Teaching to Change Lives

Today I am contemplating how to not give in to the mundane life-the kind of life that most people around me tell me is my eventual fate. The kind of life in which you settle down, get married, get a job so you can pay the bills (even if it's a job you don't like), buy a house, put down roots, have some kids, and get stuck in a rut of every day routine. Now don't get me wrong-getting married isn't bad. Getting a job and being financially responsible isn't bad. Buying a house isn't bad. Putting down roots isn't bad. Having kids isn't bad. It's that last part that get's me. I have met plenty of people during the last few years who were married with kids and had a "normal life" but they they still live adventurously for the Lord. People like the Beasley's who had enough faith to move with their three young children from Texas to New Zealand for a year. I find there is a syndrome....it's called medioctrity. People lose their passion for life. Today as I keep running into people that seem to have succumbed to a fate of living a boring life, I am determined not to. I am praying that no matter where the Lord takes me I will never lose the passion for life and learning and growing and people and everything that an abudnant life in Christ entails.

I picked up a book today that I read in college. Well, I actually dug it out of a box in the garage and dusted it off. It's called Teaching to Change Lives by the amazing Howard Hendricks. It is a classic. The book was printed in 1989 but it will never go out of style. I am sitting here reading through it again and loving the words all over again. A few of my favorite quotes from the first chapter:

"If you stop growing today you stop teaching tomorrow."

"If you want to become a change agent then you also must change."

"The two factors that will influence you the most in the years ahead are the books you read and the people you're around."

The book is funny, inspiring, and full of stories and nuggets of truth. I highly recommend it for any teacher..whether you are a teacher by profession, a Sunday school teacher, or you just teach your kids as you are raising them. Scratch that..I recommend it to everyone because we are all students and teachers in life. Just read the book. You can probably find it on Ebay for $5. Over the years I've been blessed to have been introduced to hundreds of really good books. A friend asked me the other day where I hear of all these good books and it occured to me that not everybody has access to so many good books or knows what books to read. Therefore, I have decided to start compiling a list of books that I would recommend. I will post them on my blog when I come across them, or feel free to ask me if I have any good recommendations. I would also welcome any book recommendations that the rest of you out there may have for me. Please send them my direction!