Nish hails from Portland, Oregon and loves outdoor adventure. She's in for it with an adventure seeking husband and a little man named Rowan, if she didn't love adventure before (she did) she certainly should now. She also is a lovely writer seeking the heart of God.
Here is The Outdoor Wife's take on living counter-culturally:
Comfort and clothes and cars and stuff. These are the things that we are told to seek after.
These carefully decorated homes full of things you'll never use. The
biggest and thinnest television you can find. The sweet hum of central
air conditioning. Anything to make your life more comfortable and
enjoyable.
We place our kids in front of the screens while cartoons sing numbers
and spelling. They sit, glued to two-dimensional images, captivated by
catchy music as their imagination starts to seep out of their skins and
into the fibers of the carpet.
What have we become? Where are these voices, these forces,
coming from that shape our identities and ideas while simultaneously
curbing our creativity and imagination?
Adventure has been
redefined as spending money. It's no longer about living wildly, with
abandon and relentless courage and life. We have learned to step
cautiously, never boldly.
We have been deceived, friends.
But, I am no example.
There are times when I allow the screen to entertain my child. There are
moments when daydreaming on the couch sounds better than exploring a
new trail. So often I battle between the feelings of comfort and
courage.
So, what does it mean to live a wild life? What does it mean to buck the culture and redefine adventure?
You
may argue and say "Well, it's easy for you to live a life of
adventure… look and where you live!" But, for this tiny family here in
Oregon, it is much more about our hearts than our surroundings. Yes, we
are single-digit miles away from trails and rivers and creeks and
forests. All of these things make for adventurous stories and
green-tinted pictures. But, the desire to live a life bigger than our
house begins with our hearts.
It's about praying the big, scary prayers… asking the Spirit to guide you in the ways of courage instead of comfort.
Maybe
it's not about jumping off a rock into a river. Maybe for you, it's
trying to repair a bridge that was torched in flames years ago. Stepping
out in courage and faith to repair a relationship.
But, maybe it IS about jumping. Maybe it's time to stop soaking in
the glow of your computer screen and instead, walk outside your front
door and allow your skin to absorb the glow of these last few weeks of
summer's warmth.
Maybe it's selling all of the stuff that you don't need, the things
you have allowed to define you and validate your worth. Maybe living
wildly means living a little more simply.
Maybe it means
unplugging the video games. Maybe it means building a fort in your
living room. Maybe it means cannon-balling into the pool instead of
tip-toeing.
No matter what it looks like for you, you have to desire this kind of
life. Comfort is intoxicating. So what do you do? How do you change
your desires to live a life that's bigger, bolder, and more wild than
the one you've grown accustomed to?
You pray. You ask. You watch. You learn.
You pray for courage and adventure.
You ask others to show you where you can change.
You watch others who are living boldly, wildly and with every fiber of adventure they can muster.
You learn as the Spirit guides your heart and you encounter new experiences.
It starts with your heart. So what are you going to do?