My Feathers Have Been Ruffled

This is a repost that challenged me as I read it again. Enjoy!

The other day I was perusing my infinite list of blogs, reading, enjoying myself, and probably drinking coffee, though I can't be sure (so don't quote me on that). Nothing too earth shattering arose, and I was okay with that. Until I read through K. Syrah's latest post over at Shoes Never Worn: "The Indie Writer/Indie Author."

Darn you, K, for ruffling my feathers.

(She does that sometimes, so if you're into that sort of writing, you should really check out her blog.)

Anyway, K was writing about being an Indie author, and ended her post with a quip that made a lot of sense to me, but made me kind of mad:

Of course, I say that because at this moment, money isn’t an issue, and if one has a full belly, and all the bills are paid, it’s easier to be righteous.

Now when I say that K made me mad, I really just mean she rattled my cage. Because frankly, I'm dealing with this right now, and I was mad that she brought it up and threw it in my face, as if it were no big deal. Don't mind the fact that it's completely illogical for me to be mad at her - after all, she has no clue that this is something I'm wrestling with right now.

Here's the deal: I've really been struggling with trusting God in my finances. This is something I've always taken a little pride in, because I don't want to care about money, so I let God take care of it. Typically, our budget doesn't add up and more goes out than comes in. But at the end of the day, we find ourselves blessed by God for trusting him with our cash.

Lately, though, things have been getting a little tighter. And suddenly, I start wondering. I start doubting.  

Does God care? 

Did I do something wrong? 

Is there a certain ritual I need to perform to fix all of this?

And suddenly, I want to take matters into my own hands.  

You see, that quote I posted from K really shook me because I've found myself beginning to back down from what I so firmly believed when I "had a full belly and all the bills were paid."

I've always believed in God's provision and frankly, He's always one-upped me when it comes to finances, always doing more than I could ever expect. However, lately, it seems like God has all but disappeared from managing our money. And suddenly, I want to stop giving radically. I want to start saving back our money, keeping it for ourselves, instead of supporting our beautiful Compassion children.

But then I'm reminded of my calling:

Give to those who ask.

Don't turn away from those who want to borrow. 

Don't store up treasures on earth.

Don't worry about your life.

Don't worry about tomorrow.

Give, God says. Don't worry, He reminds me.  

Give. Don't worry.

I guess it's no coincidence that when Matthew pens those words, he talks about radical giving first and then says not to worry. It's like he knew what his readers would be experiencing as they read his admonition to give without hesitation.

I want so badly to be able to keep giving and enjoy it. And I'm trying. I haven't given up on God, and I guess I've just come to terms with the fact that God is still taking care of me. I'm just being selfish and I want more. Because, obviously, I deserve better. I'mentitled to his blessings. He owes me.

Wrong. Double wrong. In fact, that's all a bucket of lard.

I need nothing more. I deserve nothing better. His blessings are his to give, not mine. And God owes me nothing. In fact, I'm sure it's the other way around. I owe him. A lot. Everything, in fact. And so I keep giving. I keep trusting. I keep hoping. And along the way, I'm trying not to worry, because, hey, what good has worry done any of us anyway?

... ... ...

Questions: Did that quote from K hit home with you? Can you relate to my struggle here? Or do you struggle with trusting God for other things, beyond money? What are you having a hard time trusting God with today?


If you enjoy what you've read, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing this post with your friends. Thanks a million for reading! 

Treasuring the Sabbath

So a few weeks ago, I mentioned the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.

You know, the very Jen Hatmaker who is ruining my life.

Yeah, that one.

Well, today I want to continue talking about this book, because it's messed me up (the newest catchphrase at our school).

We started the book with the last chapter, which sounds weird to begin with, but don't worry - it only gets weirder. The chapter we started with was about stress. For the last month, we have been pausing seven times a day for prayer, to remember who we are and whose we are.

Okay, so I sucked at waking up at midnight. Super sucked. So maybe it was more like six times a day.

Now I haven't decided if I'm going to keep pausing now that I'm out of the stress month. Something tells me I might need to, though, because the next month we're doing deals with food.

Here's the thing though: I really like food. And my wife. She's not only beautiful, but she's a great cook too - and I didn't even know that when I married her! Heck, I don't even think she knew it!

But to go an entire month only eating seven foods?

Eek. Necesito mucho... prayer.

Anyway... that's not actually what I'm here to talk about. Sorry for wasting the last 3 minutes of your life.

You see, I love the concept behind this book. We have too much crap. We need more space. Less stuff. More peace.

But as I continue on this journey to revolt against excess, I'm starting to see beyond the less and to the more. Less of me. More of Jesus.

This has most evident to me in our intentional practice of honoring the Sabbath.

I had several excuses before the last month as to why I didn't honor the Sabbath.

Excuse 1: That's Old Testament. Get outta here with that.

Mrs. Hatmaker, in her infinite wisdom, trashed that excuse from the get go with this passage of Scripture. She then proceeded to ruin my second excuse.

Excuse 2: Jesus broke Sabbath all the time. WWJD? Break it!

Makes sense, right? I thought this was an airtight argument until I read this. And then I realized something:

Crud, I'm not the Lord of the Sabbath, like that Jesus guy. Heck, I'm not even Lord of... anything!

And then I was out of excuses.

Enter in the Sabbath - an intentional day of rest. From sundown on Saturday night until sundown on Sunday night, we have rested with purpose, celebrating through Communion and worship with people around us who like Jesus like we do. We even lit candles while we ate and busted out our fancy wine glasses that haven't been touched since our wedding.

And let me tell you - I love me some Sabbath now. However, there is one, itty, bitty, tinsy, winsy thing that I forgot to mention. No working on the Sabbath. None. I don't even read books for school that I enjoy. Instead, if I want to read, I choose something to read for pleasure, for rest.

As a college student (and a working American in general) this complicates things a little. Regardless of how sacred the Sabbath is, Monday still means work. And for us, that still means homework. This hits on something, though, that the Old Testament talks about. You see, the Israelites observed the Sabbath, but in order to rest for 24 hours, they had to work overtime to collect food for the Sabbath.

Yup, you heard me right: the Sabbath actually calls us to work harder.

We're not talking about taking a couple extra hours of overtime during your 5 day workweek, either. 

No, when God commands rest on the 7th day, he implicitly commands something else:

Hard work... for each of the other six days of the week. 

Six. Not five. Not five and a half. Six. That means Saturday. And that means not resting on Saturday, but preparing for Sunday, when true rest can occur. It's been painful, to say the least. Kalyn and I both have huge exegetical papers due at the end of the month, so working on them (along with all of our other homework and housework) for six days is brutal.

But when that Sabbath sunset rolls around... Oh, it's beautiful. It's marvelous. And I wonder why I would ever want to ignore it.

So beyond denying myself, I learned something new this past month: a better work ethic than I ever thought possible. We aren't only called to work a 9-5 for 5 days a week. We're called to work our tails of for six days so that we can rest on the seventh.

Now I realize that the week is just beginning and that it may seem daunting, but won't you try it with me? Take the Sabbath to heart and follow what God instructs and implies.

You'll be surprised - your body will fall into a natural rhythm and it won't really seem that different. In fact, you may find yourself more well rested than you ever were before. Of course, it makes sense when you consider that true rest after doing good work was God's idea in the first place.

... ... ...

Questions: Have you ever considered taking part in Sabbath rest? What are your thoughts on working hard for six days while taking off the seventh? How would better resting benefit you this week?

If you enjoy what you've read, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing this post with your friends. Thanks a million for reading! 

Win of the Week

Well, fellow Bucketeers, it's Friday.

And around here lately, that's meant one thing: sharing your win of the week.

I'm all about building community, so sharing our victories for this week is important to me.

Here's mine:

This week, my win involves a speaker that came to our school. It was most definitely one of the most popular events we've ever had, because the speaker, Shane Claiborne, is something of a phenomena.

Truth be told, though, I hadn't heard of the guy until I heard he was speaking. So I wasn't sure what to expect. 

What I found, though, was reassuring. Shane talked to us about being Jesus with skin on. About meeting the world's pain. And so much more. And I plan on sharing what I learned with you next week.

What was most reassuring, though, was the fact that I've been where Shane is at for a while. My faith has become less about me and more about making life easier (and better) for those around me. It was like God was reassuring me: "You're on the right track; keep going."

That encouragement was much needed, especially as I'm beginning to get bogged down with papers and reading assignments. It reminded me of what's important, and that has very little to do with any assignments I'm trying to finish right now. Regardless of how important the papers I'm writing may seem, they're not worth breaking my neck over.

So that, my friends, is my win of week.

What about you? What was your win of the week? 

Make Money, Money

This is a repost that I think you'll benefit greatly from. Enjoy!

If there's one thing we're all sick of hearing about, it's money. "In this economy..." isn't just a catchphrase anymore; it's an excuse more common than "My dog ate my homework," mostly because we can't afford to have a dog anymore.

Maybe the new excuse should be, "The economy ate my homework." 

Maybe not. It was worth a shot.

Either way, we're all looking to make some money, and it seems like none of us ever have enough of it. Either we're in debt from student loans, credit card payments, car payments, or we're stuck working a 9-5 job paying minimum wage at McDonald's. Money is something none of us really like, but all of us want (and need if we're going to live).

The funny thing about money is that there's about a million ways to make it. You can mow lawns, paint houses, do paperwork, serve food, be a personal trainer, or just about anything else you can think of and make money from it. Money isn't as difficult to come by as some people make it out to be. This is why I want to present you with a way to make a little extra cash today.

For real.

If you live in the United States or Canada, have an internet connection, and are looking for a few extra dollars a month, then this is for you. 

Maybe you've heard of it, and maybe you haven't. Either way, it isn't a scam. Through Swagbucks, you earn points (aptly named "Swagbucks") and then you redeem those points for prizes. Most people that use Swagbucks, though, use it to earn free Amazon gift cards. And if you've ever used Amazon, you know that gift cards to their website are about as valuable as someone handing you cold, hard cash.

I know it may still sound like a hoax, but you've got to use whatever trust you have in me right now to hear me out. I've made over $100 in Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks, and I hardly broke a sweat. Actually, I doubt that I sweated at all. It's pretty simple stuff. They have a million ways to earn points, including something as simple as searching the internet using their search engine. A couple of minutes a day could earn you a little extra spending money!

So at this point, I'm sick of sounding like a used car salesman. I just want you to check Swagbucks out and see if it's for you. If not, that's okay. But don't knock it before you try it! And if you want to help me out with my goal for 2011, you can start by clicking on this banner and signing up as one of my referrals!

So there you have it! A quick and easy way to make a little extra cash! It won't make you rich by any means, but making some money while surfing the internet is better than making none! Check it out and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: The links above are my referral links, which means that if you sign up through them, you'll be helping me out. And who wouldn't want to do that?

... ... ...

Questions: Did you try  out Swagbucks? What did you think? What are some ways that you make a little extra cash?


If you enjoy what you've read, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing this post with your friends. Thanks a million for reading! 

Let's Play a Game

So yesterday, I wrote a post about my relationship with my epic wife.

Somewhere in the midst of that most, though, I mentioned The Drawbridge Exercise.

I really shouldn't have skimmed over it like I did, because it's... interesting.

So today, I'm dedicating an entire post to it! Prepare yourself....


The Drawbridge Exercise 

As he left for a visit to his outlying districts, the jealous Baron warned his pretty wife:  “Do not
leave the castle while I am gone, or I will punish you severely when I return!”

But as the hours passed, the young Baroness grew lonely, and despite her husband’s warning,
decided to visit her Lover who lived in the countryside nearby.

The castle was located on an island in a wide, fast flowing river, with a drawbridge linking the
island and the land at the narrowest point in the river.

“Surely my husband will not return before dawn,” she thought, and ordered her servants to lower
the drawbridge and leave it down until she returned.

After spending several pleasant hours with her Lover, the Baroness returned to the drawbridge,
only to find it blocked by a Madman wildly waving a long and extremely sharp knife.

“Do not attempt to cross this bridge, Baroness, or I will kill you,” he raved.  Fearing for her life,
the Baroness returned to her lover and asked him to help.

“Our relationship is only a romantic one,” he said, “I will not help.”  The Baroness then sought
out a Boatman on the river, explained her plight to him, and asked him to take her across the
river in his boat.

“I will do it, but only if you can pay my fee of five Marks.”

“But I have no money with me!” the Baroness protested.

“That is too bad.  No money, no ride,” the Boatman said flatly.

Her fear growing, the Baroness ran crying to the home of a Friend, and after again explaining the
situation, begged for enough money to pay the Boatman his fee.

“If you had not disobeyed your husband, this would not have happened,” the Friend said.  “I will
give you no money.”

With dawn approaching and her last resource exhausted, the Baroness returned to the bridge in
desperation, attempted to cross to the castle, and was slain by the Madman.


Using the following (alphabetical) list of characters, rank the characters (from 1 to 6) in the order of their responsibility for the death of the Baroness.

The Baron ____
The Baroness ____
The Boatman ____
The Friend ____
The Lover ____
The Madman ____

My (very tentative) conclusion:


Baron - 1
Baroness - 2
Boatman - 5
Friend - 3
Lover - 4
Madman - 6

... ... ...

Questions: What were your rankings? Why? What do you think this tells you about what you value?

If you enjoy what you've read, I'd appreciate you subscribing to Life Before the Bucket and sharing this post with your friends. Thanks a million for reading!