I woke up both yesterday morning and this morning with butterflies in my stomach and with an excitement rising in me because the race is almost here. It's been a long 18 weeks with some great days and some tough patches too with injuries and setbacks.
Yesterday, the verse from May that we were memorizing kept going through my head:
"Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race that has been marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3
This morning, I read this and loved it...
"If you want to gain practice walking in the Spirit or abiding in Christ or tending the inner flame, you can start when you wake up tomorrow morning. Before your feet hit the floor, open your heart to the Spirit. Ask God to help you walk in the Spirit, step by step through the day. Ask God to help you abide in the Vine so good fruit will naturally develop in your life. Ask God to keep the fire burning within you. Just starting the day this way will make a difference.
As you build that habit of yielding yourself to the Spirit morning by morning, you can build the habit of checking in with the Spirit hour by hour throughout the day. At each mealtime, you can offer a prayer of thanksgiving and you can reconnect with the Spirit. As you travel from place to place, as you wait for someone, whenever you have a fee moment, you can offer yourself to God: "Here I am Lord. Please move in and through me to bless others." Whenever an emergency or challenge arises, you can lean in on the Spirit. "Give me wisdom, Spirit of God. Give me strength. Give me patience." When you sense that you've let something other than God's Spirit fill you and direct you-- anger, fear, prejudice, lust, greed, anxiety, pride, inferiority, or rivalry, for example-- you can stop, acknowledge your misstep, and re-surrender to the Spirit. It's like breathing-- exhaling an acknowledgment of your misstep and inhaling forgiveness and strength to start walking in the Spirit again.
At the end of the day, you can look back with gratitude, reseting in the Spirit until a new day begins and you continue walking the journey of faith. ...
If we don't give up, as mile adds to mile, each of us will have some stories to tell...stories of how the Spirit guided, empowered, inspirits, restrained, sustained and trailed us in the fine art of aliveness."
-Brian McLaren We Make the Road by Walking
So tomorrow, I will wake up super early to drive to the start line and my prayer will be that my heart will be open to the Spirit all through the course. Anna, you will be with me in spirit too. :) XOXO
"Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race that has been marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3
This morning, I read this and loved it...
"If you want to gain practice walking in the Spirit or abiding in Christ or tending the inner flame, you can start when you wake up tomorrow morning. Before your feet hit the floor, open your heart to the Spirit. Ask God to help you walk in the Spirit, step by step through the day. Ask God to help you abide in the Vine so good fruit will naturally develop in your life. Ask God to keep the fire burning within you. Just starting the day this way will make a difference.
As you build that habit of yielding yourself to the Spirit morning by morning, you can build the habit of checking in with the Spirit hour by hour throughout the day. At each mealtime, you can offer a prayer of thanksgiving and you can reconnect with the Spirit. As you travel from place to place, as you wait for someone, whenever you have a fee moment, you can offer yourself to God: "Here I am Lord. Please move in and through me to bless others." Whenever an emergency or challenge arises, you can lean in on the Spirit. "Give me wisdom, Spirit of God. Give me strength. Give me patience." When you sense that you've let something other than God's Spirit fill you and direct you-- anger, fear, prejudice, lust, greed, anxiety, pride, inferiority, or rivalry, for example-- you can stop, acknowledge your misstep, and re-surrender to the Spirit. It's like breathing-- exhaling an acknowledgment of your misstep and inhaling forgiveness and strength to start walking in the Spirit again.
At the end of the day, you can look back with gratitude, reseting in the Spirit until a new day begins and you continue walking the journey of faith. ...
If we don't give up, as mile adds to mile, each of us will have some stories to tell...stories of how the Spirit guided, empowered, inspirits, restrained, sustained and trailed us in the fine art of aliveness."
-Brian McLaren We Make the Road by Walking
So tomorrow, I will wake up super early to drive to the start line and my prayer will be that my heart will be open to the Spirit all through the course. Anna, you will be with me in spirit too. :) XOXO
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