Don Miller proposed a question on his blog a few weeks ago and is doing a new series on the question: What if? I thought it was a cool idea, can strike up conversation and has the potential to shake things up in my life. I feel like I've been taking some steps lately asking myself, "what if?" without realizing that was what I was doing. The grad school decision was a lot like this. What if I just go for it? and now I am. What if I just say what I'm thinking without editing it? and it's led to great and growing conversations. I think I might try this with a trusted group of friends and see what happens, like Miller says, it definitely won't be boring. I especially liked what he said at the end, I had to bold it for you. Read his post and try it out. Ask yourself, "what if?" and then do it. If you feel so inclined, post in a comment what you did and how it turned out.
From Miller's Blog:
So here’s the challenge:
If you’re part of a small group, read
the blog entry to the group, pass out index cards and have people write down five “what if” questions. Now here’s the trick…people are going to write down stuff they can’t control, like what if I
hadn’t lost my job or what if my wife
hadn’t left. Those are great questions to process, but they
aren’t helpful for our experiment. The questions you are looking for are “what if I popped the question” or “what if I found my father” or “what if I held a fundraiser” or “what if I broke up with my bad boyfriend.” Those are the questions we are looking for.
Once everybody has written on their index cards, have each person in the group share one or two aloud. Then issue the challenge.
Challenge the group to follow through on at least one item on the list. And they must follow through by the next time you meet, because they are each going to report on what happened.
What will unfold, good or bad, will not be boredom, I assure you. Things are going to get crazy. People are going to start talking, because their lives are suddenly going to get interesting.
Here’s the moral of the story, if you will. What you’re teaching the group is that God gives life to you to live, and you can either tell meaningful stories or boring stories. We can’t wait around anymore for God to make something happen in our lives, meanwhile we shop at Bed Bath and Beyond.
The truth is, God gives you wisdom and direction and morality and His presence and support, and then asks you to live, to conquer, to risk and experience the whole of life. People grow when they are in motion.
Rosie Thomas sings the words on my heart. I absolutely love her and hope to see her in concert some day soon. Rosie, please come to So Cal. The Rosie Thomas station on Pandora has been a delight. If you're looking for some chill, comforting, and lovely music you should listen to this station.