Desires, Dreams, and Iphones

Recently I have started a program which allows me to earn a free IPhone after completing certain offers from companies and referring friends to do the same thing. It is a great idea for the companies and for anyone who wants a free (minus the $5-10 charges for the services here and there) phone. It started innocently enough, but my quest for a new phone turned into a sickness of online shopping and greed. I realized that because of putting money back for a while that I had saved up enough money to spend quite a bit on stuff so I did. I realize now that this runs much deeper than just a silly shopping binge. My true desire for my life is to live simply. I would love to take a year and live out of my vehicle with no more money than I can make to cover fuel/food costs. To hike, walk, camp, drive, and visit my way across America. I dream about that kind of adventure. No worries, no deadlines, just time to focus on what's really important: time with God in nature, relationships with new people, and sharing what God has blessed me with.

It's hard to think that a cell phone program can really be the first step away from fulfilling that desire, but I feel that I have recently lost focus of my dreams and have started to breed discontent with my current life situation. I want to move up in the world rather than listen to what the Bible which I say I believe says..."this world is not your home." If I really do believe that I hope that I can live it out by remembering every day that there is more to value than stuff here on this world.

riiiing...riiiing....*sigh*

I have to start by explaining a phone call I got yesterday. It was a phone call from a 789 parent. The parent wants to start an in-depth Bible Study with any of the 789 youth who are interested...sounds great! The thing I'm working through is that it has turned from a 'let's start a new Bible study with small groups' to 'you are not reaching all youth in an effective way, so let start a group for the ones who are at a higher level spiritually but not connected in friendships'. This parent's solution for the disconnectedness of a few of the students is to separate them from the majority of the group on Sunday morning (one of our 3 weekly meetings) for an in-depth hermeneutic study. I'm in the process of developing an alternate plan (such as offer a 4PM study for the youth interested in the Bible study which would get them to youth group 1.5 hours early for our Sunday night meeting) which does not remove them from the larger group. I do not think or understand the thought process which says that in order for us to help a small number of people connect to the larger group we should remove them from the group and have them start their own independent study.
Now that I have vented on that and shared our news of the week from the 789 trenches I'll encourage you with this...

“The world can do almost anything as well or better than the church. You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world can not do. It can not offer grace”.
-Gordon MacDonald

Let's offer some grace to everyone we come in contact with today!