Have you ever wondered about that? Our journey to become more like Christ is most often called the Christian Walk. Have you ever been on a walk that was leisurely, with no rocks to turn an ankle, no curbs, no hills, no sudden rainstorms? I may have had that walk once or twice, but it's a vague memory.
i like to think of our journey to become more like Christ as "the Extreme Christian olympics) - please, no one be offended by my analogy... I'm just blogging here! We train for our whole lives, but as anyone who trains hard knows, you can't train exactly the same way every day or you'll hit an impasse and have a time of no muscle growth, no faster time, etc. Your training varies as your life varies.
One day our Extreme Christian Olympics training is run by Bob the trainer. Bob is sweet and caring and he wants us to succeed with our training that day. We speed walk on a completely rut and rock free track. We jog nicely on the treadmill on 3 with no incline. We swim 10 laps in the Jacuzzi. Then we rest and eat subway and at the end of our training day, we rest on the patio with a book... and eat smores. Our day was about dedication and perseverance and consistency and we did that.
Day 2 at our training camp brings Jillian and I'm terrified. I know that Jillian will make me cry in the first 5 minutes and then I will puke in the next 5 minutes and that will be repeated throughout the day. Our day consists of running seven miles through a mud bog while having people lob leeches at us. Running on the treadmill on a 10 incline with 30 second sprints at 10 miles per hour...no hanging on with your hands... don't do it!!! The day ends with 4 of your friends lowering you through the roof into the ambulance to get the care you need to be back tomorrow for another day. Today we learned about dedication and digging deep. We may have to work on that one again.
Day 3 Let's try teamwork...Bob and Jill say let's all work together today. We're climbing Mount Everest and no one gets to start back until everyone has reached the top. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That will take all day... I don't have all day, I've got a pedicure planned, Kohl's is having a sale, $10 Kohls dollars back for every $50 purchased...you all better climb fast. You reach the top in record time....standing there tapping your toe, muttering under your breath about those that didn't really learn the lessons on day 1 and 2. You see Bob, who came in second mind you, touch the top and turn back down...."wait, everyone has to reach the top first before...but you can't finish because Bob is back with Betty, who know joins Bob and heads back again, both arrive with Becky and so on. You watch in disgust as each one gets more and more tired with each trip down to help someone else. They can't even make it up the hill without help, how will they ever get back down again. As the last person has barely made it up the hill, you start down, on your own. Fast... much to do, much to do. Not really watching. The loose rocks make the path slippery and you start to go down. Pain... I think it's only a strain. How in the world am I going to get down the hill on my own. I've got to get down on my own.... Then one person stops, 2, 3,4... Making a fireman's chair to carry you. You resist, they insist. You sit... they carry. When they tire, 4 others take over, when they tire, 4 more. And you are down. That my friend is the lesson for day number 3.
Day 4 = light day. Do a little jogging, a little swimming, rest, refresh.
Day 5 - Illness wins on this day - 0ne does not survive. Many others in critical condition, many others hurting in ways we don't even understand. Our lessons... can we use those... have we trained long enough? Did we learn the lessons? Dedication, Persistance, consistancy, digging deep, pulling through with nothing left to give, loyalty, compassion, teamwork, family work, going to the finish. WOW! Did I learn all that. Great... those are some great things to learn and know about and have in my brain. But did you do what I asked you to do? Huh, I say knowledgeably. I did what you asked, I trained, I learned, right...Did you do what I asked you to do? As in, do? Yep! Uh, no, not really, but I learned it really well, trained hard... Bob and Jill, killers you know, take no prisoners. Did you learn empathy, compassion, mercy, grace...these are things that can't be learned and not done.
You mean all this training was for nothing? Only if you choose to not do what I've asked you to do.... WHAT? What am I to do: You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, fast, pray, build your house on a rock, have faith like a mustard seed, ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, forgive 70 times 7 times, be ready, do not bury your talents, love on each other, lower your friend to help, support them no matter the length of time, be Ruth and Naomi, be Peter, be James and John, be the woman at the well, be Mary and ponder things in your heart, be Esther and change your world, go and make disciple of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.
Compassion, mercy, grace, forgiveness, character, loved, wonder, awe, assurance, beauty, belief, steadfastness, clarity, discernment, brokenness, wholeness,captivated, celebration, reverence, cleansed, comforted, peace, crucified, blameless, shameless, delivered, empathy, hopeful, integrity, alive, forgiven, miraculous, priceless, truth, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. These are the lessons learned during Extreme Christian Olympics Training, which by the way lasts the rest of your life!! You will see Bob and Jillian again, along with God and the Holy Spirit.
All this to say... we have great needs happening in our local world right now. A family in crisis unlike any crisis most of us have ever experienced. Our lessons have been well taught and sometimes hard fought. And truthfully, some have been learned kicking and screaming... but still learned. Are you compassionate? Can you bestow your gift of compassion on the Borrmanns and Burlesons? Have you been trained in love? Empathy? Hope? Celebration? How can you use that training to love on them? Be creative... be sympathetic, be sensitive to their needs, Use that training for something other than more training. Use it to be God's hands, feet, mouth, arms, hugs, car mechanic, house cleaner, meal maker/freezer person, Maybe you've been trained in giving? GIVE! If you are trained in compassion, be compassionate. You know who you are and what you've learned. Make God proud of the time and effort you and He have put in together in this life. Pass it on!! Go ye therefore....
Blessings,
Brenda
i like to think of our journey to become more like Christ as "the Extreme Christian olympics) - please, no one be offended by my analogy... I'm just blogging here! We train for our whole lives, but as anyone who trains hard knows, you can't train exactly the same way every day or you'll hit an impasse and have a time of no muscle growth, no faster time, etc. Your training varies as your life varies.
One day our Extreme Christian Olympics training is run by Bob the trainer. Bob is sweet and caring and he wants us to succeed with our training that day. We speed walk on a completely rut and rock free track. We jog nicely on the treadmill on 3 with no incline. We swim 10 laps in the Jacuzzi. Then we rest and eat subway and at the end of our training day, we rest on the patio with a book... and eat smores. Our day was about dedication and perseverance and consistency and we did that.
Day 2 at our training camp brings Jillian and I'm terrified. I know that Jillian will make me cry in the first 5 minutes and then I will puke in the next 5 minutes and that will be repeated throughout the day. Our day consists of running seven miles through a mud bog while having people lob leeches at us. Running on the treadmill on a 10 incline with 30 second sprints at 10 miles per hour...no hanging on with your hands... don't do it!!! The day ends with 4 of your friends lowering you through the roof into the ambulance to get the care you need to be back tomorrow for another day. Today we learned about dedication and digging deep. We may have to work on that one again.
Day 3 Let's try teamwork...Bob and Jill say let's all work together today. We're climbing Mount Everest and no one gets to start back until everyone has reached the top. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That will take all day... I don't have all day, I've got a pedicure planned, Kohl's is having a sale, $10 Kohls dollars back for every $50 purchased...you all better climb fast. You reach the top in record time....standing there tapping your toe, muttering under your breath about those that didn't really learn the lessons on day 1 and 2. You see Bob, who came in second mind you, touch the top and turn back down...."wait, everyone has to reach the top first before...but you can't finish because Bob is back with Betty, who know joins Bob and heads back again, both arrive with Becky and so on. You watch in disgust as each one gets more and more tired with each trip down to help someone else. They can't even make it up the hill without help, how will they ever get back down again. As the last person has barely made it up the hill, you start down, on your own. Fast... much to do, much to do. Not really watching. The loose rocks make the path slippery and you start to go down. Pain... I think it's only a strain. How in the world am I going to get down the hill on my own. I've got to get down on my own.... Then one person stops, 2, 3,4... Making a fireman's chair to carry you. You resist, they insist. You sit... they carry. When they tire, 4 others take over, when they tire, 4 more. And you are down. That my friend is the lesson for day number 3.
Day 4 = light day. Do a little jogging, a little swimming, rest, refresh.
Day 5 - Illness wins on this day - 0ne does not survive. Many others in critical condition, many others hurting in ways we don't even understand. Our lessons... can we use those... have we trained long enough? Did we learn the lessons? Dedication, Persistance, consistancy, digging deep, pulling through with nothing left to give, loyalty, compassion, teamwork, family work, going to the finish. WOW! Did I learn all that. Great... those are some great things to learn and know about and have in my brain. But did you do what I asked you to do? Huh, I say knowledgeably. I did what you asked, I trained, I learned, right...Did you do what I asked you to do? As in, do? Yep! Uh, no, not really, but I learned it really well, trained hard... Bob and Jill, killers you know, take no prisoners. Did you learn empathy, compassion, mercy, grace...these are things that can't be learned and not done.
You mean all this training was for nothing? Only if you choose to not do what I've asked you to do.... WHAT? What am I to do: You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, fast, pray, build your house on a rock, have faith like a mustard seed, ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, forgive 70 times 7 times, be ready, do not bury your talents, love on each other, lower your friend to help, support them no matter the length of time, be Ruth and Naomi, be Peter, be James and John, be the woman at the well, be Mary and ponder things in your heart, be Esther and change your world, go and make disciple of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.
Compassion, mercy, grace, forgiveness, character, loved, wonder, awe, assurance, beauty, belief, steadfastness, clarity, discernment, brokenness, wholeness,captivated, celebration, reverence, cleansed, comforted, peace, crucified, blameless, shameless, delivered, empathy, hopeful, integrity, alive, forgiven, miraculous, priceless, truth, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. These are the lessons learned during Extreme Christian Olympics Training, which by the way lasts the rest of your life!! You will see Bob and Jillian again, along with God and the Holy Spirit.
All this to say... we have great needs happening in our local world right now. A family in crisis unlike any crisis most of us have ever experienced. Our lessons have been well taught and sometimes hard fought. And truthfully, some have been learned kicking and screaming... but still learned. Are you compassionate? Can you bestow your gift of compassion on the Borrmanns and Burlesons? Have you been trained in love? Empathy? Hope? Celebration? How can you use that training to love on them? Be creative... be sympathetic, be sensitive to their needs, Use that training for something other than more training. Use it to be God's hands, feet, mouth, arms, hugs, car mechanic, house cleaner, meal maker/freezer person, Maybe you've been trained in giving? GIVE! If you are trained in compassion, be compassionate. You know who you are and what you've learned. Make God proud of the time and effort you and He have put in together in this life. Pass it on!! Go ye therefore....
Blessings,
Brenda
