MONDAY MORSEL #9

This land is blessed, by God through the sacrifice of those who have given their lives to provide freedom to us.  Thank you to all those who currently serve or have served, yours are the shoulders upon whom we all stand.  May God Bless America.

Fading Fast?

Often our efforts to gain fitness or stay fit seem to take a detour.  Like the early morning moon in the photo they are fading fast.  What do we do to stem the tide when this occurs?

This is a difficult question that has many answers which could be right.  Based upon my experience here are a few suggestions.

First when you begin to notice the fade, give yourself a timeout.  Much like a basketball coach will take a timeout to stop theomentum of the opponent.  Give yourself a short respite from what you have been doing toward your fitness goal. 

This timeout is where you assess what is happening and the reasons for your fade.  Could it be a lack of support structures in your life, or a change of physical condition such as the onset of an illness, perhaps even boredom with the same old routine. More than likely there is a confluence of a few to several reasons that you are fading.

Once you have identified the apparent causes you must make some decisions on how to address them.  You may need to seek out a training partner to add accountability or support.  It could be time to check in with your physician and have some blood work done.  Creating a new exercise regimen or altering the course of your daily run/walk/bike may be just enough of a change to renew your enthusiasm.

A final thought in this area is don't be afraid to take a day off occasionally from your routines of life.  This shocks your body, mind, and spirit just a bit and can serve as a very necessary restart.  So in the words of legendary college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, "you better get a t-o (timeout) baby!"

If you will read the signs and take the right actions you can Do Well.  Be aware of your situation and don't allow the fade to overtake you on the road to success.

MONDAY MORSEL #8

I once read that John Wooden did not use the phrase "have a good day."  He believed that it,was too passive and to be successful we must create our good days with attitude and work ethic.  It's hard to argue with the legacy of success he left behind.

Under Construction

Each of us are at varying stages of life.  Just as the photos with this post show homes in various stages of construction.

It is easy to make the assertion that we ouselves are under construction as well.  No matter our age, abilities, interests or desires we are involved in construction from birth to end of days.

Whether it is faith, fitness, finance or any other functional area of our life there are principles of construction that must be followed to end with the best results.  These are like the foundation of a home.  Without a firm foundation the house will not stand, a principle we teach our small children in the song, "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock." 

At the most basic foundational level is the plan or blueprint.  Without a vision for the finished product and an understanding of what is required to get there it will be near impossible to have the desired product in the end.

Once the plans are established comes execution.  This is how we follow or fail to follow the blueprint.  How closely we follow the blueprint will determine our eventual success or failure.  With our fitness for example, if we jump in too quickly and overexert ourselves we will face pain, if not injury, and our plans may become derailed.  The same applies to our financial lives, as well, to keep our budget on track means not making those impulse purchases that may put us in a bind.

In building a home you can't do much of the interior work until your construction is "in the dry" meaning the inside is safe from the elements that might otherwise do it harm.  Likewise as we progress we seek to make a difference on the inside this may mean aquiring additional knowledge in a particular area to allow for more detailed construction or renovation.

This concept also leads me to think about the quality of materials that we are using to build our lives.  There is a term GIGO in computer programming which means garbage in garbage out.  Choose the best materials that will stand the test of time when inputting knowledge to build your life upon.

When construction is occurring on a home often the homeowner will track the progress each day with the builder, noticing the sometimes subtlest of differences.  We too should adopt this practice in various areas of our life.  Progress made and witnessed is powerful reinforcement to continue.  The process we take to build a better life requires planning, great materials and constant progress checks.

If you will adopt these practices, you will DO WELL in building a better life.

MONDAY MORSEL #7

MONDAY MORSEL #7
May 16, 2016

We have a tendency to complicate things.  We MUST simplify to succeed.

Where Are You Going

Earlier this year while returning home from a youth event in Conway, AR, my wife, Angie, snapped this shot of our church bus headed home.  As with most trips there is a great excitement and energy in the going, but it also ends with the quiet comfort of returning home.

In our lives we have many parts to the journey we are living.  There is faith, family, fitness/health, finance . . .  Many will say that we must keep a balance among these and other areas of our busy lives.  Over the past couple of years my thinking has changed on this.  I used to also believe in balancing, but have come to believe rather in integration.

When we seek balance we are actually living in dis-integration, separating our lives into distinct boxes of unrelated thought.  However if we strive for integration we recognize that we have one life, and that it all works best when it is all working together.  As Christians this is summed up very succinctly in Romans 8:28 (NASB) "and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  This screams out to me that integration is better than balance.

The life of integration then must center on God and be built upon His Word, and His will for our lives.  Everything else must then be structured around that faith.  We then can ask the question, how does this part of my life impact my relationship with God?  Each thing we do has an impact on every other part of our life as they are interdependent, thus integrated, and cannot effectively be fully separated.  Be it our finances, our health, or any other aspect of life.  In the end Solomon tells us in the final two verses of Ecclesiastes, "The conclusion when all has been heard is, fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden whether it is good or evil." (NASB)

This week look into your life and ask yourself, am I living an integrated or disintegrated life?  I pray that you are or will be living in an integrated way.  It is the basis to Do Well, and truly "head home".

MONDAY MORSEL #6

If time marches on will you be leading the band or standing on the corner watching it pass by?  it isyour choice.

Refresh Yourself

The photo attached comes from the Buffalo River near Yellville, AR.  For me this is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places in our state which is full of many such places.

Why you may ask would I choose such a photo for this blog?  It comes down to one simple word, RELAX!  We go at a frenetic pace each and every day.  We chase after our goals with determination and, often wrecklees, abandon.  Goal chasing is not a bad thing, it is in fact a good thing.  We must keep it in perspective, and allow our mind and body some down time to process, recover, and repair itself.

The latter part of Psalm 46:10 is very familiar to many of us, "be still and know that I am God."  When is the last time you allowed yourself to be still?  In the Old Testament we are told of the Jewish people honoring the Sabbath, which was the seventh day, as a day of rest.  While we are no longer under the sabbath, but live under a new covenant, we are still to learn from the old law.  It is my belief that this is one area that we might all benefit from reexamining.

Science points to the importance of adequate sleep in our lives, and studies show the physical benefits of meditation and times of rest.  It's interesting that science seems to catch up with Biblical truth as time marches forward.  Can we learn to take downtime, to reclaim the times of refreshing, to clear our minds and commune with God?  If we will, and I am among the most needful in this area, I believe we will see a marked improvement in our outlook and our performance.

Take heed of the signs your body and mind are giving you.  Listen to that inner longing for rest.  This week set aside some sacred times of rest for your body, mind, and spirit.  If you do, I believe you will DO WELL!

MONDAY MORSEL #5

MONDAY MORSEL #5
May 1 2016

Meekness is NOT Weakness.

Matthew 5:5 "The meek shall inherit the earth."

True leadership is servant leadership, not authority of position, but authority earned through relationships that are not self serving.

Independently Dependent

In the beginning we are told of Adam and Eve in the garden.  A familiar story to most,  We look in on the first people and we know that they were given instructions not to eat of the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."  In this brief instruction we can deduce that man was given free will, the ability to choose.  Since that fateful day man has been exercising that will in many ways both productive and counterproductive.

How do we take full advantage of that gift today?  This question and how we answer it makes all the difference in our lives.  We must first recognize that there is a God who did not create a world of programmed robots blindly following his commands.  Rather he created intelligent beings, capable of thought, feeling, and meaningful relationships.  As such these beings, us, can chart our own course in this life with all the various tools He has provided.  To begin taking full advantage we need to look back at the Creator and get to know Him through His word, The Bible.  Daily study of this book will influence the way we think like no other book ever written.  When taken in with an honest mind and a receptive spirit, it will change us and lead us to seek a relationship with the creator.  This relationship when fostered and built up will give us a peace and confidence in all situations that cannot be found anywhere else.  We call this joy.

Not only do we need to grow our knowledge of God's ways and follow after Him but this will lead us to serve others.  God's Son Jesus was the ultimate servant leader.  He came to Earth from Heaven and lived among us, facing the challenges we face yet remained blameless.  No other god, all produced by man, is capable of such a thing.  In the other religions the gods are set apart in a different way, to be served in all things.  Under Christianity, Jesus served all the way to the Cross where He gave up His life that His followers might be able to experience His glory in heaven, reconciling anyone who would choose to follow Him in obedience to His Word.

Yet with the independence we are given most choose to throw it away and smirk saying "that's not for me, or it's a nice myth".  Then they go about living for themselves, the gods of humanism.  What a sad place the world becomes as this me-centered mindset grows and takes firmer root.

We each must examine ourselves, independently, and recognize our dependence upon God.  When we submit in this way the world looks very different.  The decisions we are faced with take on a different meaning.  In short we are independently dependent.  No one can make the decision for us, and no one else will face the ultimate consequences of our decisions, though some will certainly be impacted by them.

This all translates to our fitness as well.  We need to recognize that we have a choice to make.  Eat the doughnuts, grab the fruit, or some blend of the two.  Do we exercise and gain the benefits of action which build over time, or crash on the couch falling into the trap of inactivity?  Relating the two thoughts in another way.  In order to fully serve the God that created us and gave us the independence to choose, we should do what we can to choose the better path for our fitness.  This will, in most cases, result in a better mindset, more mental clarity, and the physical ability to serve Him and help others.

Take a moment to think about this, then make the decision to DO WELL!