture is a sneaky and pervasive thing…. it’s engrained in us and it becomes part of our subconscious. So when not actively trying to weed it out of my system…. it’s the default world view from which I will make my decisions.
I think as a whole people want to give to something bigger than themselves. We want to be free from our culture and to be a part of kingdom of God. But it’s a hell of a lot of work and we get tired. So what I want to pray is for the kind of energy that doesn’t come from sleep and for the will to press in and donate our time and resources to things that are lasting. ESPECIALLY at this time when our culture is saying “buy buy buy, this is what you need!”
Maybe this year I’ll buy a few less gifts and give G42 for Christmas, or give one baby being held in swaziland by a world racer, or just give away some of myself….
Here are a few more things that came into my consciousness recently… I hope they will inspire your imagination like they have for me:
An awesome article in Wrecked by Jeff Goins:
A blog by Shane Claibourne:
Buy Nothing Day as Advent Activism Against the Demon Mammon
and finally this awesome video from www.adventconspiracy.org :
