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Practice

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Smiley face on a perfect paper"Mom, I think the toilet's clogged."

Yes, pleasant good morning to you, too. Not what I had on my list for the day. And it NEVER happens when Dad is home. Now I'm gonna be behind, probably for the rest of the day. Great.

Sound familiar? Not the toilet part, the responses do, I bet. Life throws us a little curve and we react immediately. Grumbling, complaining, maybe even some of that "unsanctified" speech slips – or floods – out.

But it's not "life" throwing anything. It's God.
God backs up toilets? (Well, is He sovereign or isn't He?) But plumbing? Isn't that insanely micro-managing things? (Okay, micro-managing is for control freaks. Control freaks try to run things they can't or shouldn't. God can and does rule over everything, and sovereignty over these little details is evidence of His vast knowledge and power.)

So why does God mess with all these little details, allowing these aggravations into our lives? It's training. The annoyances give us a chance to practice all those sweet-sounding lessons we learn on Sundays. How will we respond when the car doesn't start? Were those hymns and praise songs just lip service? What will we do when the three year old paints her bedsheets with nail polish? What kind of God will she see modeled in our response?

God arranges everything in our lives to make us more Christ-like. Sometimes He uses a "lecture" setting, like sermons or Bible study, and other times, He gives us a "lab" exercise, to put those ideas into action. The more practice, the more those lessons become second-nature.

BTW – That opening line… that was how my day started. It turned out to be no big deal. The rest of the day… we'll have to wait and see. 

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Pour It Out

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Water DropIn 1 Kings 18, there is that tremendous story about Elijah and the prophets of Baal. God answers His lone prophet by fire, dramatically proving Himself strong and mighty on behalf of His people. Tucked in that story is a detail worth noticing.

Right before Elijah prayed, he directed some of those standing by to fill four pots with water and pour it over the altar and the sacrifice. Then he had them do it again. Then a third time. There could be no doubt when the fire came that it was a miraculous, divine reply.

But here's the thing. There was a famine going on. There had been no rain for three YEARS. That water poured out on the altar and sacrifice was a precious treasure, to be held back and guarded.

Pouring out the water had to come before the fire fell.
Pour out your hope for the future, your security, your ability to take care of things on your own. Pour it all out. I know there's a famine. Pour it out anyway. Take what's precious to you. Take what seems wiser to keep. Take what doesn't make sense. Pour it out. Every last drop. Then watch and see if I'm not God alone, the God who hears and answers.

Sometimes the fire doesn't fall in our lives, at our requests, because God is waiting for us to complete that last step. What is God asking us to pour out on the altar?

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Balancing

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balancing on a hikeThere was no post Tuesday. I meant to take off Monday. It was a holiday, and we were traveling. But Tuesday… I intended to post Tuesday.

It just happened. There was no big crisis. No big event. Just a series of mildly pressing things that needed to be done. Nearly everyone of them could have waited. But they crowded in, one after the other, and sucked up all the available time.

Life is that way. There are loads of decent things we can get involved in. We have a never ending buffet of choices, and each choice brings commitments that chip away at our daily allotment of minutes. We can't do them all. The more we try, the crazier it makes us. One of the areas God works with us on is learning to choose. To prioritize. That means saying "no" to some good stuff in order to say "yes" to the best.

Now we can do this in other areas. (Most of us anyway.) We can look at a store display and choose only one candy bar. Or we can read the menu and pick one entree. One is satisfying. Too many bloat and weigh us down, make us sick, and eventually destroy our health.

It's not too different when we choose how to spend our time. I have things I MUST do, things I SHOULD do, things I COULD do and things I LIKE to do. I stick with the MUSTS, then balance as many SHOULDS and LIKES as I have time for. I don't often get to the COULDS. (I figure that's bonus stuff like cleaning out closets.)

Some key things I've learned -

  • Everything is NOT a MUST. It's not.
  • LIKES are good for you. They keep you sane.
  • Beware of SHOULDS and who labels them as such. Don't let anyone SHOULD on you, and guilt is a terrible master.

Writing blog posts is a LIKE. Letting Tuesday go, without feeling guilty, keeps it that way.

How do you balance your time? 

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Halftime 2010

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RunningIt's halftime! 

July 1st. The year is halfway over. In a football or basketball game, halftime is an opportunity to evaluate the gameplan and make adjustments as needed. I entered 2010 with some goals in mind. So far, one of them is in the bag (yay!) and one is out of my hands at the moment (sigh!). That leaves running and losing those accursed ten pounds. Let's talk about running.

Progress is slow, but it's measurable.

I love that! Definable, measurable progress. This morning, I ran a lap around our neighborhood park. Then I walked a half lap. Then I ran another lap! Last year, the best I EVER did was to run 1 lap. And I only did that one time. My goal was to run two miles. This week, I've run two miles a couple of days in a row. Still with walking in between, but there is progress.

Progress is painful.

I hurt every day after I run. Granted that may be because I'm 40-something. I prefer to think it's because I'm pushing a little harder, trying a little more each day.

Progress means re-evaluation.

Can I still make the two miles? I think so. October was my goal. Depending on how things go, I may consider stretching that to 3 miles or 5K.

It no different in my walk with God. I need an honest look at my relationship with Him. Then once I see where I am, I need to listen to His suggestions of where I should be. Then I need the discipline to work steadily at achieving that. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit will take care of the hard stuff, but I have to be available for Him to work on. He won't drag me across the finish line of Christlikeness.

What about you? What were your goals? How are you doing on them?

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