Right Here, Right Now...

Today, I am linking up with fellow bloggers over at Ann Voskamp's A Holy Experience and writing a "Walk with Him Wednesday" post about The Practice of Radical. This morning, Ann wrote:

Is it even possible to be a radical Christ-follower — and own a mini-van, have more than one bathroom, order clothes from Land’s End, and lay your head down on a pillow when He had none? Really?

Is it? I ask that very same question every day, wrestle with my answers, and try to live this out one day at a time... walking with Him and working with Him, learning His unforced rhythms of grace.

And, He is faithful...
He patiently shows us how to do this... one step at a time. Starting from our living room to a needy child's life in India, to the remote island of Masbate, to the slums of Cebu City, to being radically changed, to stepping even further out of comfort zone, to eyes opened up to the injustices right here at home, to giving us Esperanza in Guatemala...

Yet, we still don't always obey when we hear Him say, "Go!" or "Follow me." We dilly-dally, we love our comforts, we love the status quo. Our family is definitely a work-in-progress. I am a work-in-progress! To a certain extent, aren't we all? That's why grace is so amazing, isn't it?

Here's our family's journey, thus far... of being obedient to God's call for us to be ordinary radicals. We tread this journey, one day at a time, relying on God's grace to complement our weakness...



So... is it even possible to be a radical Christ-follower? Yes, with God's grace... absolutely! I love this Shane Claiborne quote, from his book The Irresistible Revolution:

We are not just called to be candles. Candles make for nice Christmas services and for a nice peace vigil. They can remind us that God's light dwells within us and that we are to shine that light in this dark world. But we are not just called to be candles. We are called to be fire. Candles can be snuffed out by the slightest wind or by the smallest child on their birthday. But it's harder to put out a fire. We are to be fire, to weave our lives together so that the Spirit's inferno of love spreads across the earth.

~ The Irresistible Revolution, page 352.

Friends, do you want to *be fire* with me?

... to weave our lives together so that the Spirit's inferno of love spreads across the earth? Perhaps you'd like to start this journey by being in community with a child in need? That's where God had us start in this *practice of radical* --- helping us reach across to the other side of the world!

Might He be taking you on the same journey too? Right here, right now?

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!