Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

I wonder if this Kindergarten Graduation Julie thought she knew it all. I wonder if she realized how many more lessons she would learn over the years or if she thought she already knew all the answers. I can almost promise you I thought I knew it all. That's always been my problem, I think.

God sure has a way of reeling me back in to learn the lessons I skip past the first (or second...or third) time. Without going into the lessons I'm working on right now, I will share with you the bible verses God pointed me to today as I continue to learn my lessons.

Hebrews 12:1-17 (MSG) (highlighted emphasis mine)
DISCIPLINE IN A LONG-DISTANCE RACE

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!


In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through -- all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.
It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.


God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment, it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

So don't sit arund on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God's blessing -- but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.
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At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain.
So true, so true! It is the most unpleasant feeling because it feels like something is happening to you, something unfair, something hard to deal with or understand, something that makes you feel little. But I have to remember it is not happening TO me. It's happening FOR me.

Smells Like Belize

The best part of my acclimation process in getting up earlier and earlier in anticipation of boot camp next week is...seeing sunrises like this one yesterday! The picture does not even come close to capturing the reds and purples in the sky. I need a better camera.

I headed to the gym a bit ago thinking I would do my 20 minute interval w/o on the elliptical and then maybe stretch it out to 30 or 45 minutes and then go for a swim, but then I thought - nope. Just a quick 20 minutes will do. As I was getting out of the car, the morning smell of summer/fall/cool/heat all hit me at once and immediately brought me to Belize. It smelled like Belize - and THAT brought back great memories. Good start to my day.

Kindy, Second Grade and Achilles/Posterior Tibial Tendonitis

 

First day of Kindy and first day of 2nd grade! These kids were EXCITED! Mai looked SO grown-up to me today - got me all choked up!  The first pic is Mai when we dropped off Jack at first day of 2nd grade. She was tackle kissing him. What a goofy girl. My sweet girl in her back to school dress - I was surprised she kept the bling so subdued. Click on the pic of the paper to read some fun and wacky rules for the teachers of old.

I finally gave up on waiting for my ankles to heal on their own and visited an orthopedic sports med doc this morning. First, he was very cute. Second, he's a runner. Third, even after he was done examining my feet, he continued to hold them in his hand and feel them up while he talked to me about the diagnosis and treatment. Kinda nice for a girl whose husband won't touch her feet ;o)

He says I have achilles and posterior tibial tendonitis. Although he did not rule out the January marathon (official 18 week training was to start today), he did not promise me anything either. Because I am having pain even when I'm just sitting around doing nothing, he has cut me off from running - that shouldn't be hard BECAUSE I CAN'T RUN WITHOUT HAVING EXCRUTIATING PAIN and has referred me to a therapist, who I will start treatment with tomorrow. I'm just happy to have a diagnosis and know that although it may take some time to get back to normal, it's not super serious :o)

School Shopping and the Grim Reaper

I had such a great BFL DAY yesterday ~ I already feel a million times better just being so well hydrated! The kids and I went school clothes shopping and if that isn't enough to throw someone into a tub of icecream or a barrel of wine when they got home, I don't know what is :o)  There was a terrific rain and wind storm going on all day long and everyone would just get drenched at the strip mall we were at. The stores were filled with screaming, wet, steamy kids and their frazzled, steamy, wet parents. Actually, my kids were pretty good (they just would. not. stop. talking.) and we got some great deals for Mai. See her cute fuzzy pink hoodie dress from Old Navy? It had the smallest little grey spot on it and I wasn't sure it would come out in the wash. I'm talking very very small. I figured what the heck and told the check out girl there were no more in her size and could I get a discount because of the spot? I never do this! I should start doing it more...she gave it to us 1/2 off!!!!

So, why is there a grim  reaper on our front porch? Because while we were gone my husband started decorating for Halloween!! I couldn't believe it when he put up a ghost by the front door last week and everytime anyone walks anywhere on the hardwoods, it starts howling. I guess we're in full ghoulie mode now...

It's the last day before my little baby girl starts school....I didn't think I would be too emotional, but I'm starting to get a little weepy. Neither kid seems nervous, so let's hope this holds! I went shopping yesterday for a little gift for each of them to open at breakfast tomorrow. Jack's been mentioning a lot that he "sure could use an alarm clock" so I got him a little one to set up on top of his bunk bed with him. I got Mai some beautiful plastic bling. She gonna look like a fashion star for sure ;-)

02Peter1: 5-11 (MSG)
So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Final words from 01Peter

 

I feel like Autumn is officially here and I'm in the mood to buy a corduroy skirt, some thick tights and sniff a couple of newly printed textbooks. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Autumn. The kids have taken over both Snuggies and I'm cold this morning.

To get back some control in my life and have purty skin and hair and all that BFL does for a person, see me HERE for a daily post of me getting my BFL on.

01Peter5:8-11 (MSG)
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ - eternal and glorious plans they are! - will have you put together and on your feet for good. he gets the last word; yes, he does.

Quotes for today ~

The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want." - Ben Stein

The more concerned you become with things you can't control, the less you will do to improve the things you can control. - John Maxwell

If your habits don't line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits or change your dream. John Maxwell

Gettin' Snuggie wit it

It's a dreary kind of day and Mai and I are putting Daddy's new Birthday Snuggies to good use! We bought them as a joke for his birthday because 1) Everytime the Snuggie commercial comes on TV he says they're stupid and the kids and I think they are the OPPOSITE of stupid and 2) After we bought him the zebra print, we found an Oregon Duck Snuggie and couldn't pass it up. They are very sexy looking and I love wearing the Duck for Steve's viewing pleasure ;-)

I'm glad it's rainy and cold this long weekend, because I've got lots of cleaning plans that a sunny weekend would have messed with. We also need to do some school supply shopping and school clothes shopping - I was going to put off the clothes until October, but if this weather keeps up, I may not be able to rely on Summer clothes for the first few weeks. Mai needs a new dress for first day of big girl school anyways - she says she wants to dress like a fashion star!!

01Peter 4:1-2 (MSG)
Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

01Peter 4:12-13 Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job, Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

01Peter 4:19 So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it.

Awesome stuff today!!!

Cultivate Inner Beauty and Suffer for Doing Good

01Peter 3:1-22 (MSG)
CULTIVATE INNER BEAUTY
The same goes for you wives. Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance - the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes - but your inner disposition.

Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as "my dear husband." You'll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.

The same goes for you husbands. Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so y our prayers don't run aground.

SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless - that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here's what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful,
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you're worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he's asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.

If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are; and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all - was put to death and then made alive - to bring us to God.

He went and proclaimed God's salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment because they wouldn't listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact - saved from the water by the water. The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus' resurrection before God with a clear conscience. Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He's standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

Peter and Timothy

01Peter 2:11-12 (MSG)
Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
...Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. 01Peter 2:16


I never did come back to my review of The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. The two main things I took away from the book are

1) We often think our dream is to have lots and lots of money, when in reality the dream is what we would do if we had that money and often our dream really doesn't require a ton of money. For instance, why do I dream of having millions of dollars? I dream of traveling to beautiful places and doing fun adventurous activities. I dream of not having to work so the kids and I can play and have adventures all day. In reality, I don't need a ton of money to accomplish this, what I really need is the time and freedom of schedule. I need to prioritize and reorganize how I handle my work, not dream of a huge windfall.

2) I waste a lot of time. I live my work life and personal life by a set of rules that I've grown accustomed to, rules that society has set in place or that I've never questioned, rules that if broken (or rather re-defined) would change my world from dreaming the dream to living the dream.

8 Days of Peter

Don't you love this picture? How amazing is our world??!!! Summer seems officially over ~ the tent packed away, the weather cooling down, Fall Soccer starting this week and the kids back in school next week. I'm kind of looking forward to the schedule again and having both kids in school every day :-) Mai is in p.m. Kindy, so there will still be lots of rushing around dropping off and picking up, but there will be 3 hours every day with some peace and quiet ~ I can't believe how flippin' much these kids talk!!!!!!

I'm anxious to get back to the gym on a regular scheduled basis. I also just got moved off the waiting list for a 30 day bootcamp and into class, which starts in a couple of weeks. It's a 5:30 A!M! class and it's a bit of a drive to get to, so it looks like I'll be heading to bed at 8:30pm with the kiddos.

My ankle tendonitis (?) is not getting better, so rather than continue to guess at what's wrong and not get any better, I guess it's time to make an appointment with the ortho. I've been walking so funny due to the ankle pain that I've now managed to tweak something in my calves. My legs just plain hurt!

Ok, on to some Word! I'm reading 01/02 Peter this week so I thought I would blog my favorite verses (out of The Message)... oh heck, why don't I just share all of 01Peter Chapter 1. I love these two books!!

01Peter 1:1-25
I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten, God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!

A NEW LIFE
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven - and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all - life healed and whole.

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out it proved pure; genuine faith put through his suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

You never saw him, yet you love him, You still don't see him, yet you trust him- with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.

The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah's Spirit let them in on some of it - that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves - through the Holy Spirit - the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!

A FUTURE IN GOD
So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then, you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy, you be holy."

You call out to God for help and he helps - he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousnes of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrifical lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately - at the end of the ages- become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.

Now that you've cleaned up your lives fy following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers droop,
God's Word goes on and on forever.

This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.