The Good Life

I have been joking alot this summer about all of my "responsibilities." I have to get the kids to the pool, to their baseball practice's, to the different Vacation Bible Schools we have signed up for...all this in addition to cooking, cleaning (sort of...who wants to clean when it is so beautiful outside?!), and add to that trying to fit in exercise and hanging out with my girlfriends. Seriously, how can just one person be expected to accomplish all this?

I say all this very tongue-in-cheek, fully recognizing that the life I have been given right now is far from hard, and that a few of my readers would gladly switch challenges. I have a friend dealing with cancer, a friend who is exiled to her home with a micro-preemie baby who can't go out and two preschoolers, a friend hanging by a financial thread, friends in tough marriages, more than one friend with a broken heart...

As I joke about trying to keep up with my life, I am reading "What Happens When Women Walk In Faith" by Lysa TerKeurst. In it, she says this:

"The enemies to a great life are not tragedy, heartbreak, and hard times. The enemy to having a great life is to simply lead a good life. A life where you seek comfort and ease above growth. A life where you avoid the risk of taking chances with God."

All things considered, I don't want to live a good life. I want to grow and experience what God has for me. I want to seek Him everyday and not give in to the distraction of ease. The times in my life when I have sought after God the hardest were the times I knew I couldn't handle on my own. I don't want to become a victim of complacency, stagnating in a world of sunny days and baseball practice.

I have met a lot of new people this summer, at the pool,at baseball,at the YMCA, people who may not know the Lord. I think every time we meet someone it has the potential to be a divine appointment. Lord, let me see them as you do. Help me to shine your light and not to be so wrapped up in enjoying my life that I forget to reach out in Your Name. Rock my world so I am not the center of my attention all the time.

How about you? How is your summer going? Is it a whirlwind of self-absorption like mine? What blessings has God allowed you to enjoy that you could use for Him?

"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and

give glory to your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:16