New Direction

Have you ever noticed that whenever you make a commitment to do something - like eat healthier, exercise more, read your Bible everyday, stay in touch with friends better -, the minute the commitment is made there are more obstacles in your way to hinder your progress.  For example, every time I commit to exercising more (or a little) in the evenings, I will have to run one of my kids to practice or attend a parent meeting or work late.  You get the idea.  And I know it is not just me.  These days, it seems I am so busy doing what I have to do, there is no longer time for things I want to do or even NEED to do. That is why I am writing this today.  God is asking me to make a commitment about this blog, and I am writing it down for whoever reads this because I want to be held accountable.

A couple of weeks ago, I felt the Lord impress upon me to take this blog in a slightly different direction. The full extent of His direction for this I am not sure.  What I do know is for the next few months, my posts will no longer be my random musings about how I try to live the life God has for me.  I don't know if my blog will go back to what it is after the new year.  I really don't - and FYI I really hate that I really don't know.  I do not like wandering into the unknown without a road map. Be that as it is, I want to be obedient.  So for the next few months, here is what I will be writing about:

When I graduated high school twenty one years ago, the pastor of my church gave me and the other graduates a book as a graduation gift. The book was In His Steps by Charles Sheldon.  The book was nicely bound with gold trim.  Though I am a book lover, this particular book's austere cover did not interest me. It sat on my shelf for a few years until I read it one summer on college break, and it affected me.  In His Steps is the original What Would Jesus Do? I remember the WWJD movement from about 14-15 years ago. I mainly remember the WWJD bracelets and t-shirts, but I also remember a book that was a modern re-telling of Sheldon's classic original.  I'm not really interested in revisiting the WWJD movement, but I am interested in digging into the original novel.  I have actually taught the book in a college course since then, and I am still just as affected by it as I was back when I was an impressionable college kid picking it up for the first time.

For the next few months, I am going to use this blog to review the chapters of the book: what lessons those chapters have taught me, and what new challenges are being posed within its words. I'm not sure what new challenges will come out of it, but I hope someone is willing to join the ride with me.