If you’re anything like 95% of the women in America, you chronically over pack for
e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g
and no matter how hard you try, you can’t convince yourself that you don’t need 9 pairs of shoes for a weekend trip. As women, we are taught to be prepared. Plan for the worst.
Coming from Texas, I can’t say that its unreasonable to pack 3 outfits for a single day since weather can go from humid, to windy, to flooding over a period of 8 hours. We are conditioned to pack. And pack some more. And then add a second bag. And then shove things into our purses. It sometimes takes longer to plan for the possible situations you may encounter that need to be packed for than it takes to actually pack.
Let’s face it. Packing for an entire year isn’t something that we are ever prepared for. Taking only a backpack for a whole year?
Fagetaboutit
This might be a stretch, but are you living your life like you pack your bags? Planning for the worst. Scrambling to hang onto any and everything that might save you. Dragging around extra weight, convinced that you’re doing the best thing. I think that the answer for most of us is a resounding “YES!”
We live our lives like we are in survival mode. The dictionary defines survive as this:
survive – continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger or hardship
Many of us are existing. We are continuing on, living day to day, stuck in the mundane. We don’t think about it, but when you look back on the last 365 days of your life, what do you have to show for it? Did you go to work, come home, go to work, come home, and repeat…or did you grow? Did you see God moving in your life and jump on board when it got tough and stick through it when it was scary?
God doesn’t once tell us to survive. His word doesn’t show us survival as an example of how we are to live our lives. God made us to thrive.
thrive– grow or develop well or vigorously; prosper; flourish
Are you growing well? Are you allowing God to move vigorously in your life so that you may prosper and flourish?
NEWS FLASH
Its time to check your baggage.
Unpack the things you’re carrying around that you don’t need. Let go of the shame, guilt, regret, selfishness, worry, anxiety, fear, depression, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, loneliness, sorrow, brokenness. All these things are heavy. Check that bag at the counter and let God carry it for you.
God wants you to live a fanny pack lifestyle. Fanny packs can be called many things, but here are the basic traits I think we can all agree on:
- They’re lightweight
- They’re practical
- They’re not usually considered cool
- You can’t over pack
In many ways, this is what life is like when you’re walking with God and letting Him lead the way. His burden is easy. His will for your life is perfect. A lot of people won’t understand and will persecute you. You don’t have room for the things of this world. And perhaps the most important, you will find others with fanny packs, and fanny packers unite. They are proud of their dorkiness and broadcast it for all to see. They are
unashamed
of their fanny pack, and they are far less miserable than the people with baggage.
I’m a thriving FANNY PACKER
