Meet Louis

Meet Louis. He's a black and white furry friend that can't weigh more than a pound. With long fuzzy ears, beady black eyes, and a twitching pink nose, this little bunny is pretty much the cutest thing you ever did see.

I received a text message at 12:30 last Thursday approximately one hour before I was planning to leave campus for summer vacation. "Are you interested in keeping Louis for the summer?" I read. With a picture of little Louis attached to the message, I was sold in a heartbeat.

The first problem was the parents. You see, my parents used to have a rabbit before they had kids, but we'll just say it didn't end up too pretty and bunnies have gotten a bad rap in our household ever since then.

The next problem was me. In a few weeks, I will be leaving the country and thus leaving Louis with my parents...or my sister.

Grabbing my phone, I texted my sister, Kaysi, asking her if she would be up for taking care of a rabbit all summer. I waited until my phone buzzed.

"Does it stay outside or inside? Does it stink? Does it poop a lot?" Kaysi asks. I responded by attaching the picture of Louis to my next text message. That was all it took. "Okay, I want him!"

Seeing that my sister was in on the plan, I added the catch. "Just don't tell mom and dad."

I loaded Louis up in my front seat and took him home, bursting with excitement of spontaneity. I just hoped my parents wouldn't send him to the animal shelter.

I actually beat my parents home, so my sister and I had time to devise a plan. We set him up in my room, hidden among the other boxes and bags. When my mom arrived, I brought her in. "Hey mom, I wanna show you some things I brought home with me. This is a trunk from Rachel with her stuff for the summer. This is my trunk that's full of medicine going with me to Africa, and this..." I paused, turned around, and pointed to the corner. "This is Louis!"

You should have seen her face! A classic reaction. She jumped back and exclaimed, "What is this?!" My sister explained the situation, and my mom replied, "Well if he stays with us, we are going to have to cook up the bunny!" I think she was kidding.

My dad, when he arrived home from work, took one long look at that little furry rabbit and sighed, "oh no..."

Kaysi, on the other hand, was in love. She posted this picture on facebook and wrote, "Look what is mine for the summer!"

Louis will be in good hands when I leave for the summer. So far he has been quite the entertainment for the whole family, and I think his friendly personality is allowing my mom and dad to warm up a little bit.

I love the spontaneity of this whole Louis thing. I used to be such a planner, but the university experience has changed that part of me for the better. Now I love the spontaneous. Sometimes that means Sonic runs that push curfew. Sometimes that means playing in the sprinklers on the front lawn. Sometimes that means taking random study breaks to have a milkshake party or play Just Dance. Sometimes it means devising a secret plan with your sister on how to take care of a rabbit for the summer when you know your parents would be against it.

I want to have that same kind of spontaneity in my relationship with God. It is more like flexibility and willingness. It is reckless abandonment. Instead of having a detailed plan for my life, I want to have a blank schedule before the Lord. If He asks me to do something random, spontaneous, and seemingly crazy, I want to be the first one to step up and do it without reservation, without thinking twice. Even when His call means going against the grain, I will embrace the challenge.

Thanks, Louis, for reminding me of the joy of spontaneity. Sometimes we forget, and we fall into thinking that we were made to happy and comfortable in our Christianity. But really, we were made to be adventurous and spontaneous with our faith. It is in that reckless abandonment that we really find the complete joy of living in radical obedience to Christ.