I’m home. Home to my little house in my “Mayberry” neighborhood and my community filled with people who cheer and frustrate, and are broken and in the process of being put back together just like me.
The past two months have been rich and stimulating and very, very full. Full of new relationships and places and ideas, and stories and prayers and intense conversations. It’s been wonderful and overwhelming at the same time. And not the norm.
I love variety and travel and learning new things. It’s a blessing. But I need to get back to living my real life.
So…this is the pile of books I’m not reading.
Don’t get me wrong. They look really good and I’m excited about digging into them, but here’s where I’ve felt a pinch in the butt by the Holy Spirit.
I’m getting fat.
It’s crazy wonderful to be exposed to stimulating relationships and new information and great books, but the danger is we become obese – filled up with all of the deliciousness and getting no exercise. Processing and applying nothing. A holy hoarder if you will.
I think…”Oh that’s such a great IDEA!! I should tell someone and they should DO it!”
“I will think more about _______________(insert anything I hear that I’m convicted or excited about) and how real that can be real in my life…someday.”
“I’m gonna Tweet that quote!”
We consume more, tweet more, Instagram more than we live into.
These days I need to do more living into.
I have a friend who used to say, “Start reading Jesus’ words in the New Testament and when you get to a command, stop, and don’t read further until you do it.”
And then there’s Jen Hatmaker who writes, “At some point, the church stopped living the Bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming.”
I’ll get around to reading these books and be glad I did, but not today.
Today I need to write a note of encouragement, take a walk and pray present, do laundry, and forgive that person who dinged me. I need to create stuff and breathe deep and serve others in my real-life community.
For you the challenge may be the opposite. Maybe you need to stop doing and be still. Or maybe you’re starving for more sustenance and need to fill up with inspiration from God’s Word and information about the needs in His world.
What are you living into today?
