Leave It All Behind

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is not safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Helen Keller, a woman who overcame the immeasurable odds of being born both deaf and blind, penned those powerful words

Our entire nation is based on security. We have national security, homeland security, educational security, financial security, LIFE security. Everything must be secure- planned out, protected, all risk eliminated- you don’t want to lose it all. But the truth is, no matter what lengths you go make your life more safe and structured, it will fail. Life is fragile, and in the end, the only thing we can put our hope in is the Lord. As a young Christian beginning to make many life decisions, it is so easy to make security our number one goal when planning for the future.
We use cliché phrases like, “God wants me to have wisdom; surely he would want this for me.” I am not saying that a life that is planned out and secured financially is wrong, but is it what Jesus has asked of you, or is it just what you assume you should do?

It seems as if the gospel portrays following Jesus as a life of risk, a daring adventure like Helen Keller talked about. Jesus called his disciples to a life style that throws off security in anything other than Him, and He calls us as his modern day disciples to this same life of risk. I asked my friend Elizabeth where she finds her security. “I tend to worry about my future.” She replied. “But when I look at the past, I see these incredible things that God has given me.”
There Goes the Security Blanket!

It seems like every time I find myself in a place where I don’t need to worry about money, where I think I have it all figured out, then suddenly my security blanket will be gone. It’s like whenever I put my hope in what I think my next step will be God turns everything upside down! Does this mean it’s wrong to plan ahead?

An Australian friend of mine, Lexie, lives her life trusting God for everything. “It depends on who you are, as to whether to plan a long way ahead” She said, “It’s not wrong to do that, as long as it’s not because of fear.” As much as I want to think I have it all figured out ten years ahead, I have realized life just doesn’t work that way! God loves us too much to allow us to stay in a place where we think we don’t need him. We need to need Him, and He will do whatever it takes for us to realize that.



The Trap of the American Dream

It’s funny, the plans I had for my life, before God intervened. When I was 10, my perfect future plans were to live in an old house in the country, just me and my 9 cats and all sorts of other abused and neglected animals. I wouldn’t marry; I would just sit in my house with my cats and write. I am glad most life decisions are not made when you are in middle school, or I would have turned into one of those nut jobs all the neighborhood kids think is a witch. When I was thirteen I somehow made it onto the PETA website and was decided to be an animal rights activist and vegetarian. That lasted about four days then I gave in when my dad made barbecue spare ribs. Finally, I decided in high school I was going to become a veterinarian. I was losing confidence when it came to my writing, and I had a strange fascination with dissecting things in biology. (So much for PETA!) I had it all figured out. I was going to attend the University of New Hampshire, marry my boyfriend at the time, and then spend my life in a yellow house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, raising my three kids, and neutering puppies. Maybe I would write a book or two. I thought I could find security in a average life I was expected to have; I didn’t allow my self to dream outside that secure box.

How thankful I am that God dreams bigger than we do. I allowed myself to believe that all I really wanted was a “normal” life. I felt like my childhood had been weird in a lot of ways, and I just wanted something steady to hold onto. The American dream- we all fall for the trap that if only our life looks picture perfect, we will be happy. We believe that if only we are comfortable, safe and snug and secure, everything will be ok.

“Oh, I don’t need to be rich; I just want to be comfortable. I just want to secure a future for my children.” We say. How thankful I am that God is out for more then our comfort. How thankful I am I have realized the world is so much bigger then suburbia America and happiness doesn’t come in a shiny new SUV. I was created for so much more then a 9-5 cubicle prison and that the rings of the corporate ladder are too slippery to climb.

I am not saying it is wrong with having nice things, working in an office, and having what seems like an ordinary life. Those things are not bad, but what if God is calling you something different? So many are afraid to step outside their comfort zone and see what God really has for them. So many are terrified of stepping into the unconventional lifestyle they were born to live. Or maybe we are afraid of what we could truly accomplish dare we defy the logical, prison like box society has held us in.

My own dreams were far too small; I never thought I would amount to much. I was willing to settle for an average life, and then God showed up! The moment Jesus was truly real to me for the first time; he turned my plans upside down. I sat in an auditorium worshiping. The presence of God filled the room like I had never felt before. Jesus was so real, He felt so tangible I could nearly reach out and touch Him. All at once, nothing else mattered but Him. God was more real then the feeling of the chair underneath me, or the music in my ears, or the tears running down my face. I also knew in that moment I could never live an “ordinary” life. I got some sort of taste of my own destiny, it was so sweet and I wanted more. In that moment, I surrendered my security, my plans, and my dreams to His will. Every day since, it’s been a decision to do the same. But what do you do when all kinds of opposition comes against you?

Get a "Real Job!"

As a young person called to ministry, you are bound to hear that phrase, whether it be verbally from a family member or peer, or silently from the voice of the culture you are immersed it. Living in a country where the ideal life includes achieving great financial success can constrict God’s call on your life to trust him day to day.

The majority of us have certain expectations tied to us from the moment we are born. We graduate from learning to color in the lines and succeed in little league, to making sure we get that grade so we can go to that school, get that job, and make that pay check. The pressure to become what the world sees as a “successful” person can squash you if you don’t chose to let go of it. Sometimes the greatest pressure comes from our parents.

I am grateful to have parents that think out side the box when it comes to my life. If I inform them I am going to do something outlandish like live on a bus for 3 years traveling across the country, at first they are skeptical, but once I tell them I know it’s God’s will they are happy for me. But for many of my friends in ministry, the hardest thing for them to leave behind was their disappointed parents.

Kari, a petite friendly girl who grew up in Hawaii, told me that when she decided God was calling her to ministry, most of her family and many of her friends were against it. “I told them the cause is with it, and that if God takes me somewhere, He will provide!”

Realize it’s inevitable you are going to have opposition. Don’t think of the person as the enemy or ignore them, but rather do everything you can do to get them to understand the heart of what you are doing. Ultimately, all you can do is pray.

Life as a Day to Day Adventure


The Christian folk band Caedmon’s Call has a song I have adopted as the theme for my life called “Faith my eyes.” The line before the chorus is a simple yet profound statement: “I don’t want to know, ‘cause life is better off a mystery.” I am reminded of this at times when I am going through a struggle where it seems like the rug has just been pulled out from under me. Although it is painful and I feel like I can’t move, deep down beneath the fear this excitement and hope rises up that forces me to eventually just laugh and know everything is going to be ok.
I know a girl named Emily who lives in a Yurt in Alaska. She encourages people that life with Jesus is an adventure. “None of us live ordinary lives because of God! The joy is in the journey… Start each day with a deep breath of air, a smile and a heart full of hope and expectancy.” Isn’t that what we all want, deep down? An adventure to live, and people we love to share it with. Don’t listen to the voices that tell you your life has to fit into this tidy box, with step by step plans- after all, we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Trust the One that knows you completely and loves you recklessly. He will take you on an adventure you would have never been able to dream up. I love how Donald Miller puts it in his book Searching For God Knows What.

“The truth is there are a million steps, and we don’t even know what the steps are, and worse at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing. I have come to believe the sooner we find this truth beautiful, the sooner we fall in love with the God who keeps shaking things up, keeps changing the path, keeps rocking the boat to test our faith in Him, teaching us not to rely on easy answers, bullet points, magic mantras, or genies in lamps, but rather in His guidance, His existence, His mercy, and His love.”

I challenge you to let go of the expectations and formula plan of how your life is supposed to be, leave it all behind, and walk the unknown less traveled path with your Father.