One of my favorite books is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.  It’s a collection of daily thoughts written from God’s perspective.  Last month, while I was reading one day and preparing ideas for October, I came across this paragraph:

“Each of my children is a unique blend of temperament, giftedness, and life experiences. Something that is a baby step for you may be a giant step for another person, and vice versa. Only I know the difficulty or ease of each segment of your journey. Beware of trying to impress others by acting as if your giant steps are only baby ones. Do not judge others who hesitate, in trembling fear, before an act that would be easy for you. If each of my children would seek to please me above all else, fear of others’ judgements would vanish, as would attempts to impress others. Focus your attention on the path just ahead of you and on the One who never leaves your side.”(September 25)

There is so much truth in those words.  I’ve noticed a pattern gently weaving its way through my posts this month.  It’s that what is an adventure to me, may not be an adventure to you.  And what the words in that paragraph up there challenge me with are that I can’t compare my words, my life, or my fears to anyone else’s. My journey here is uniquely mine.

It is tempting to get caught up in trying to figure out what people think of who we are and what we do.  But if we find the freedom in letting that go, then our giant steps will become baby steps, and before you know it we will be jumping off cliffs into the vast unknown with confidence, because our eyes will be focused on the only One who actually matters.

:: This post is part of a 31 day series.  To see a list of the rest of the posts, click here. ::

Recently I asked my friend Maria to do a guest post for me.  She has been a dear friend to me for the past year, and I was excited that she said yes to my question.  There are a lot of things similar about the two of us, but we are also wildly different in other areas.  She’s never been much of a risk taker, but she is breaking out of her shell.  And I am proud of her for that.  Today, she is writing about what living adventurously means to her.  Hope you enjoy!

My good friend Karrie has spent her month of October talking about adventure.  She should talk about it…she is the most adventurous person I know.  In all her sky-diving, hang gliding, roller coastering glory she is all adventure.  All the things I never thought I could be (or was scared to be).  So you have to imagine my internal “giggle” when she asked me to contribute to her adventure talk.

I don’t think of myself as being adventurous.  I prefer the straight and narrow.  The calculated.  The planned.  The 1 + 1 = 2 kind of life.  But you see, life doesn’t always follow the equation.  Life doesn’t like rules.  Rules have a way of constantly putting “failure” at the end of the = sign NO MATTER how hard you try to make it all add up.  Enough with rules.

That’s my adventure.  Rules have had me in handcuffs since I was a little girl telling me what to do, what not to do, what to eat, how to look, and who to be.  You can imagine my initial dismay when I realized that I actually hated the very standards that  I let control me for so long.  First dismay…then understanding…then a rule hating, rule breaking, rule killing adventure.

I hate wanting to follow rules, but not being able to.

I hate the feeling of failure that rules bring.

I hate imagining that there are “rule makers” out there that sit together formulating standards that will bring in more money to their products and make us all live thinking that there are always…more…ways…we…can…be…better.

I soon remembered that Jesus hated rules too, so I began to feel even better about my “unrulyness.”

In response to rule-makers Jesus said:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matthew 23:25-26

So what does a rule boycotting adventure look like?  Here it goes, here’s to quit trying to clean the outside of the cup:

“In order to keep a healthy diet you should only consume 2000 calories a day.”  Nah.  Somedays less, somedays more, but all days in freedom.  Not freedom to eat more food…freedom from the bondage of food’s hold on my life in the form of a never keep trackable always failable number.

“You have to work out 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes of  moderate exercise to maintain a healthy body.”  My mind kept a checklist for over two decades of that dumb 3 day ideal, so I ditched it.  To the days of 30 minute exercise I say begone!  I said “goodbye” to the rule and “hello” to my body…sometimes it wants to rest.  Sometimes it wants to run.  Sometimes it wants to attempt to do a dead lift and throw out my back.  Either way, my body is in charge now.

“In order to make sure you are dressed modestly your shirt straps should be at least three fingers wide and loose enough to roll a tennis ball freely down your shirt.”  No…I did not make this up.  I am all for modesty.  In fact I believe that you can even minister to people through what you choose to wear (more on that another day.)  But these modesty rules took away true heart change and rammed shame down my throat.  So I ditched those too.

“You should never let your children watch more than 60 minutes of television a day.”  So what did I do on the days I failed at yet another rule…stamped “bad mom” on my forehead of course.  Nevermind that!  I threw this one out the window too.

The old, non-adventurous me would feel the need to explain to you that of course I still believe in taking good care of my body, and of course you should take time to think about modest dress, and “yes” I do agree with not plopping your kids in front of the TV for extended hours, days at a time.  But, that’s the old me.

The new adventure lovin’ me says unabashedly that I hate these rules and if you ever catch me trying to live up to the rule instead of the Rule Maker again…you have my permission to slap me.  Yes Karrie, I said you can slap me.

So…

What is YOUR adventure?

:: This post is part of a 31 day series.  To see a list of the rest of the posts, click here. ::

I have always been an adventurer at heart.  But its looked differently in each season of my life.  Before I was 18, it looked like getting covered in sticky sap from climbing the tallest pine tree in our backyard, riding my dad’s big blue beach cruiser bicycle around the neighborhood with friends and eventually short car trips with the windows down, music turned all the way up.  And once I turned 18, it looked like moving around… a lot.

I stayed at home the summer after my senior year of high school, but in September I boarded a plane headed for Oakland, CA.  I lived there for a year, and it was the most challenging year of my life.  It was my first time living away from home, which was all the way on the other side of the country.  There were no familiar faces, no familiar places.  And I loved it.  Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of hard days, lots of tears, and lots of thoughts of leaving, but what spoke louder in my heart was the laughter, the lessons, and the love that I learned about that year.  That year was an adventure.

Then, one short year later,  I headed to a small suburb of Chicago, IL.  Some friends of mine just missed me so much that they asked me to come live there…. just kidding.  They were expecting their fourth child, and they knew that I was looking for “what’s next”.  So, they offered me a nannying job.  It was quite a culture shock moving from inner city Oakland, to wealthy suburban Chicago.  But I was able to soak everything in that happened in CA, go to school and spend time with some people I love.

Then 6 months later… I drove north up 95 and lived in Milwaukee for a year.  I lived with one of my Oakland roommates and another friend, and nannied for another family.  I learned about true midwestern hospitality here.  Let’s just say that this year consisted of fish fry Fridays to polka music, afternoons by the lake, Alterra’s grilled cheese sandwiches and Kopp’s frozen custard.  If you didn’t notice, 3 of those 4 activities revolved around food.  That is how I would sum up Milwaukee. Nice people, good food.

Then I headed back to Chicago for another year.  And now I am in Charlotte, North Carolina.  I moved down here with those same friends, and a lot has happened in my 3 years here. I met and got married to my husband, graduated from cosmetology school and lived in 4 different houses.

Earlier this week I was having a conversation with my friend Maria over coffee.  I was telling her about what I have been learning through this month-long exploration of what it means to live an adventure. I’ve learned that it means living outside of your comfort zone.  For some people, living that way means taking risks, changing things up, breaking routine.  But for me, all of those things ARE INSIDE of my comfort zone.  If I don’t have change and risks, I start getting uncomfortable.  I have never lived in one place longer than a year.  And even though I’ve been in Charlotte for 3 years, big changes have happened every year.

It’s been a year since the last big change, and I’m starting to get that itch again.  The itch for something new. Something different.  But what happens if I keep going at the same pace I am now?  What happens on the other side?  What do I have to learn from choosing to stick it out?  I don’t know, because I haven’t chosen that path before.  But it could mean deeper relationships with our friends here and now.  It could mean peace.  It could mean I learn that I wasn’t meant to be in one place for very long.

So for now, I am choosing to live outside my comfort zone by just sitting here where I am now.  And learning things that I can only learn once I get past my “one-year” pattern.

:: This post is part of a 31 day series.  To se a list of the rest of the posts, click here. ::

Ah!  I can’t believe its the 24th already!  And I can’t believe I skipped ANOTHER day!  This staying creative as the end of the month nears, is HARD.

Today I want to tell you about a yearly tradition that I have with a couple of my friends.  You’ve read about how much I love the sky.  Well, the ocean does it for me too.  There is nothing better than sitting on the beach with my toes in the warm sand, listening to the heartbeat of the ocean.

We’ve tried to start off each summer with a weekend at the beach, and also end the summer with a weekend at the beach.  Just the girls.  No schedule, no kids, no men.  Just resting and laughing.

And did I mention that we also like to boogie board?  1. You can never be too old to ride a brightly colored piece of styrofoam. 2. Catching a wave and riding it all the way in to the shoreline is one of the best and most accomplishing feelings in the whole world.

These weekends are nothing short of an adventure.  And they usually include hushpuppies and Krispy Kreme donuts.  I know that we won’t be able to keep this twice a year tradition, lives happen, people move, situations change.  But it will always be one of my most favorite traditions!

:: This post is part of a 31 day series.  To see a list of the all the pots, click here. ::

You may or may not remember me talking about my friend Caroline.  We’ve been friends for almost 10 years.  Well, last week she chose adventure.  And she’s writing about it on her blog today.  So click on over and get ready to learn something from Caroline!

31 Days of Rest & Risk :: Day 22 ~ Risk Minus Fuss = Rest

:: This post is part of a 31 day series.  To see a list of all the posts, click here. ::