Normal

Let's talk about some normal things.  It's normal for me to live in a van now.  Maybe it's not normal in your mind, but I've been doing this for over 2 months now.  It's pretty routine.  There really aren't any big surprises as far as van life is concerned at this point.  It's also normal for me to go to the Y just to shower now.  Something I really didn't do when I first started.  It's normal now to not have a lot of  "free time" or "down time" simply because I have to have a purpose wherever I go...even if it is to catch up on e-mail and run some errands.  These are just a couple of the things that are normal now in my life.

I can tell you this much.  It scares me that everything I just said is normal.  It really isn't all that different from everyday life living out of a house.  I can be just as consumed with worry and details of life living in a van as I can living in a house.  I can find ways to not have time to spend large amounts of time with God.  I'm thankful that I'm not satisfied with van life being normal.  It tells me that I'm still yearning for more in my relationship with God and for more out of life.  I am grateful I can see more blessing in my life now than before I lived in a van.  A meal from friends is no longer just free food, but a massive blessing.  Time spent with friends and loved ones is no longer just time together, it's fellowship.  I'm sure some of these things were present in my life before, but van life has allowed blessing to be the lens through which I view everyday life.  Kind of a scatterbrained post, but felt I should say something since it has been at least a week.

Quick thought...hopefully provoking

I was thinking the other day about worship...I'll try to tie this in to living in a van towards the end of the post.  It's interesting to me how people worship.  Right away I want to ask you what you thought as you read that last sentence.  Did I mean how people worship in a church service?  Did I mean how people worship with their daily lives?  Did I mean how people worship with their driving or their sex lives or at work?  Mostly I mean during a church service.  AND what implications does that have on the rest of our lives?

Seriously, this is some food for thought people.  Think about it.  Do you worship your God, the Almighty with passion and praise during a worship service?  Or are you more the type that has a very deep and silent communion with God as you sit there with your hands at your side and a meaningless expression on your face?  I'm not trying to knock that latter group.  In fact, I'm just as critical of the first group I mentioned.  I tend to find myself in both groups from time to time and it's kind of disturbing.  If I worship the LORD with passion and praise during a church service, what does the rest of my week look like?  Is it equally filled with praise and worship of the Creator during the week?  Sadly, most times this is not the case.  When I am solemn and still or at least appear that way during a church service I tend to appear that way the rest of the week too, but that doesn't say much for what is actually going on in my heart and my head.  I can be just as complacent during a "solemn" week as a "praise and worship" week.  The only difference is that it looks more consistent during a "solemn" week.

Part of the reason I decided to live in the van is because I was sick of my life being inconsistent in its worship of the LORD.  I don't want to shout praise or look solemn just to keep up appearances.  I want my life to overflow with what the LORD is actually doing in my life.  I hope what I'm talking about in this post has been clear enough.  This is the tough stuff of faith to me.  I know I can talk a good talk and even fake a pretty good walk when I want to, but can I really walk the path I'm called to?  Can you?