I had a math teacher in high school whose favorite line was K.I.S.S. When I’d ask for help on a Geometry proof or Trig problem, he’d usually bang his fist on his overhead projector and yell out, “K.I.S.S!”

What he meant was “Keep it simple, stupid,” and he meant it in the kindest possible way. Then he’d patiently explain in the simplest terms possible how to uncork the answer or unravel the proof. He passionately believed in the simplicity of math and the stupidity of making problems more complicated than necessary.

Even though my teacher’s simple explanations often still boggled my mind, I also passionately believe in what he believed: Keep It Simple, Stupid. I was talking to my mom on the phone the other night about keeping things simple and she brought up a Bible story that I had forgotten about. It’s the story of Naaman and Elisha in 2 Kings 5:

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.^[a]

² Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents^[b] of silver, six thousand shekels^[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Did you catch the K.I.S.S? Naaman wanted Elisha himself to come out, do a little song and dance, wave his hands…something. He didn’t believe it could be as simple as washing in the dirty little Jordan River.

But it was. The K.I.S.S. comes from Naaman’s servants who say “If you wanted some complicated instructions, you would’ve completed them. Why won’t you believe that a simple answer will cure you?”

This hit home for me. I’m so often Naaman, believing that if I search a little harder, dig a little deeper, or connect to the right people I can unveil a purpose for my life or an answer to a trial. I often sit and worry over something, believing that I can unravel an answer or control my destiny. I want change, and I’ll follow a lot of advice and jump through hoops to try to get there. Sometimes I even want God himself to work outside his means to give me some sign or answer.

But isn’t there a simpler answer?

I’m surprised when I’ve worked myself into a frenzy and end up sprawled out on the couch praying…and the answer comes. I’m shocked at the peace that seems to flow into my days when I’ve begun the morning reading the Psalms. I’m caught off guard, just like Naaman…can it be this simple?

God didn’t make things hard for us. He made them easy. He tells us to Ask, Seek, and Knock (something my 5-year-old often does better than me), and he promises to Give, Find, and Open. Why do we have such little faith in his directions?

Because we’re stupid. And sinful and we like to believe that we have authority and control and know better. It’s an attitude that sin has hard-wired into each of us. We want to do it ourselves.

I want to learn to keep it simple, to do the things that God tells me to do when I’m faced with problems, plans, trials, life in general. I need to read his Word. I need to pray. I need to pay attention in church. These things make a difference. This is how our faith is strengthened. This is how we are prepared to take on what we can’t see, how we obtain wisdom, and how God answers our needs. Often we just need to get out of the way so He can do his work in our lives.

Lord, help me to keep it simple because sometimes I’m so stupid. Amen.

I watched the Oscars on Sunday, did you? I didn’t make it through all four hours or whatever the show clocked in at, but I got my fill of the fashion, the star-studded seats, the music, and, ahem, Bradley Cooper.

I’m not a movie buff, but I do enjoy a good flick. Most of the films (beyond the animated features) I hadn’t even seen. I wasn’t rooting for anyone, nor was I on edge about who would win. But I watched anyway. A billion people watched anyway. Why? What’s so fascinating about watching this awards show?

I think there’s a little part of all of us that’s imagined what it would be like to be a movie star. At one time or another, we’ve all stood in front of a mirror with a hairbrush and rehearsed our acceptance speech. I’ve daydreamed about what it would be like to be a part of the Oscars crowd. After all, they’ve got it all: beauty, loads of money, influence, fame. They have made a mark on this world, and will be remembered by many after they’re long gone. Barbara Streisand will sing to them, just like she did to the In Memorandum section last night.

I think that’s why a lot of us watch the Oscars, read the tabloids, and fascinate about the stars. As far as American ideals go, these people have it all. And that thought made me a little sad. Not because I’m not beautiful, rich, or famous (I’m not), but because I fall for it.

I’m so steeped in American culture and ideals that there’s a whole section of my subconscious and often conscious mind that really believes it all. I’ll be happy when…I have more money, lose ten pounds, buy a house, earn some influence, make a mark. But it’s simply not true, and that’s why we’re all so sad here in the US of A. We’ve been duped, and our vision of what life should be is seriously, terribly, freakishly off. We spend so much of our lives pursuing dreams and ideals that don’t matter at all, that won’t make us happy at all. That’s why rich people get sad, too, why celebrities kill themselves, why famous people struggle through life just like normal peons. They have the American everything, but nothing at all.

Solomon had it right when he declared this life meaningless, a chasing after the wind. And he had it “all.” If you struck it rich, got a celebrity makeover, and became a famous star overnight, you’d see it, too. You’d still have most of the same problems, sadnesses, and griefs as you did before. You might be more comfortable, but you’d still battle your sinful nature, get sick at one point or another, become disappointed, carry your own griefs, experience the world’s hatred, and one day, die.

Our minds like to fantasize that there may be a pot of gold at the end of the mythical rainbow, but there just isn’t. Nothing on this earth can make us as happy as we like to think it could. There’s only one answer to our deep-seated desires for happiness, peace, and fulfillment. There’s only one heaven, and it isn’t here on earth.

As soon as we realize this truth, life becomes easier to bear. There’s a huge relief when we step off the treadmill of greed, jealousy, fame-seeking and beauty-chasing. We’re not made for this. We’re made for so much more.

I think it’s incredibly ironic that these people we worship at the Oscars are actors. It just reinforces the truth that most of this life is a ruse; most of it is all smoke and mirrors and nose jobs. And it’s kind of comforting for those of us who can’t afford the smoke and mirrors and nose jobs. If you can see through all of that, if you can adjust your vision and live by faith, you can see that this life is about one thing: our relationship with Jesus. He’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the fulfillment of our dreams, our destinies, our hopes. He’s the one that will fill up that deep, dark hole of need inside all of us. He’s our ticket to happiness and peace.

All our dreams about being beautiful, loved, adored, and leaving a lasting legacy? That’s our soul crying for heaven, not a seat at the Oscars.

The quality of our vision depends quite a bit on our perspective. That’s why I’d like to make my Friday posts a list of things that affected my perspective for the week, whether that be a quote, things that I’m grateful for, or people that I admire. Hopefully these Friday lists will help me branch out to others, lead you to good things, and connect my blog to sources of inspiration, creativity and useful information.

Without further ado…

1. Bread For Beggars: After completing A Different December, I was invited to join this group of pastors, teachers, and bloggers who contribute to the Bread for Beggars website. I’m excited to join this team. Check out this site for music, sermons, blogs, and a great collection of Christian resources.

2. My Parents: Mark and Dawn, I’m thankful for you. You’ve had a great impact on my perspective by being the people who brought me to be baptized, enrolled me in Christian schools, and, most importantly, were spiritual leaders at home. I loved having you out here for a whole week!

3. Getting outside. I may actually lose friends over this (Midwestern friends), but the weather here in Miami has been gorgeous this week. Spending time outside, breathing the fresh air and getting some sun has been like medication.

What changed your perspective this week? I’d love to hear from you, and maybe feature some of your perspective changers next week Friday.

I’m going to come clean right away. This is not a step-by-step guide to discovering God’s plan for your life, finding your soul mate, tapping into your potential, or unlocking the secrets to your career success. I can’t even tell you what that is for my life, so I’m not going to pretend to do it for yours.

For a long time, most of my life, I read a lot of Christian how-to books. Some of them were great, others were ridiculous. A lot of them said that if you do A plus B and get rid of C in your life, then voila! you could discover God’s plan for your life (who you should marry, what career you should go into, etc). But I did A plus B, tried to get rid of C and I ended up pregnant instead of the writer I thought I was supposed to be.

Say whaaat?

I was very busy reading all these books, very concerned with doing the “right thing” with my life, and, quite frankly, very self-absorbed. I felt guilty that I wasn’t doing something “big” with my life, something that “mattered.” I wasn’t making an impact, didn’t have success, felt like my life was pretty little. Most of the time, I felt like a failure.

I believed that if I can just discover what God made me to be, then I would feel relief, find success, and step into a peaceful, happy, fulfilled life (where I was also 10 pounds thinner, with a clean beautiful home, and a crowd of adoring fans). I’m embarrassed to say that out loud, but I think it’s the truth. And I don’t think that I’m the only one. There’s a reason all those books I read were bestsellers. A lot of America and a lot of well-meaning Christians are trying to figure it out.

But most of the time, we’re trying to figure out something that isn’t ours to know. We want to live by sight, not by faith, because that’s a whole lot easier. But it isn’t what God calls us to do. Otherwise, the Bible would read a whole lot differently.

If we’re concerned about what God wants us to do with our lives, we have all the answers we need. It’s all in the Bible. Sure, they aren’t always the answers our sinful nature wants us to have. They aren’t always the easy answers (no A plus B and bing! your life is golden). But they are all the answers we need.

I’ve finally resigned myself to this truth: God’s will for your life is for you to know Him, love Him, serve Him, and tell others about Him. I just gave you all the answers I have about my life and yours. It’s not a how-to guide, but it’s everything we need to know. Instead of trying to figure out some super-specific plans and goals, we need to be focusing our energy on the things that we already know God wants us to do with our lives: staying close to him, praying, reading his Word, serving others, spreading his Gospel. When we do these things, we can more easily accept our lowly vision and God’s almighty plans.

The idea for 31 Feet originated with the rhinoceros. Weighing in at 3000 pounds, this large-and-in-charge animal runs an impressive 30 miles per hour at full speed. But the rhino has a serious handicap: terrible vision. This massive creature can see no farther than 30 feet away, just 10 short yards. Imagine a stampede of rhinos charging ahead at 30mph. They are literally running blind.

Is it any wonder that a group of rhinos is called a crash?

31 Feet is about living life with a rhino’s vision. We are all running at full speed, by choice or simply because this is life in the 21st century. Unfortunately, we all have very poor vision. Not one of us knows what tomorrow will bring. How do we navigate?

Only with the One who can see what lies at 31 Feet, the future just beyond our human sight.

31 Feet is about learning to trust the God who made us, who knows our past, our current circumstances, and what’s ahead…just beyond our sight and years into our futures. 31 Feet is letting go of our plans and our worries, and learning to place them in God’s hands. 31 Feet is trusting the way we did as children, running full speed ahead and completely confident.

“We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7