My Spiritual Workout- Part 1

Hey everyone,

It has been WAY too long since I've blogged- and I'm sorry for that. One of the things the Lord has been helping me work on is the stewarding of my time. We are called to be stewards in every area of our lives: Money, our bodies, our kids, and so on. But what about our time? The world is moving faster than ever before. Fast food, fast cars, high speed internet, text, email, conference calls, no sleep, no family time, burn out's through work, work, work!!! Where does it stop?! We have set such an unreachable bar on success, that we will destroy ourselves and many others along the way to reach it. I am no different. Now, I'm not saying that I've become so obsessed with money and possessions that I've lost focus- quite the opposite actually. Any of you single parents reading this will understand.

I recently took a new job within the past few months. It's a great job, love the hours, people, and atmosphere (most of the time). However, when you combine 40+ hours a week with being a single parent to a 3 year old, doesn't leave much time for anything else. If you combine my hours at work with my time with my daughter, it ranges from (depending on the week) 60-128 hours a week! Granted, sleeping is in there, sometimes- but where is my "quiet time" with the Lord? I also like to work out- it's a great stress relief, and my way to escape sometimes. The problem is, to attain any sort of results- I must put my time in at the gym. So during these long weeks I only have limited amounts of time to lift and spend in quiet time. They both demand my full concentration, so which do I choose over the other? I know the answer, you know the answer- but I don't always make the right choice. It's on those days, or during those weeks when I don't get my "spiritual workout" in- that I suffer greatly from attacks, frustration, and so on. I'm not "strong enough" to "handle the weight" of adversity when it arises. One of my favorite metaphores between lifting and spiritual growth is this: In weight lifting, resistance from the weights literally tears the muscle down. It responds by growing bigger and stronger- thus able to handle "more weight" the next time around. Our walk with God is the same- as we experience trials and adversity, when we go to God for help, we grow in our walk.

I've recently gotten back to quiet time- reading Scripture, prayer, and now doing more journaling. I'll put together what I've come up with so far in the next entry...

In His Name,

Matt