A Simple Plan

My wife and I represent our family on the Christian Education Committee at our church and have been doing so happily for the last year or so. We also help out with organizing children's worship. Helping out this way helps us to feel connected but also has helped me to gain insight into all that goes on within a church to keep the church going and growing.

Just a few weeks ago, during one of the CE meetings, it was announced that church members were going to be asked to help lead a particular Lenten lesson based on spiritual disciplines. Several people on the committee looked directly at me when the topic of simplicity was introduced, each of them pausing dramatically waiting for me to agree to teach this class.

Me? Simple? I'm a father of three school-aged kids (wonderful ones), a husband, a school teacher, and a co-host (along with my lovely wife) for a local family nature club. For the last four years, we have been inviting families to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. The club has been featured in magazines, newspapers (such as USA Today), the Today Show, and now in several books. The Donahues have travelled to nine different states to share our presentation about the importance of spending time together outside.

One look at our google calendar would certainly prove that our life is far from simple.

However, when the challenge was presented, I have spent a great deal of time the last few days looking for examples of simplicity in our lives and how these moments could be used to help point to the spiritual disciple of simplicity as lived through Jesus' example in the bible.

The purpose of this blog is to organize my thoughts and store away a few videos, songs, quotes and scriptures that I would like to use for the class.

You will find mistakes. I am no biblical expert. In fact, I am perfectly terrified of standing in front of an audience of adults. I tend to sweat, cough and run away when am given the opportunity. Over the 30 days of this blog, I would like to process some thoughts on why this happens and discuss a few recent events that happened in my life that led me to say yes, to volunteer to teach this class in March.