My Sister The Baller

Yes, I do have an older sister, and yes, she does exist. And my sister is a baller. No, she doesn't have an affinity for Pro Basketball, nor is she what some would call "a thug" (growing up in the ghetto's of Howard County. Not.) But a baller? She most certainly is.

Grace is living currently in Florida, with the whole husband, two kids, garage and gated community setup. This was actually the first time that I could actually come out and see her home and where she lives. Upon driving up to the house, I saw an Audi A4, BMW x5, a several Mercedes Benz's in the various driveways leading up to the house. This prompted me to ask my sister for how there could be such an arrangement.

Her response? Oh. Everyone who lives here owns these kinds of cars. They are like Honda Civic's around here. The only expensive cars THEY see are Mazzarati's and Ferrari's. Um. Excuse me?

Baller Status #1: Viewing incredibly expensive cars as normative.

Upon entering the home, I see two chairs sitting at the dining table that look very different than just your standard baby Chairs. It could morph into different chairs based upon how old they are I find out that they are made from a Swedish company named Svan. Price Tag? $300 Dollars.

Baller Status #2 Even your baby needs to roll deep in $300 Chairs.

As we continue on throughout the evening and ready for bed, my sister hands me a remote for what I think to be a TV. It however, turns out to be a remote for the ceiling fan to control the lighting settings for both the higher and lower lights, with adjustable controls.

Baller Status #3 Your ceiling fan needs a remote, because pulling on a ceiling fan chain was SO 2005.

Did I mention the Golf Course in the Backyard? Or the Digital Blackberry looking Baby Monitors? The Williams and Sonoma furniture adorning the pristine home maintained by the nanny that comes in every couple weeks or so? I could go on.

But most importantly, this made me realize all the more the weight of my life and where I was headed. As someone headed in to the pastorate, I realized that I have accepted much of the fact that there is a strong chance against me making a living that the world would call "successful". It is, in many ways, the Anti-"American Dream".....a lifestyle that is typically associated with frugal or even poverty stricken living. And or those on the outside looking in, this all might seem like such an admirable pursuit But for those trying to live it, we ask ourselves the question........really?

Do I really want to raise children knowing the fact that we could be in a situation where they are not taken care of? Really?

Can my selfish heart really abandon the desires of the flesh? Even what some here in America consider the "normal" standard of living? Really?

Can I fufill my role as a husband knowing that I might be in a situation where I cannot provide as much as I need to or should, both emotionally financially and spiritually? Really?

Can I really trust God to provide? Really? I mean.....Really????

And as I sat with my sister, drinking distilled water from their own water distiller (Baller Status #4 Because sometimes even filtered water just doesn't cut it), the answers to those questions came upon me.

Really. Yes. Really. I will. Really, because my dependency on God will be that much greater. Will be that much more necessary. Because my selfish heart needs to be broken and my perspectives changed. Because I am a product of a generation that demands the comforts that were never really needed to be begin with. And certainly there is nothing wrong with being well off....but it's not what God has called me to be. I understand that now maybe more than I did before.

Really. Truly.

This is why I can't be a baller. And I'm alright with that.