Sunday, July 1, 2012

End of Week 3


Always trying to figure out how to get the workouts I need with what we have available.



This week I thought I'd share four things. First I wanted to share the goals we set at the beginning of the program.  Another thing is I've seen how doing this program has made me more productive in other areas of my life. Lastly, I shared last week that Pastor Keith's sermon gave me a good challenge. This week it seemed incredibly obvious to me that God is challenging us and trying to build a relationship with us through this program.

Goals

Liz's Goals
  1. Lose baby belly
  2. Win the competition
  3. Lose 10 pounds
  4. Prove to self that I can complete the program
  5. Motivate the athletes that I coach
David's Goals
  1. Prove to self that I can complete the program.
  2. Win the competition
  3. Gain 9 pounds
  4. Develop more energy
  5. Support my wife and help her complete the program succesfully as I know she really wants to get rid of her baby belly after having 3 boys.
Productivity

I started realizing this week that we were doing a good job of sticking to this program. It seemed as though we've made this program our number one priority. So far it has been successful because we've set our goals that we really want, we know fairly clearly what we need to do to succeed, and the big thing has been planning ahead. We decided to start planning out other areas of our life. I planned out my whole day for three days. By the end of each day I completed so much more than I would have if I didn't plan it out. The other benefit was that Liz and I knew what each other was doing so we wouldn't end up arguing about who's watching the boys or some unexpected appointment. It certainly took some focus and determination to stay on schedule but it was very rewarding.

Champion
Last week I learned and applied praying faithfully to God to guide us in this challenge along with working as hard as we can at this. Today, Pastor Keith's word of the day was CHAMPION. I found this incredibly providential in that the Body for Life winners are declared champions which is what we are trying to achieve. Could God make it anymore obvious that He is challenging us with this and wants to be behind us in this?

As we learned in the sermon today, King David was so successful because God was with him. He won incredible battles because he trusted God alone. I realize none of us are worthy of anything from God. I realize we don't deserve God granting us the winners of this challenge and there is no way we can earn it from Him. What I do know is that God wants us to come to Him humbly and faithfully. A verse that has stuck out to me lately is James 4:9.

“Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.”

At first I didn't understand what this was saying and after some searching I realized it was saying we shouldn't pretend like everything is okay when we know it's not. I think I have life all figured out sometimes and I feel like I'm in control. Then something like getting sick gets in the way and changes my whole schedule. I then go to God saying,”God please take this sickness away now.” after not carrying on a good relationship with Him. Basically, as long as things are good I forget God. When they are bad I go to Him. Huh.  Not much of a relationship.

So I feel a strong need to work on my relationship with God. I plan on doing this as a family. This will include praying with the boys before going to bed, praying with Liz, studying and talking about God's word, and continuing to work on memory verses. Just like the Body for Life program, I know we will have the best success if we set goals in this, know what we need to do, and plan and schedule for this.  I know that for God to be behind us in this challenge (and of course in everything) we need to work at having a good relationship with Him.

Conclusion

I hope somebody is getting something out of this. If not, it feels good being able to think through our week and analyze how we are doing. I pray God will take hold of Liz and I and turn us into what He wants us to be fully. I pray He will knock down all the things holding us back from what He wants to guide us into. I also pray this for all my family, friends, church, community, and ultimately the world. Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.     

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