Endurance

First of all, I want to thank you for your words of encouragement about my last post, whether it was through a comment here, on Facebook, text, or in person.  They each meant so much to me and I was humbled to hear your stories of loss as well.  Thank you.  I am still choosing joy, by the way.

Ray and I take a class at church and this month's topic was endurance.  When they handed out our papers and I started reading the characteristics of one who endures, my head sagged.  I couldn't honestly say that I possessed even one.  As they began teaching, I got more and more discouraged because I usually quit when things get difficult.  I don't stand firm with quiet endurance; I flail about complaining loudly.  So I chose to set my mind on other things instead of listening and allowing the Holy Spirit to encourage me toward change.  Nope, not gonna hear it!


The teacher had assigned homework for us to look up a list of scriptures and choose some that spoke directly to us and write down how they pertained to things going on in our lives.  To say that I did not want to do that would be quite the understatement.  Duh, I already know that I suck at endurance.  After two weeks of ignoring it, the night before I went ahead and did it.  And God went ahead and spoke to me through his word.  So, I'd expected to feel convicted about all my food issues, but I wasn't expecting to get slapped by Hebrews.

  "Do you see what this means, all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we'd better get on with it.  Strip down, start running-and never quit!  No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in.  Study how he did it.  Because he never lost sight of where he was headed-that exhilarating finish in and with God.  He could put up with anything along the way:  cross, shame, whatever.  And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.  When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through.  That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"                                         Hebrews 12:1-3  The Message

No extra spiritual fat?  Other versions say to lay aside every weight that encumbers you.  It just kinds stings a little more when you call it fat.  I've got some pounds of spiritual and literal fat to lose.  So I started thinking about my journey and how endurance comes into play.

Over the past few months, I've had some awesome encounters with God.  He has spoken over me words of encouragement in many ways that have brought healing.  But honestly, I haven't experienced the kind of healing I should have, and I just figured out why.  See, God does his part when he brings me a word about a certain area of my life.  Then, it's my turn to take that seed (word) and plant it deep in my heart and help it to grow.  If I hear the word and let that seed fall on shallow ground, its roots can never grow deep into my spirit.  It's like sorta believing what God says about you for a minute but then not so much.  Does that make sense?  We have to cultivate it.  Hide his word in our hearts and let it sink in.  I've read the parable of the seeds in Luke but it has never come alive for me until this very moment.



So what I'm getting at is, that we need to keep on going after the initial excitement of starting something new.  Keep pressing through when things get difficult.  When we find ourselves wanting to give up and trying to lose faith, let's turn to Jesus as our model.  How did he handle tough situations?

Let's lace up our shoes and start running.  And let's not give up when our hearts beat fast and we can hardly breathe.  Because breakthrough is just on the other side of that hill.

Monica

Check In

Just a quick check in tonight...

It's been a week without sugar and it feels really good.  I'm not gonna lie though, there have been days that I wanted to eat some but I didn't.  I did have some pretty terrible days this past week.  My iPhone fell out of my pocket the other day and my screen completely shattered, so that was neat.  It's hard to learn new ways to cope with stress but I'm working on that.

My running has been a little here and there.  I've been consistently working out but not running like I intended.  Good thing we have lots of days left to our 30 day challenge!

God has been doing amazing things in my life despite my lack of perfection.  Isn't that encouraging?  We don't have to be perfect for him to make something good out of us.  I'm just asking for his help as often as I can remember.

That's it, y'all.  I'm off to sleepytown!

Monica

Yesterday and Today

From what I hear, several of us doing this 30 Day November Challenge had a rough first day.  Day 1 for me was not so hot either.  I went to see a nutritionist early in the day and found out I was kinda fat.  Doi.  I had to bite my cheek so as not to cry when she was reading me all my fat stats.  As embarrassing as it was, I knew I needed to hear the truth on Day 1 but I left a little discouraged.  After talking to my husband who always speaks truth to me, I was a little more encouraged.  That afternoon I spent some mediocre (on my part) time with God and then went running at 8:30 last night.  It wasn't till my shoes were pounding pavement that things got real.  God and I had good talks and I realized I had things flipped around in order.  I shouldn't have procrastinated all day to do the things he has called me to do.  So on Day 2, I have my workout clothes on already and I'm ready to go.  Here's to a better second day!

How was your first day?

Thanks to all who have joined in and shared your goals.  It's not too late to jump on this train!  Go here and read about our challenge and then leave a comment with your goals.

Monica

Day 1 - Celeste

Well, as the great & wonderful Carolyn pointed out, I haven't posted my 3 goals yet so here they are:

1.  Food - I am giving up potatoes & sugar (two of my biggest trigger foods)
2.  I will spend 30 minutes a day exercising (walking, swimming, biking, or zumba)
3.  I will devote 20 minutes of quiet time with God each day. (quiet is a foreign concept in my life)

Day one has been ok.  I have to tell you that this no sugar thing has been difficult with the mountain of Halloween candy in my house today.  No big deal though.  I am going to start a load of laundry, lace up my walking shoes, & hit the road.

How was your Day 1?

Love,
Celeste

In the Quiet

I've noticed it's been pretty quiet around here since Celeste announced our 30 Day November Challenge.  So, I want to explain a little bit about why I want to do this and hopefully encourage you to join us.

Last week I was singing the song None But Jesus and it starts out, "In the quiet, in the stillness I know that you are God.  In the secret of your presence, I know there I am restored.  When you call I won't refuse; each new day again I'll choose.  There is no one else for me.  None but Jesus....."

I have sung that song a hundred times but that time was different.  Jesus put a challenge in my heart to spend time in the quiet.  He called me to live out the words I was singing.  How many times do we sing empty words to him?  I know for me, that happens all too often, but I digress.  I had remembered years ago reading a story that my favorite author, Brennan Manning wrote in one of his books.  The gist of it is that he was talking to a man that was depressed or struggling with his identity and challenged him to spend time alone with God every day.  He was supposed to hear from God about his identity etc.  He came back after a while and told Brennan that it didn't work.  Upon questioning the man, he discovered he had been sitting alone listening to classical music for a period of time each day.  Brennan said of course it didn't work, I didn't ask you to spend time with Mozart, I asked you to spend time alone.

There is hardly ever a minute of my day that I spend in total stillness and silence.  I always have music in the background or I am reading or on the phone/computer.  What about you?  Do you ever spend literal quiet time with yourself or God?  So he laid it on my heart to begin carving out 30 minutes each day in silence.  No worship music, no devotional reading; just me and my savior hanging out.  It will look different every day, I'm sure.  Some days I will just "be" or I will write to him, read my Bible or pray.  The other day I spent my time picking weeds and allowing God to speak to my heart through his creation.  It was pretty great.

We are asking everyone who reads this blog to accept our 30 Day November Challenge.  Pray and ask God what he would have you do with 3 goals; spiritual, food and exercise.  Commit to stick with them for the full 30 days in November and see what changes in your life.  We aren't looking for perfection here 'cause Lord knows I'm probably gonna mess up a day or two.  That's not the point, though.  The point is to get closer to God through discipline; to hear his voice.  After praying about which goals to set for the next month, here is what I have come up with:

Spiritual - spend 30 quiet minutes each day with my focus on Jesus
Food - eat only when I'm hungry
Exercise - run each day

I encourage you to listen to the song on this video and pray about what God would have you do.  If you feel led to do this November Challenge with us, leave a comment letting us know you'll be joining.  And if you're really brave, tell us your goals!

It's not about perfection, it's about the journey.

Monica

Running Wilde

I hate running.  So much!  Ask anyone I've ever run with and they will tell you how much I gripe and complain the whole time.  It hurts my lungs, my legs and my feelings.  I'm just not that good at it and I get really mad when other people are just speeding along happily while I'm near death behind them.  For example, my husband and I have run together very few times.  He is a foot taller than me and can run pretty dang fast.  Also, he is just a positive person.  So sometimes he will run backwards in front of me while "encouraging" me to keep going.  It makes me furious to be quite honest.  Seriously?  How is he happily running backwards and I still can't keep up?  Because he's better than me, I just want to stop and lay down.  haha! 

If you've been reading this blog for a while I'm sure you have already made the connections I'm about to make.  God has been dealing with several issues in my life lately like comparing myself to others, doing things that are difficult, not giving up and tackling strongholds.  All of these issues show their faces while I'm running.  I don't think it's a coincidence that I've felt God leading me to start running again.  I haven't done it, mind you.  Thought about it a good deal, though.  

So yesterday I was praying and asking God if the whole running thing was from him or if I was thinking about it 'cause it's a good way for me to lose weight.  I said, "Ok, if this is something you want to use to change my heart, let someone ask if I want to go run."  About an hour later, my friend Melanie came over for a haircut.  While I was cutting her bangs she said, "Hey, we should start running again."  I kid you not.  I groaned.

Ok God, I know this is a way you want to break stuff off of me and I know you've been trying to discipline me through this for years.  I'm finally ready to do it.  My focus isn't losing weight this time 'cause there are much more enjoyable ways to accomplish that than running.  My focus is you.  Time with you.  Being vulnerable and weak so that through you I can be made strong.  I'll meet you out on the road tomorrow.

I want to know, what is the thing that God keeps pestering you about doing?  What do you keep trying to ignore and put off that you know will be good for you in the long run?

Monica