Basic Radical, that's me.
Before anything else, can I just say that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK?!?! How did this happen? How are we nearly halfway through November? I am so unprepared! I didn't lose 5-10 pounds in preparation for the holiday season! This is all Dunkin Donuts' fault with their $2 afternoon coffees and blueberry donuts. That's it. I quit them this week. I'm eating salads, roasted vegetables, and healthy proteins. You will not tempt me, Aldi, with your pain au chocolat. Get behind me drive-thrus and pizza places. Well, at least I'll try. I'm not sure how committed I am which means I'm not actually committed at all. But I want to be committed so that's something, right? Actually, I just remembered I have two Thanksgiving potlucks this week so...yeah. This isn't boding well for my non-stretchy jeans.
Anyway, here's the real stuff. Last night we had dinner with some of our dearest and longest friends. They're the ones we visited in Honduras this summer. We eagerly await November each year and their return to the States. I love when they visit. We catch up on everything, spill all the things we've been hiding from everyone else, and laugh. A lot. But. Yes, there's a but, and she will hate to know this, but, her visits make me question what I'm actually doing with my life because it seems to pale in comparison.
She is building schools in a third world country and starting a non-profit. I'm homeschooling my kids. Except she homeschools now too so I don't even have that to balance me out. As someone who has always wanted to do all the things, it can be so frustrating to...well, not do all the things. At church this morning, my pastor quoted Radical by David Platt. Did you ever read that book or hear the premise? It's the book that made everyone want to sell all their stuff or adopt 10 kids or do something...ahem...radical with their lives because God calls us to something bigger and better than the American dream.
But how in the world can I do that? I'm here. In America. There's no chance that I will finally convince my husband to move to Honduras. Believe me. I've tried. For a decade, I tried. I've wanted to adopt since I was like 8 years old and saw the 20/20 show on orphans in Romania. Again, that's not something I can unilaterally decide for my family, and it's simply not where God has led us yet. I do not have a radical thing to offer at this point. We have money, but we also have bills. And kids. Kids are expensive.
I don't have time to do anything radical. Homeschooling takes time. My church wants me or someone in my family involved in churchy stuff at least five times a week. More if there's an extra event. Each kid has one extracurricular thing: Basketball, musical theater, and basketball. I've got to find ways to invest in my marriage, my friends, my neighborhood, and my church. I have all these things I'm supposed to be doing, and on top of that, I have to be radical too?!
At the moment, I cannot see how I could be any more basic. I am sitting at Starbucks sipping on my peppermint mocha in my reusable cup (because environment and discount) while listening to music streaming from my smartphone and through my hot pink ear buds, typing away at a blog post on my laptop. A blog post: the number one narcissistic hobby for stay at home moms. My planner is sitting beside me. I'm wearing boots and my jeans are cuffed just enough to expose my comfy boot socks. I am painfully basic at the moment. And yet...
For the most part, I actually am okay with my non-radical lifestyle despite everything you've just read. Really. I mean, sometimes, I'm not, but 99% of the time I am. I realized a long time ago that at the moment and for the foreseeable future, I am positioned and equipped to help other people be radical. I have lots of friends that are like me. Give us a need, and we mobilize. Does that school in Honduras need school supplies? Here! Let's send 350+ pounds of school supplies for you. Do you need money? Who do we write the check to? We buy the ornaments, jewelry, and bags made my impoverished women in 3rd world countries to try to provide a livable wage. Tell us what to do, and we'll do it. We just have to do it here during nap time, after the kids go to bed, or with our kids in tow.
My gift and ability is in supporting all the radical people. I can encourage, teach, pray, provide, and equip. I am the best listener and have a gift for making people spill all their internal stuff and cry in front of me. I can teach theology (gasp, even as a woman, I know a few things). I can help people out with homeschooling. I can plan and actually makes those plans happen. I have mad skills with organizing and running events. And maybe, one day I'll even get to do these things somewhere cool that suddenly makes what I do look radical instead of basic.
But for now, Basic Mindy is signing off. Starbucks is about to close. Until next time...
Anyway, here's the real stuff. Last night we had dinner with some of our dearest and longest friends. They're the ones we visited in Honduras this summer. We eagerly await November each year and their return to the States. I love when they visit. We catch up on everything, spill all the things we've been hiding from everyone else, and laugh. A lot. But. Yes, there's a but, and she will hate to know this, but, her visits make me question what I'm actually doing with my life because it seems to pale in comparison.
She is building schools in a third world country and starting a non-profit. I'm homeschooling my kids. Except she homeschools now too so I don't even have that to balance me out. As someone who has always wanted to do all the things, it can be so frustrating to...well, not do all the things. At church this morning, my pastor quoted Radical by David Platt. Did you ever read that book or hear the premise? It's the book that made everyone want to sell all their stuff or adopt 10 kids or do something...ahem...radical with their lives because God calls us to something bigger and better than the American dream.
But how in the world can I do that? I'm here. In America. There's no chance that I will finally convince my husband to move to Honduras. Believe me. I've tried. For a decade, I tried. I've wanted to adopt since I was like 8 years old and saw the 20/20 show on orphans in Romania. Again, that's not something I can unilaterally decide for my family, and it's simply not where God has led us yet. I do not have a radical thing to offer at this point. We have money, but we also have bills. And kids. Kids are expensive.
I don't have time to do anything radical. Homeschooling takes time. My church wants me or someone in my family involved in churchy stuff at least five times a week. More if there's an extra event. Each kid has one extracurricular thing: Basketball, musical theater, and basketball. I've got to find ways to invest in my marriage, my friends, my neighborhood, and my church. I have all these things I'm supposed to be doing, and on top of that, I have to be radical too?!
At the moment, I cannot see how I could be any more basic. I am sitting at Starbucks sipping on my peppermint mocha in my reusable cup (because environment and discount) while listening to music streaming from my smartphone and through my hot pink ear buds, typing away at a blog post on my laptop. A blog post: the number one narcissistic hobby for stay at home moms. My planner is sitting beside me. I'm wearing boots and my jeans are cuffed just enough to expose my comfy boot socks. I am painfully basic at the moment. And yet...
For the most part, I actually am okay with my non-radical lifestyle despite everything you've just read. Really. I mean, sometimes, I'm not, but 99% of the time I am. I realized a long time ago that at the moment and for the foreseeable future, I am positioned and equipped to help other people be radical. I have lots of friends that are like me. Give us a need, and we mobilize. Does that school in Honduras need school supplies? Here! Let's send 350+ pounds of school supplies for you. Do you need money? Who do we write the check to? We buy the ornaments, jewelry, and bags made my impoverished women in 3rd world countries to try to provide a livable wage. Tell us what to do, and we'll do it. We just have to do it here during nap time, after the kids go to bed, or with our kids in tow.
My gift and ability is in supporting all the radical people. I can encourage, teach, pray, provide, and equip. I am the best listener and have a gift for making people spill all their internal stuff and cry in front of me. I can teach theology (gasp, even as a woman, I know a few things). I can help people out with homeschooling. I can plan and actually makes those plans happen. I have mad skills with organizing and running events. And maybe, one day I'll even get to do these things somewhere cool that suddenly makes what I do look radical instead of basic.
But for now, Basic Mindy is signing off. Starbucks is about to close. Until next time...
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