#44 Find a hobby and become a lifelong learner {52 bites}

It’s always fascinating for me how each vacation becomes themed by whatever ideas were prevalent on the pages of the books I carried along. Past trips have been marked by The Same Kind of Different As Me, Half the Sky, and The Glass Castle.  I love that each book-themed trip becomes a sort of educational, retreat-like experience. It’s like God has a special life-curriculum in store for me each time, and the particular books are my assigned texts. 

This past trip was another example of this. My four reads on our roadtrip were Love Has a Face: Mascara, a Machete, and one woman’s Miraculous Journey with Jesus in Sudan;  The Missional Mom:Living with Purpose at Home and in the World;  One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children to Change the World;  and Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. Wow. Talk about a themed trip! Michele Perry’s tales of the miraculous in Africa have me ready to pray for every person I meet. Helen Lee’s missional mom perspective has me singing, “Finally! Someone who speaks of motherhood in terms of mission, purpose, glory, and kingdom rather than just pitting “SAHMs” against “working moms.”  It’s such a beautiful read, I want all my friends (and all of you!) to read it. Julie Ferwerda’s passionate words on parenting had me dabbing my eyes and underlining like crazy as I dripped sweat in the 111-degree sunshine by the pool at our Las Vegas hotel. And then, on our 12-hour drive home, Francis Chan’s voice, smooth and clear, read his own impassioned plea with American Christians to embrace God’s Crazy Love and actually live the way Scripture tells us to. To give, share, lay down our lives. To let go, believe God, live by faith. All four books surrounded me and pressed down around me, molding and shaping my life. I’m so grateful that our 8 days were not only fun and relaxing, but spiritual life-changing as well. 

So, what’s my point? It’s this: We must become lifelong learners. Oh friends, if we do not frequently open our minds and hearts to hear, listen, heed, and be shaped and influenced by others around us, we become so narrow-minded, so stilted, so bound and set in our ways. It is so easy to just float through life. To go on vacation and do nothing and turn off our minds. And although rest is certainly spiritual, we never go on vacation spiritually. Whether we’re reading the newspaper or Francis Chan or a riveting piece of fiction, we must engage in such a way that we’re always learning, listening, growing.  Asking, “God, what are you speaking to me through this?”

One common theme throughout all 4 books: We are so prone to be set in our ways, stagnant and stuck. We put God in our box, sink down into our Christian sub-culture, and never question or challenge the way things are done. We are wise to allow others (often through godly books) to poke and prod us and challenge us, to hold up the mirror of God’s word and allow us to take a long look and ask, “Why?”

In my opinion, reading is the best, cheapest, easiest way to challenge and broaden your horizons. Tsh also suggests these ways to keep your mind sharp and keep learning:

• Read. 
• Read quality.  
• Turn off the TV.
• When you do watch TV, watch quality. (We love documentaries!)
• Surround yourself with other learners. (People who want to grow.)
• Be around people who are different from you.
• Keep up with the news. 
• Make a list. (Things you’d love to learn about or learn how to do.)
• Say “I don’t know” to your kids. (Then look up their questions and learn about it together! I’ve learned more about the Oregon Trail in one week than the whole rest of my life, just because of their questions.)
• Just do something. (Pick one topic, read one new article, search one new website, try one new home-made item. Just try something! The best way to learn is to try.)

Learning–including spiritual formation and growing in relationship with Jesus and others–is probably my favorite part of life. And summer is the perfect time to grow as a life-long learner. Try something new. Read a book. Try making things from scratch. Invite someone over you don’t know very well. Spend time with people who are different. Jeff and I were given free tickets this weekend to a huge “Barn Bash” wild west BBQ event in NE Portland. I am certain we will be oddballs, and I have no idea what to expect. But I know for sure we will be with those who are very different from us and I’m so excited to learn, grow, and meet new people.

So, friend: How can you grow today? What can you read? Who can you meet? Where can you go? I pray this weekend is a blessed opportunity to grow, stretch, engage, and flourish in this life-long learning journey. Have a great one, and thanks for reading.