Extreme...

"God has a plan to end all my schemes, I had a dream He said to be ... extreme"

The past couple weeks have been days of routine, a routine of waiting. From the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning, it's full speed ahead, pushing and pulling the various activities of my life through the motions and then some. It hasn't been a bad couple of weeks... just full. But in the midst of my commotion, God gives me moments. Moments I would miss if I would not be waiting on Him. Moments that even in my stressfulness, I am so happy. Moments that remind me why I am here. Moments when I realize I am not the Cameron (Cami) Turner who graduated from Ogden High School two years ago. I'm different, I'm not average.

Average a word that I would use to describe myself. "Why would anyone want to know me I am so AVERAGE." Ordinary, typical, boring. But the thing is I don't want and am no longer average, and I know that. And I know that the people I graduated with know that too, it's probably why most of them don't like to talk to me. I scare them. I am scary because I know what I want and what I need and it's not an average life, in an average town, with an average house. NO! I scare them because of what's inside of me. And the thing that scares me is that what's inside of me is not scary at all, it's Jesus! I scare them because I don't want to go out and get drunk and smoke whatever it is they put in the paper. I don't want to go out and hook up with a random guy. I don't want to do the typical college life things. I want to go out and minister to the drunk and the high. I want to go out and help the prostitute, the widow, the orphan, the alien. I want to be EXTREME. Extreme is a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average. And people are asking "Why do you have to be so extreme?" Why not?

There is nothing average about God and His love for His people. When we lower the standard on ourselves, when we go out and let sin enter in us, when "average" becomes the label on our hearts, rather than righteousness. Then we are labeling the cross as "average." I'm sorry but Christ's blood bled too costly and too red to let us label ourselves in such a degrading way. What Jesus did on the cross canceled out average. He exceeded the worst of human sin, allowing our hearts to be beyond "average."

There is nothing "average" about what Christ has called us. The labels that we should wear. (Redeemed, Forgiven, Accepted, Treasured, Friend, Holy, or my favorite Beloved). When we are by ourselves without Jesus we will never do anything good, nothing to overcome the mediocre lives. But when Jesus is our life and with His salvation we put to death all our old ways. We put on the armor of Christ and by His strength, we become Extreme for Him.

I wrestle with the labels that not only I put on myself, but the labels that other people put on me, that my old high school friends have now placed upon me. It's hard to believe how far from my "hometown" I have become. I feel so distant when I come back. Because I know this truly is not my home, my home is better, is higher. And yet there are times where I wish my old classmates would strike up a conversation with me. But they won't because they know that I don't want to talk about anything average. I want to talk about Jesus. I want to talk about Faith. I want to talk about Life. And that my friends is too scary.

But I am not afraid. I am not scared. Because God has given me a better life, an extreme life, and I'm jumping head-first off this cliff and into my Father's arms, because I know He will catch me.


We were not made to be "average." So what are you? Average or Extreme? You only get one choice, there is no in between, no neutral. It's one or the other. One will lead your life down hill, a place where there is no beauty, no life. The other, the One will lead your life up hill, a place where there is beauty beyond measure, where life is abundant and filled with joy. Which life is yours? More importantly which life will you choose?


It's never to late to change your ways, God Forgives.



Just think about it.


His and yours


Cami



Just the other day I saw a kid
Who flipped his hat to the back and he called it a lid
You know what else he did?
He stacked books from the floor to ceiling
Said somethin' bout trying to get to heaven
And he was only eleven
So he climbed to the top with outstretched arms
And he screamed at the top of his lungs

Move out my way
Give up the mic
"X" to me is extremely Christ
Livin up in me
Like it or not
Put an "X" on my chest
'Cause X marks the spot
- Toby Mac "Extreme Days"