Real Talk 15: "I don't want to grow old with you and sit in rockers on the front porch..."

I was talking with a few girls the other day, and one of them said something interesting...

She said,

"I can't wait to graduate, fall in love, get married, get a dog, settle down, and have kids, be a stay-at-home mom...Then, my husband and I will send them to college, he will retire, and then we will sit on our front porch in rocking chairs together every night until we die..."

As she said this, I cringed...I mean, literally I almost threw up thinking about a life like that...

It's all about romance, money, and relaxation. It sounds good.

It's the American Dream.

The thing is...I don't think I want it.

I think the "American Dream" is a tragedy.

If my end goal is to sit on the front porch in a rocking chair, I don't want any of the stuff that comes before it.

Don't get me wrong...I want to graduate, fall madly and recklessly in love, get married, and heaven knows I want a big dog to take on walks... I want to have kids, send them to college, blah blah blah.

BUT I desire more than that.

More than marriage, I want to have a reckless love for my Savior.

I want to make a difference in people's lives.

I want to give more money than I can afford.

I want kids, but I want to teach them to follow Christ, not just to go to college.

I don't want to sit in a rocking chair next to my husband until I die, I want to hold his hand as we walk the crazy journey Abba puts us on...

I don't want to just be a wife who cooks and cleans...I want to be a friend, an encourager, a challenger.

I don't want to "just be a stay at home mom"... I want to be a mom that pours her heart and love into her kids' lives...I want to teach them to love and laugh more than they breathe...I want to be a mom to those who don't really have a mom.

There is so much more to life than the American Dream...There are people to love, places to experience, orphans to love, planes to jump off of, books to write, and HOPE to share with a broken world...

I don't want to live the American Dream...I want to live the Gospel...no matter what the cost.

So, the man in my future better be ready to hear this...

"I don't want to grow old with you and sit in rockers on the front porch...I just don't..."

I want more than that. We are meant for more than that.