Debbie Alsdorf - A Different Kind of Wild: Is Your Faith Too Tame?

If you place this back on the store shelf or take it home and never read it, youll regret it. Wild is Debbie Alsdorfs best work yet (and Im not one for doling out author accolades, just so you know), and its no doubt the result of its message being lived and proved out in her own life. Now thats the kind of book I want to read, as well as the only kind of book Ill recommend.

Julie Barnhill, bestselling author and speaker

From the first sentence to final page, we are called to live the life most of us have only dreamed of. The impact of Debbies book upon my life is immeasurable, and I will be forever grateful.

Sue Boldt, womens ministry director,
CrossRoads Community Church, Fairfield, CA

With rare transparency, Debbie Alsdorf shows us how to have a faith that is bold and vibrant. If you yearn to grow spiritually, you will find A Different Kind of Wild to be an excellent read.

Georgia Shaffer, author, How NOT to Date a Loser

Wow! This book is a must-read for everyone who desires to live life wildly different. Instead of being led by our emotions and ever-changing circumstances, Debbie shows how to live a life of confident faith in Gods truth. Her honest reflections, practical advice, and God-inspired insights show us a radically different way to live. Im encouraging every woman at our church to get a copy.

Rachel Johnston, pastor of womens ministry,
Bayside Church, Granite Bay, CA

Debbie is dynamic in drawing you into an exciting faith adventure that will change your life. Get ready to discover how more of Jesus and less of you will transform your life journey.

Dr. Catherine Hart Weber, therapist, author, speaker,
adjunct professor, Fuller Theological Seminary

In the category of it takes one to know one, I knew I found a kindred (wild) spirit in Debbie Alsdorf. She bravely steps out to show us how to embrace the edges of our lives ride, the rip-curls of our lives with glorious abandon, knowing that this is the territory where faith becomes reality.

Anita Renfroe, comedian, author

A Different
Kind of
Wild

A Different
Kind of
Wild

Is Your Faith too Tame?

Debbie Alsdorf

2009 by Debbie Alsdorf

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy,
recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception
is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Alsdorf, Debbie.
A different kind of wild : is your faith too tame? / Debbie Alsdorf.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-0-8007-3366-7 (pbk.)
1. Christian womenReligious life. I. Title.
BV4527.A457 2009
248.8 43dc22

2009004859

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible
Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked AMP is taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958,
1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture marked GODS WORD is taken from GODS WORD, a copyrighted
work of Gods Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright
1995 by Gods Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture marked Message is taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing
Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James
Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked Phillips is taken from The New Testament
in Modern English, revised editionJ. B. Phillips,
translator. J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission
of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Dedicated to the Groovy Tuesday Girls
wild, wacky, and learning to live up!
You are my landing place, and I thank God for you.

Contents

Part Three Determined: Finding Courage to Follow a
New Path

I would like to thank the following people for making a difference in my life as I wrote this book:

Sherrie Shortfor living wildly different than the cultural norm as you handled cancer and your expiration date with such joy and sparkle. You are missed, and your memory is forever with those who loved you.

Lorri Steerfor living your faith in full color before me. The womens ministry staff and those in womens ministry leadership at Cornerstone Fellowshipyou have embraced this wild ride of development with me. I cant think of a better group of women to grow with than you! Sweet T, Z-Mamma, Beth Ann, Rose, and ShereeI apreciate how each of you helped out when I needed time off to write.

Terry Perazzafor being an assistant extraordinaire! Thanks for picking up the slack, from dry cleaning to post office runs to airline ticketsand way too many other things to count. Your handling the details makes so much of what I do possible. I appreciate you! (I think you might even have angel wings hidden somewhere!)

My childrenfrom birth and blendyour encouragement means so much to me.

My husband, Rayyou are the wildest blessing of all!

Les Stobbe, my literary agent, and the team at Revell for believing in the wild path God is calling me to walk in. Thanks for allowing me the blessing of reaching women and encouraging them to learn to live up! A special thanks to Vicki Crumpton for editing my words and making sense of themnow that really is wild! Thanks Vicki!

Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?

Oswald Chambers

W hat if we laid aside life as we knew ita life where the objective is to secure ourselves, promote ourselves, and indulge our desires? This shift means cooperating with a God who changes us when we finally lay ourselves aside. When we live in his light, we are different than we were before. No longer tame and repressed, we become the passionate, courageous Christ followers that God created us to be. This new life shining in a dark worldthis courage from withinthis boldness of spiritis a different kind of wild.

Part
One
Developing
Growing Up Spiritually

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:1718

The life that Jesus calls us to is absolute craziness to the world.

Chris Tomlin

1
Born to Be Wild

God invites you to join Him.

Henry Blackaby

Y ou can become a wild woman. Thats right, you heard mea wild woman. Before you pass out with this book in your hand, let me explain.

Im not talking about girls gone wild, women acting unruly, or women flipping out on spring break, on summer vacation, or during a midlife crisis. All of those wild women are just acting out. Anyone can act out. This book is a challenge to do something different. This book is about