I Was This Close to the Mission Field- Radical Read-Along Chapter 1

I'm linking up today with Marla's Radical Read-Along.  Won't you join us?

Swirling.  I think that's the word that best describes my thoughts and emotions right now.  As God would have it, my reading of Chapter 1 of Radical coincided with my reading of the Compassion Bloggers' trip to our daughter's birth country, Guatemala.  The intersection of the two was enough to make me start taking mental stock of all our stuff and start imagining what they might go for on eBay!  And the adding up how many children we could sponsor with the money.  And then contemplating to which third world country we would be moving our family in the near future.

And then I ran smack dab into my two my sincere concerns about this journey: making impulsive decisions I cannot or will not follow through on and getting ahead of my husband in this process.  I am a passionate person.  When I know something is right or needed, I am ready to jump in with two feet.  Prayerful consideration, research, weighing options are often neglected in my zeal.  This has led to burn out and stress in many areas of my life as I've often taken on more than I should.  While I do believe God has placed in me this passion and zeal, I also recognize that I must learn to bring it under His authority before acting on my every whim.  And then there's my husband, he would probably like some say in the selling off of all our worldly goods and the dramatic relocation of his family, right?

I've come to the conclusion that, for now, I will do four things.  Two were suggested as preconditions for this journey by the author, David Platt: commit to believe whatever Jesus says and commit to obey what I have heard.  To those preconditions, I am adding two of my own: commit to pray for God to reveal how that obedience will look for me and my family and commit to encourage my husband to read along or at the very least to share with my him what I am learning so we walk this journey together.


Oh and we are going to write to the child in Uganda we sponsor through Watoto Childcare Ministries once a month.  When I read about the impact sponsor's letters had on the children, I was so convicted about how little effort we have put into corresponding with our little man.


I'd love to hear from you if you are reading along or if you've already read Radical.  How did Chapter 1 affect you?  What are you hoping for from this journey?  Have you sold everything and moved to Indonesia already???