Cruise to God

Last night everyone was talking about the cruise we should take, all the perks and amenities they offer.  Yet, I've never felt the least desire to take one.  And neither has E.  So we're good.  Maybe it's just not the right time to be away from the kids multiple days in a row.  Maybe it's just I have zero interest in a cruise.  I am not a huge adventurer.  I am a home body.  And that's okay!  My God made me this way.  My life quote is: "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition."  I truly am happiest at home.

Just this weekend, sitting in the back yard with E, I marveled at no matter what, he usually makes what he wants for us happen.  He has always wanted a pool, so he went out and got us an above ground one and it has changed our summer!  The kids are in it all day long.  When we are gone, they are asking if they can swim when we get home.  It has been a hit!  But I love that he took a dream he has for our lives and made it happen now.

He's been looking at homes.  I've been looking at them with him, but we haven't found THE one.  We aren't ready to sell the house we have made our home, so we just window shop until all the cards fall into place and we do or we don't move.  Of course, everyone has an opinion: it's too small, now is the time to buy, blah, blah, blah.  Just as everyone has an opinion about the cruise we should take.  All their voices call out that we are missing out on so much.  There's so much to see, so much to do, so much to own, so much to lose.  It is not in the acquiring of memories that we will lose, but it is the process of missing out on the opportunities that exist in our day to day life that we fail to see when we are busy planning for a fun-filled future.

Just last week E said he wants me to find a mission trip we can take the kids on.  It was his idea, but an idea I had planted in his heart a long time ago.  I might have said that's a trip we really want to take out loud during the cruise discussion and it was met with incredulous wonder and laughter.  And then the talk shifted to all the ways we can help right here locally.  And they are right.  But they are also wrong.  I don't interject my view on how they choose to spend their money or their time.  They can surely respect how we choose to spend ours.

All these outside voices can not drown out the One that truly matters.  The whispering in my soul.  The life we lead may look similar to others on some levels, but it's also different because we really are trying to let Him lead us.  It's okay to be different, even when you wish you weren't.  Don't listen to those voices.  Be who He created you to be and be that person proudly.  

Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God--what is good and what is pleasing to him and is perfect."  Romans 12:2

I'm reading the book of Romans this month.  A coincidence that the above verse was His message to me today?  No.  Only God-incidences!

Although no one meant any harm in the discussion, it just made me think.  It also made me remember that by voicing my opinions or thoughts it could come across as judgmental so to just be cautious no matter what the topic.