Humility

"By humilty and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life." Prov 22:4


I've found that on this quest to finish strong, there are many obstacles.  None of them are uglier or stinkier than pride.   Pride is not when we think we are intelligent or capable.  It is when we think more highly of ourselves than we should (Ro 12:3). We can not believe we have all the answers or know it all, yet we don't have the results working in our lives. 

The proof really is in the pudding. 

Or as I like to say, you can't argue with fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  After looking around my life, I found some "get started and not finish fruit", some inconsistent fruit and some lack of preparation fruit.  It was quite painful, but pruning always is.  But the thing about pruning is that it helps you grow, and you can't grow without humility. 

Quitting

This morning, at 5:30 when the alarm clock rang out in the dark of early morning, all I could think about was quitting.  But I didn't think "I quit!". I just thought, "Oh, I'll just sleep in today and pick back  up on Monday. No one will even know." Then I thought, "I'll know. So let me just hit snooze and then I'll go...maybe."

Right about that time, I dozed off. And in my dream, walked in a friend of mine who is on the same journey I am to overcoming obstacles. One Mom's Journey to a More Disciplined Life  She agreed to hold me accountable and it worked!! Even in my sleep and probably her sleep too. The thought of her checking in on me this week and me having to tell her, I dropped out of my training class, seemed unbearable. Mostly because it would have involved an excuse, and these days I treat excuses like contraband. 

The thing about quitting is that is doesn't seem like quitting at the time.  It seems like getting rest, taking a break, or waiting for a better time to do something,  There are all kinds of tricks our minds play on us, if we let it.
Be alert and stand guard against excuses and quitting.  Winners aren't always fast or strong, but they are those who do not draw back.

"Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him" 

Heb 10:38

 

Reaching Your Goals

(Quoting from an excellent book by E.W. Kenyon-Sign Posts on the Road to Success)

"Put your whole self into life...drive yourself."

"Don't float. Don't wait for an opportunity. Go make your opportunity."

"Success is yours. Come and get it!"


Setting goals is not the same as actually accomplishing them.  And accomplishing them is going to require intense effort, focus and endurance.

Paul puts it this way in a letter to the Philipians "...I run to win...I can't consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don't look back, I lengthen my stride and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God's heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus." (God's Word trans)

We can't walk around thinking we've arrived or we've achieved our highest level of success. "God has ultimate, massive success for you!" ~Sarah Bowling

And we can not assume that we know it all or have done it all.  David Yonggi Cho said "The Holy Spirit doesn't speak to smart people."  The first step in reaching your goals is realizing that you just aren't there yet and that you have a lot to learn.

The next step is research. Find out what you don't know. Take classes if you need to. Study God's word to find promises and get direction, seek Him in prayer.

Surround yourself with people going in the same direction, doing the same things.  But save room for those who are already where you would like to be.

Fill your eyes and ears with what inspires you to improve and grow.

Cultivate thanksgiving and praise in your life~avoid complaining at all cost!!

Then just get started somewhere  Pull out all the stops. Go for it!

Finally, be your own cheerleader! King David encouraged himself in the Lord when failure seemed imminent.  There will be times when no one else will encourage you, believe in you, or support your decision. But do it anyway!

On Track

In life it is so important to set goals.  Paul said in writing to the Philipian church, "It's not that I have already reached the goal or have already completed the course." (Phil 3:12)  When we set goals, we establish a unit of measurment with which to gauge our success.  So often we compare ourselves to others or some standard set by people who don't even know us.  When we fall short of these standards or realize that they aren't for us, feelings of failure can creep in. God tells us that it is unwise to compare ourselves to any one else. In the God's Word translation Paul puts it like this: "How can we brag about things that no one can evaluate?  Instead we will only brag about what God has given us to do..."(II Cor 10:12-13). The truth of the matter is that everyone has their own race or course to run.  It is unique and individual to who we are and what God has planned for us.

So we are to set down with God and ourselves and clearly mark the goals for our lives.  Write the vision and make it plain (Hab 2:2-3)

No one is ever too young for this.  As a child, my mother sat us down and set goals with us.  Reasonable, attainable goals.  And in reaching them, we developed a sense of accomplishment and confidence to keep on growing and improving.

You should set goals with specific parameters defined.  Short term, long term. lifelong and seasonal goals.  Personal, professional, spiritual, physical, social and financial goals.  Be clear and be reasonable, but mix it with faith. After all, the just shall live by faith (Heb 10:38).

Preparations

The word prepare is used in the King James version of the Bible around 81 times. In other translations, even more than that.  That gives us a good indication that God is into preparation, to say the least.  When I think of preparing in the Bible, a few favorite scriptures come to mind.  2 Tim 4:2-"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season." Implied in that is that conditions may not always be favorable to preach, therefor we must prepare.  Prov 9:2 referring to Wisdom (personified), explains that "She has prepared her meat..." Moreover, Prov 31 describes in detail a virtuous woman who is preparing for every scenario of life, and her preparations even effect how others view her husband. My absolute favorite is John the Baptist.  His assignment on Earth was to prepare the hearts of men for the coming of Jesus in the body.  Our assignment as born-again believers is also to carry on the work of preparing the way for the Lord's return.  

Now on to natural preparations.

Looking over my list of things to do by 35, I listed a few physical goals.  In order to achieve them, I must prepare properly.  

Well, I have started jogging/walking at least 3 times per week.  Things have been going well, I have improved both speed and distance. 

I will be starting a marathon training at a local facility, if they have room.

The most interesting thing I find about training is that I really enjoy it.  When I am out there pounding the pavement and breathing in fresh air, I feel so alive and strong.  Longevity is very important to me, and I feel like this is a good step toward that.

Life Lists

When I began this blog, it was about reaching some goals I had set for the year.  Since then, I have accomplished those things and more.  For some time now I have had a list of things to do by a certain age.  Right now I am working on my 35 list.  S I have added a version of this list to the blog.  I encourage you to create one of your own.



I was talking to a group of friends about this list and things that we would like to do, and one of them said "Why wait? Do it if you're going to do it."  I don't know if they understand exactly what impact that statement had on me.  But it couldn't be more true. If I am going to do it, why wait?
That caused me to look into some other areas of my life and I realized where I unnecessarily postponed many things.Yup, that dirty little word...procrastinating. 

In light of this, I will be making some changes to the blog. 1) It won't be limited to just accomplishing goals for a year. 2) I will be inviting guest bloggers to share their insight as well, and lastly  3) I will be adding video