Saturday, August 7, 2010

Crazy Love

I've currently got my nose in a little book titled "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. Let me tell you, it certainly packs some big ideas into a small number of pages. I love, love, love to read. Once a book grabs me, I find it nearly impossible to put down and fly through it in no time.

But "Crazy Love" is a bit different. It's a book about the unrelenting love of God and what our lives might look like if we truly lived like we loved Him. Really loved Him. Head-over-heels-can't-stop-thinking-about-you-this-changes-everything kind of loved Him.

This book completely captivates me but I can only read about a chapter at a time. The thoughts presented by Mr. Chan are so convicting and thought-provoking that I have to put the book down and digest my latest reading for a few days.

One of the recent prevailing themes I've been chewing on is really how wealthy we are in the United States. We throw around terms like "broke" when over half of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day. We are so used to the luxury we live in that it skews our perspective.

Even today, as I was making yet another pb&j sandwich for lunch I caught myself mentally grumbling:

"We eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches almost every day!"

The thought had just barely escaped my brain before the great Editor of attitudes did some proofreading and marked some of His corrections. According to Him, this is really how that sentence should have gone:

"We eat. Every day."

Which should have been followed by a prayer of gratitude and praise, for that is not the case for many people.

This is not purposed to induce guilt, but rather to open our eyes to how much we really have. And how much of that do we really need?

Mr. Chan's point in "Crazy Love" is what if we changed the way we lived - sacrificing so that others may have even the basic necessities. Not giving when there's extra, but sacrificing. (He walks the walk, by the way. One of the changes he, his wife and four children made was moving from a spacious home into a trailer park in order to free up more money/resources to give. Um, yeah...)

Squirming yet?

Me, too.

Just some food for thought today, so to speak. And I highly recommend taking the plunge into "Crazy Love". Just find yourself a nice, cozy reading spot to settle in with it for a while. (But make sure there's enough room to squirm. You'll need it.)

3 comments:

  1. sounds like a good read (i love love love to read as well) :)


    you already made me squirm by your post!

    i am so guilty of always saying "we're so broke" and then I always have to back up and say, "okay, well not broke, but..." b/c i know we're actually very blessed.

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  2. I LOVED that book! I read it twice.

    I tried living on $2 a day for two weeks. As it turns out it is really hard. I filled up my car with gas before I started it and it was empty after the first week. However, God provided everything I needed in those two weeks. In the end I did it. It was awesome. Very eye opening.

    I could talk and talk forever about it. I won't on here though. Come to the salon to get your hair done! Then we can talk and talk! :) Hope you are good!

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  3. Will have to check out the book... my girls would love to live at your house, if they got to eat pb&j every day.. :)

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