Fitting in...

Its so easy to desire to be part of the "in crowd" of this world.  Its comfortable to not be an outsider and its certainly great for your self esteem.  But is it good for spiritual growth to always feel comfortable and at ease-is the good life/being popular/fitting into the norm the way to go to get where you ultimately want to be?  I don't know.  I have found that when I am most comfortable, I have not wanted to change much in my life...I felt very content as is and changed very little spiritually.   And then when I have done the most outlandish, out of the norm things, leading us to a not so comfortable/easy going period in my life, I have exponentially grown spiritually in such amazing/rich ways, that I don't even recongize the person I am today. 

I have come to the conclusion that for me, I want to stick out like a sore thumb.  I want our family to march to the beat of a different drummer.  Of course, I also want to work my hardest to always act with Christ like behavior (and really want my children and husband to exhibit the same qualities).  But I want to fight that desire to fit in; that desire that we are innately born with.  I have spent the last few years, following my heart, but also wanting to fit into the crowd and wondering why we so sorely stuck out.  I have come to the realization that you can't have both.  But you know what, in the end... I don't want to be comfortable.  In my experiences, with comfort, our spiritual growth slows to almost a halt.  I don't think God wants us to live a simply comfortably, self pleasing life.  We are meant to continually step out of our comfort zone-both learning from the experience ourselves and hopefully teaching others a little here or there as we head along a new, less traveled road that continually enlighten our spirituality.  So as we continue to travel this path called life, don't be surprised if our family chooses the most out of the norm/least popular route; the path covered over with brambles, the long and winding unknown route that leads to who knows where.  Yep thats where we will be....and feel free to join us!! :)