Saturday, January 21, 2012

A Steamy Date

Tom and I enjoyed a little together time out last night.  Tasha was in bed, and the big girls had friends over for a sleepover.  So, we snuck away to a favorite spot – Mocha Monkey in Waconia.  We laughed on the way in because we realized there wasn’t really much we could actually order.  So we landed on something that actually “had the ring” of a real order – 2 cups of steamed milk. 

So, $7 (crazy for 2 cups of milk, I know) and a few minutes later, we were sitting at a quiet table upstairs.  We chuckled about the fact that it felt sort of awkward for two grownups to order a kid’s sleepy-time drink.  But that – in a very small way -- is the cost of obedience.

With potential business travel on the horizon for both of us, we also talked about how to stay within our 7 foods when we’re away from home.  It’s not easy to navigate how to do it, but, of course, it can be done.  It’s funny how I anticipate the social norms that say go along, order what sounds good, fit in, don’t draw skeptical attention.  Whether I travel in the last days of our food month or not, it occurs to me that I need to challenge myself to be out in the world rather than stay in the comfy confines of my own kitchen.  I have proven to myself that we can not only survive but thrive with a little ingenuity in what and how I cook.  So, I’m feeling called to up the challenge by emerging from the cocoon of my kitchen.  I challenge myself to face the world with a smile that reflects the joy that comes with obedience and not the awkwardness that comes with doing something that’s out of the ordinary.

A few days ago, Tom shared a provocative devotional with me from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest.  In it, he proposes the following:
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins.  If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything – it is a delight.  But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal.  If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset.  They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?”  We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God.  We must let the cost be paid.
I’m still turning that over in my mind.  I find it radical, and I want to disagree with it for all sorts of reasons.  But, I don’t think I can.

Here’s how Chambers concludes that same devotional:
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
Lord, remove my desire to be a dictator of the terms and conditions of my obedience to you.

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