I recently heard a tasty tune that I'm sure many of you have already listened to, entitled Somebody that I used to Know (I prefer the Walk off the Earth cover to the original). It quickly reminded me about the dangers of getting too involved in a relationship that isn't God centered or directed. Almost everyone, if they were completely honest, would admit that they wish to be in love one day (for some that day is sooner than others). People want to be in relationships to find love. They want to be in a relationship because they want to feel good, have fun, and be guaranteed that at least one person in this world cares about them and for them. People go to bars, nightclubs, the gym, the grocery store, church etc looking for love... and when you look that hard for something you're going to find it... because you settle. Its just like when I was little and I would see something at toys r us that I just couldn't live without so I would save up all my money to buy that one specific item. The day I had the necessary amount I would beg my mom to take me to the store only to find out that they were sold out of the said item I coveted at which point I immediately felt compelled to buy the next thing I saw. I had saved up my money and I was there to spend it. The same with people who go out with standards, looking to meet a certain type of person, but settle because they just want somebody. Maybe they just want attention or comfort they never got from families. Maybe they are acting on whimsical impulses and fleeting emotions [Jeremiah 17:9] then wonder why the relationship didn't last. The new, exciting, always on cloud 9, honeymoon phase will end. People become soul tied to and dependent on the other person and its often painful to severe those ties. People don't think about the consequences until its too late.
When relationships end they don't usually end well. You are probably not going to be friends with that person or keep in touch with that person anymore. So you start out dating someone because you think you might like them. Then you keep dating them because you do like them. Now you start investing more of your money, time, and energy into them. The more you like them, the more you invest. You begin giving more and more of yourself to them. The thing is you are not your own, you were bought with a price [1 Corinthians 6:19-20]. And the fact is later on you might wish you had given those physically and emotionally intimate moments to someone else. So a person that you spent so much time with and shared so much of yourself with because you liked them more than anyone else becomes just somebody that you used to know. You avoid them, you don't talk to them, and unfortunately a lot of times you don't even like them anymore. You share your heart with someone, your life with them... and then you don't even talk to them anymore... is it just me or does that not make sense?
What if you didn't date anyone until you felt like you were ready to consider marriage in the near future? Until you could commit yourself to another person? What if you took time to get to know someone in group settings and real world situations to learn their true personality before you dated them? (Anyone can be whoever you want them to be when they are on their own in a romantic situation when feelings are escalating... their friends and family will call them out!) What if the relationship wasn't just to have fun but existed for a purpose and that purpose was to see if you challenged and encouraged each other in Christ? What if you prayerfully considered God's feelings toward your relationship? What if you guarded your heart and theirs? Most importantly, what if you gave your heart to God and began a relationship with Him so that you didn't feel lonely or empty and because you have Him you can more appropriately develop relationships (romantic and otherwise)?
You can enjoy getting to know people and spending time with people without being in a romantic relationship. And if you choose to enter into a relationship that is prayerfully considering its current state and future while guarding each other's hearts then I feel it is possible to maintain a friendship in the event that it wasn't meant to be. Also, I am not an expert on this topic and have made many suspect decisions and actions that hurt others as well as myself (and hopefully not but probably will make more). I am also in need of God's grace and mercy. I need to be more dependent on Him not a person. I need to seek to grow and develop my relationship with Him so that I can become the person He created me to be.
Interesting literature on the topic of dating with a Christ-centered purpose (keep in mind there is no clear cut right or wrong way to engage in relationships but these are just certain perspectives on the topic I found interesting and Biblically supported):
I Kissed Dating Goodbye - Joshua Harris
Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship - Joshua Harris
Going All the Way: Preparing for a Marriage that Lasts - Craig Groeschel
(also some of the views and decisions described in these books were made by the author for an explained reason but that doesn't mean you have to agree or adhere to it too, for example Joshua Harris decided he would never kiss a girl again until he was married... that was his decision for his life and he explains why he made that decision... that doesn't mean if you don't agree you are wrong or ungodly in your decision making, it just means you have different views and convictions)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Fruit
"What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death."
- Romans 6:21
Before I made a decision to follow Jesus, my life bore no fruit. Nothing I did had any real value. I wasn't doing anything to build the eternal Kingdom of God. I wasn't doing anything for anyone else. I was all about me. What I want, when I want it. I was selfish; constantly chasing temporary pleasures. I was sowing selfishness amongst countless other vile ingredients... destined to reap death and destruction. If I was a tree in your garden you would have dug me up and thrown me out. But...
But has become one of my favorite words in the Bible. Just when everything seems so overwhelmingly dismal and I think it can't get any worse, that word but comes up. Maybe I don't like the word but; maybe I just know that its going to be followed by some awesome act of God and like Pavlov's dog I connect the 2. So when that word but appears I begin to feel relived, to feel thankful... thankful that God sent Jesus to die for my sins that I might obtain righteousness... thankful that my God loved me before I loved Him back or was even able to love Him back... thankful to have a gift that is priceless, I could never find it, buy it, earn it, or lose it.
"But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life."
- Romans 6:22
God gave us fruit. Not the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate... He gave us holiness. Jesus left heaven, became human, shed blood, and died that we might become holy. That we might have everlasting life. In return or as a result of that God commands us to bear fruit. I was listening to a sermon today that really challenged me and forced me to examine my life, does it bear fruit? I can talk about God/Jesus, blog about them, go to church, refrain from saying bad words... does my life bear fruit? Am I walking out my faith? I'm not so sure.
- You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. - Matthew 7:16-20
- "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." - Luke 8:14-15
- "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."- John 15:8
- "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." - John 15:16
- "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God." - Romans 7:4
What does fruit look like?
- "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23
- "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." - Hebrews 13:15
- "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." - James 3:17
- "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." - John 15:1-4
- "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." - Philippians 1:9-11
Warnings from God about not bearing fruit:
- "He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”- Luke 13:6-9
- "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." - Matthew 3:10
- "For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." - Hebrews 6: 7-8
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Escape or Addiction
I'm tired. The kind of tired that 2 consecutive days of sleeping in won't fix. Sometimes I feel like I desperately need a vacation. Its funny the reason I picked the job I have is because at one point I loved it so much I felt I would never need much time off. I spent my whole life watching my father work a job he hated. Unfortunately he brings his work home. I can't blame him; maybe I'm biased but I think he has one of the hardest jobs there is. I don't know how anyone could work in a profession where you watch people die... people your children's age or your wife's age. A profession where if you make a mistake it may cost someone their life. A profession where you have to go into a waiting room full of family and friends and tell them the person they love and care about isn't coming out of that operating room. That's heavy. To look people in the eye and tell them you did everything you could but it wasn't enough. How could you not feel for them? How could you not second guess yourself? How could you not get discouraged? How could you leave that at work?
I'm very proud of my dad. He is so smart and he works so hard. He went to Wake Forest University and then was in the first ever med school class at East Carolina University. He took out loans to pay his own way for all of that. I still remember when he paid off all his college, I was in 10th grade. He then went to a special fellowship in Arizona. All in all I think he was about 32 years old when he finally started working. He works so hard. Such long hours. Being on call must be the worst... staying late at the hospital operating on emergencies, coming home in the early hours of the morning, crawling into the bed only for that dreaded beeper to emit that gut-wrenching beeping noise and having to immediately get back up and head right back to where you just were without getting any rest.
My dad always provided for me and I am very thankful for that. I think he wanted me to have and do all the things he never had or did. Still when you are young you don't care so much about that. You want to spend time with your dad and you want that time to be well spent. My mom always tells a story of when I was about 3 years old and my dad would leave early for work and come back well after a 3 year old's bedtime. One day he came home while I was still awake, I ran and gave him a big hug and shouted, "Oh Dad we love it when you come to visit!" It killed him that he had to work so much, but he wanted to provide for us. I guess that's why I don't care about money. I want to work a job I love so when I come home to my family I will be in a good mood. I will be able to give them all of me. Don't get me wrong, I want to provide for them too... shelter, food, clothing, school, extracurricular opportunities, etc but I want to spend quality time with them. I want whatever time I have to give them to be about them, not what happened at work.
I don't want it to sound like my dad was never around or that I had some type of troubled youth because that is not the case. I had two very loving parents and I'm extremely thankful for that. I'm just trying to explain why I chose a career that makes essentially nothing (by America's standards... I know I am still blessed internationally compared to all the poverty in the world) because I wanted to do something that wasn't a job to me... something that wasn't work.
But all that is starting to change. I don't have a wife and I don't have any kids but I'm starting to bring my work home. I let things bother me that shouldn't. My perspective is off. I wrestle with the voices inside my head, arguing along with them. Events transpire that provoke anger from inside of me. I believe the root of that anger stems from how much I care. I try to not to care too much. I don't know how. Apathy can't be the answer but caring so much is killing me, where is the balance? I try to step back and remember that I'm merely helping college kids who are playing a game that is supposed to be fun. Is it fun? I don't know. My job is not serious, its not life or death, its not the emergency room looking down on a child who is dying, and its not extreme poverty and disease that exists in third world countries. Still I get angry and sometimes I stay angry when I'm home. My mind races, I have trouble sleeping even though the alarm goes off every morning at 4:30am. Why do sports even exist? I always thought sports had been around so long because they were entertaining (fun to play, fun to watch) and possessed character developing qualities. I was wrong, they are about money now. The very evil I was trying to escape. That's why these people take everything so serious. They want more money, they want more success. Maybe they think that will complete them, make them happy, satisfied. To the coaches and administrators the sports are their life. These sports determine their salary, their status, their identity. But to the kids it should just be a part of their life. They should be a student with various interests and passions that just happens to play a sport. Yes they should try hard and work hard at their sport as well as school but they aren't professionals. Their sport does not define them as a person. I used to see everything so clearly... its just kids playing a game. I'm starting to get sucked in... I don't care about the money or the success but I'm starting to take it serious, more serious than it should be taken. I picked a career that was a hobby to me. I love weightlifting and I love helping people so it was the perfect fit. I used to wake up smiling, excited for each day. Excited about possibility to have an opportunity to positively influence another person's life. Maybe through weightlifting and training they would find or develop qualities they could apply to their daily life... their sport, school, work, being a better person. I think I've become like the people I criticize, I'm too focused in my own little world to see the big picture, to maintain my sanity. They've sucked me in. Now I'm becoming crazy.
Head spinning and throbbing, my vision blurred, I can't get my bearings... have I contracted their mental instability? I start desperately searching for rest, for an escape. I retreat into a familiar one. My feet on the platform and the bar in my hands. I am elsewhere. They can't touch me or my thoughts. Everything is clear now. I only feel the pain and joy weightlifting brings. Maybe thats why I like it so much because it delivers extremes... either way you are going to feel something. Sometimes I try to lift so hard/much that I'm too tired to care about anything else. But it is only temporary, at some point I have to take my adistars off. I look for another, it comes in the form of a truck that serves Mexican cuisine. Eating at the taco truck always makes me feel like I have travelled to another country. It blocks the streets and stores of Auburn from my view... it surrounds me with people that speak a language that is not my own. My devoted group of followers and I have found an escape and we fill it with laughter. But it too is temporary. Why do I seek rest from people, activities, and places in which it will not be given to me? Why don't I seek Christ? Only He can give me rest. Only He can give me an eternal perspective. Only He can give me life and life more abundantly. Are the oases I have created idols? Are they sinful? Have my escapes become addictions? I am accomplishing what I first set out to accomplish? Is it still about developing people who happen to be athletes through my daily interaction with them during training? Or have I gotten it twisted and now I'm too focused on pushing weight and correct technique (the temporary) that I've forgotten about the eternal? I've forgotten they have souls, souls that matter to God. Salvation, forgiveness, eternity, love... thats what matters not wins and losses or how much they can squat, clean, and snatch. I love the wrong things. I'm focusing on the wrong things. How did I get here? More importantly how do I get back? I need to get back to the place where God is my rock, my quiet place, my strength, my safe refuge, my comforter. To the place where I care about the person first and their competency to perform as a collegiate athlete second. I pray that God would help me find His way. I'm thankful that He hasn't given up on me.
I'm very proud of my dad. He is so smart and he works so hard. He went to Wake Forest University and then was in the first ever med school class at East Carolina University. He took out loans to pay his own way for all of that. I still remember when he paid off all his college, I was in 10th grade. He then went to a special fellowship in Arizona. All in all I think he was about 32 years old when he finally started working. He works so hard. Such long hours. Being on call must be the worst... staying late at the hospital operating on emergencies, coming home in the early hours of the morning, crawling into the bed only for that dreaded beeper to emit that gut-wrenching beeping noise and having to immediately get back up and head right back to where you just were without getting any rest.
My dad always provided for me and I am very thankful for that. I think he wanted me to have and do all the things he never had or did. Still when you are young you don't care so much about that. You want to spend time with your dad and you want that time to be well spent. My mom always tells a story of when I was about 3 years old and my dad would leave early for work and come back well after a 3 year old's bedtime. One day he came home while I was still awake, I ran and gave him a big hug and shouted, "Oh Dad we love it when you come to visit!" It killed him that he had to work so much, but he wanted to provide for us. I guess that's why I don't care about money. I want to work a job I love so when I come home to my family I will be in a good mood. I will be able to give them all of me. Don't get me wrong, I want to provide for them too... shelter, food, clothing, school, extracurricular opportunities, etc but I want to spend quality time with them. I want whatever time I have to give them to be about them, not what happened at work.
I don't want it to sound like my dad was never around or that I had some type of troubled youth because that is not the case. I had two very loving parents and I'm extremely thankful for that. I'm just trying to explain why I chose a career that makes essentially nothing (by America's standards... I know I am still blessed internationally compared to all the poverty in the world) because I wanted to do something that wasn't a job to me... something that wasn't work.
But all that is starting to change. I don't have a wife and I don't have any kids but I'm starting to bring my work home. I let things bother me that shouldn't. My perspective is off. I wrestle with the voices inside my head, arguing along with them. Events transpire that provoke anger from inside of me. I believe the root of that anger stems from how much I care. I try to not to care too much. I don't know how. Apathy can't be the answer but caring so much is killing me, where is the balance? I try to step back and remember that I'm merely helping college kids who are playing a game that is supposed to be fun. Is it fun? I don't know. My job is not serious, its not life or death, its not the emergency room looking down on a child who is dying, and its not extreme poverty and disease that exists in third world countries. Still I get angry and sometimes I stay angry when I'm home. My mind races, I have trouble sleeping even though the alarm goes off every morning at 4:30am. Why do sports even exist? I always thought sports had been around so long because they were entertaining (fun to play, fun to watch) and possessed character developing qualities. I was wrong, they are about money now. The very evil I was trying to escape. That's why these people take everything so serious. They want more money, they want more success. Maybe they think that will complete them, make them happy, satisfied. To the coaches and administrators the sports are their life. These sports determine their salary, their status, their identity. But to the kids it should just be a part of their life. They should be a student with various interests and passions that just happens to play a sport. Yes they should try hard and work hard at their sport as well as school but they aren't professionals. Their sport does not define them as a person. I used to see everything so clearly... its just kids playing a game. I'm starting to get sucked in... I don't care about the money or the success but I'm starting to take it serious, more serious than it should be taken. I picked a career that was a hobby to me. I love weightlifting and I love helping people so it was the perfect fit. I used to wake up smiling, excited for each day. Excited about possibility to have an opportunity to positively influence another person's life. Maybe through weightlifting and training they would find or develop qualities they could apply to their daily life... their sport, school, work, being a better person. I think I've become like the people I criticize, I'm too focused in my own little world to see the big picture, to maintain my sanity. They've sucked me in. Now I'm becoming crazy.
Head spinning and throbbing, my vision blurred, I can't get my bearings... have I contracted their mental instability? I start desperately searching for rest, for an escape. I retreat into a familiar one. My feet on the platform and the bar in my hands. I am elsewhere. They can't touch me or my thoughts. Everything is clear now. I only feel the pain and joy weightlifting brings. Maybe thats why I like it so much because it delivers extremes... either way you are going to feel something. Sometimes I try to lift so hard/much that I'm too tired to care about anything else. But it is only temporary, at some point I have to take my adistars off. I look for another, it comes in the form of a truck that serves Mexican cuisine. Eating at the taco truck always makes me feel like I have travelled to another country. It blocks the streets and stores of Auburn from my view... it surrounds me with people that speak a language that is not my own. My devoted group of followers and I have found an escape and we fill it with laughter. But it too is temporary. Why do I seek rest from people, activities, and places in which it will not be given to me? Why don't I seek Christ? Only He can give me rest. Only He can give me an eternal perspective. Only He can give me life and life more abundantly. Are the oases I have created idols? Are they sinful? Have my escapes become addictions? I am accomplishing what I first set out to accomplish? Is it still about developing people who happen to be athletes through my daily interaction with them during training? Or have I gotten it twisted and now I'm too focused on pushing weight and correct technique (the temporary) that I've forgotten about the eternal? I've forgotten they have souls, souls that matter to God. Salvation, forgiveness, eternity, love... thats what matters not wins and losses or how much they can squat, clean, and snatch. I love the wrong things. I'm focusing on the wrong things. How did I get here? More importantly how do I get back? I need to get back to the place where God is my rock, my quiet place, my strength, my safe refuge, my comforter. To the place where I care about the person first and their competency to perform as a collegiate athlete second. I pray that God would help me find His way. I'm thankful that He hasn't given up on me.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Chew Your Food!
How many times did your parents say that to you when you were growing up? I used to pride myself in eating huge double cheese burgers in as few bites as possible. My roommate Dave and I buy and bake 2 whole chickens every week. We take turns baking them and then picking all the meat off the bones and putting them in containers to eat for lunch and dinner the rest of the week. I will openly admit that Dave does a better, more thorough job of this than I do. I do all my cooking for the week on Sunday morning so the sooner I get done the sooner I can relax and enjoy the rest of the day. As a result of my lackadaisical actions Dave and I have to be careful during the week that we pick through, carefully examine, and chew our food... or else we'll end up choking on chicken bones.
Why do you eat what people feed you?
Meaning why don't you pick through, examine, and chew up information that is presented to you. People are so quick just to take everything, accept it as truth, and memorize it without ever understanding what it means. The whole reason you chew your food is to increase the surface area of the food particles so that it is more exposed to enzymes that will further breakdown and absorb the food. In short you chew your food so your body can get more (nutrients) out of it. My favorite professor in college taught one of the hardest classes I ever took in college, Biochemistry. Her name was Avis Sylvia. She was an older lady, about 5 feet tall but she had spunk. At first I was afraid of her but after 3 weeks of class she openly admitted that her overly intimidating behavior was a ploy to scare students into dropping the course because she didn't feel like grading so many tests. She was the most challenging professor I've ever had. She would tell you the truth and sometimes it would hurt. She would tell you you weren't good enough, smart enough, etc... but it motivated me. I read everyday, I paid attention in every class, and I even found myself going to the library on Friday and Saturday nights! Because of all this hard work I was making A's... I had become the kid I always hated, the one who goes into the teacher's office to ask why they made 100 instead of 103 because they just wanted to know why their answer wasn't correct, why it wasn't good enough (I may or may not but definitely did do that). Dr. Sylvia would drill us. I'll never forget what she would always say to a student who just answered one of her questions... "Prove it!" It wasn't good enough to regurgitate some line from the textbook, she wanted to know what did it all mean? How did it all flow together? Students hated her. They would complain about her tests, "But I put everything the book and my notes said about it." They hadn't answered the question. Word vomit she called it. They saw a keyword in the question and wrote everything they ever knew or thought they knew about that word. They didn't understand how to apply all the information they had learned. They couldn't weave it all together. They knew all about the color blue and all about the color yellow but they couldn't make green. I loved her. She pushed me. She struck a nerve and found something inside of me I never knew existed. I will keep those two words with me forever... Prove it.
I've always been called a "hater." I don't care its never bothered me. I am skeptical. I chew my food. Just because you say it doesn't make it true, it doesn't make me believe it. Just because it makes sense in your head doesn't mean it makes sense in mine. I'm going to weigh it. I'm going to pick through it, examine it, chew it. If it doesn't make sense to me based on things I've learned or experienced I'm going to challenge it, wrestle with it. I'm not saying I'm always right and everyone is always wrong... it may take me a long time to chew through something tough. Like a baby bird, I may sometimes need help to chew my food. I may need someone to chew it up and give me something I can more easily understand. (Metaphorically speaking)
Why don't we question authority? Did the people in authority ask questions when they weren't in authority? Are they all knowing? Did they chew their food or did they just swallow it whole to get a grade and go on to the next class? Do we not ask questions because we don't care? I care. People question my decisions/actions at work... I try to prove it. I try to provide reason, logic, a plan, and research to show my line of thought. I could be wrong, so question me... it should only make me stronger. However, after you've interrogated me don't get upset if I ask you some questions. Why don't we ask more questions at school? At work? At church? Challenge what pastors and ministers tell us. Are they teaching from the Bible or is it their own opinion? Is it Biblical? Dave let me borrow a book of his by Rob Bell titled Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. The author talks about Christianity as a continual learning experience... a journey, if you will. We are continually learning more about God, His word, His character, His will, and the person He created us to be. Rob uses the concept of Trinity as an example. The word Trinity is not found anywhere in the Bible (check your concordance, I did... chew your food!) but the concept is supported by many scriptures. What if no one chewed through the scriptures? What if no one tried to get all the nutrients out of the Word of God? What if we stop chewing now? Wrestle with things in the scriptures, ask God to help you. I don't understand a lot of what is in the Bible and I haven't even read the whole thing. You won't be able to prove everything without a doubt... you must have faith. But I think if you look closely, listen carefully, meditate quietly you'll discover that God is speaking to you. God help me understand. God reveal more of Yourself to me, more of Your character and who you want me to be. Open my window God so I can see more of You, so I can see myself, others, and the world through Your eyes (shout out to my boy Dave-O... Dying to Live). Teach me through Your Holy Spirit. Help me receive Your word. Help it take like a seed in fertile soil.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Miguel Jorge
I live with a monster. I can't always see it but I know its there. I hear it. It follows me. He attacks household chores, errands, and schoolwork the same way he attacks kilos. He devours snatches, cleans and jerks with the same spend and intensity he consumes meat, fruit, and vegetables. Like a bull in a china shop wherever he goes... the kitchen or the weight room. He lifts large objects over his head dropping them and watching as his projectile obliterates objects in hundreds of pieces. Banana trees bend and snap as he pushes through his jungle. He rips the heads off lions. Some people run and hide from their monsters. I sit across from mine at the dinner table. Maybe I don't run because my monster is too fast. Some people tip toe around their monsters... I have named mine, Miguel Jorge.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
True Love
What is it about human nature that so desperately wants to be in love but denies and rejects the love of our Savior? Maybe we are playing hard to get. I think people want to be loved. I know people want to be in love. Think about how much of our society consists of being romantically in love... music, tv, movies, advertisements, and online dating. Everything and everyone is pushing love in your face. The media pulls and plucks your heart-strings showing you how awesome it is to be in love and making you feel like something is wrong with you if you aren't in a relationship. You want to love and you want to be loved and Jesus is available for both. We try to fill the gap in our soul meant for Jesus with human relationships and then wonder why those people don't meet our expectations... because they are flawed sinners just like you and me. People will sometimes upset you, they will commonly surprise you (but not always in a good way), and they will often let you down. They don't mean too... it just happens. Think about the times you've let someone down or hurt someone's feelings without meaning to. That's why you can't find your significant other until you've found the One... Jesus Christ. Once you've found the One then you will be equipped to find your Two (significant other). Jesus will never let you down and He will never leave or forsake you. He knows what exactly what you are going through and He can sympathize with you (Hebrews 4:15). He is love. He loves us so much (despite everything we've ever done) He willingly left heaven and became a man to die in our place so that we could become righteous and have an eternal life we don't deserve not to mention we could never earn. So this Valentine's Day whether you are single or in a relationship spend some time with the One who loves you in a way no person ever could... Jesus.
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."
- John 15:13, NKJV
"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
- 1 John 3:16, NKJV
"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
- 1 John 4:8-10, NKJV
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."
- John 15:13, NKJV
"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
- 1 John 3:16, NKJV
"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
- 1 John 4:8-10, NKJV
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
- John 3:16, NKJV
Monday, February 13, 2012
Squats are like Vegetables
"Squats are like vegetables.
They are good for you.
Most people don't like them,
But some people live off them!"
- Alex Lee
I'm a squat-a-tarian, how about you?
But seriously people ask me all the time about exercises they should do to get in better shape, to get stronger, to get faster, to jump higher, etc. Why not start with the foundation of exercise... the squat. You can squat your body weight. You can do back squats, front squats, overhead squats, globet squats, medicine ball squats, single leg squats, etc. When you squat you engage over 200 muscles! Talk about a total body, time efficient workout. Don't have time/space to do cardio? How about body weight Tabata squats?! (Tabata is an interval of 20 seconds on / 10 seconds rest repeated for 8 rounds or 4 total minutes. And don't lie to me and say you don't have 4 minutes to workout!) If you want to get strong whether you are an athlete, weekend warrior, or just someone looking for something to do in the gym... squats are right for you. Squat as low as you can keeping your chest upright, back flat, knees out and your heels flat on the ground. Don't let your chest lean forward or your heels come off the ground... both of which are signs of either anterior hip or ankle tightness/immobility. Also, don't allow your knees to buckle inward. If you continue to squat as low as you can maintaining a near vertical torso and flat heels you will start to loosen up, it's an active stretch. If you are really tight, play around with just your body weight for awhile and wait until you have gained a greater range of motion before you add too much of an external load. The goal for a good squat is to squat so the top of your thigh is below parallel with the ground while keeping your chest up (spine same angle as your shins), back flat, knees out, and heels down.
Squatting Myths:
I tried to attach a published review article from a research journal on squatting but was unable so if anyone is interested let me know and I'll send it to you! The name of the article is "Squatting Kinematics and Kinetics and Their Application to Exercise Performance" by Brad J. Schoenfeld. Below are some pictures and instructional videos of squatting and squat stretches... enjoy!
They are good for you.
Most people don't like them,
But some people live off them!"
- Alex Lee
I'm a squat-a-tarian, how about you?
But seriously people ask me all the time about exercises they should do to get in better shape, to get stronger, to get faster, to jump higher, etc. Why not start with the foundation of exercise... the squat. You can squat your body weight. You can do back squats, front squats, overhead squats, globet squats, medicine ball squats, single leg squats, etc. When you squat you engage over 200 muscles! Talk about a total body, time efficient workout. Don't have time/space to do cardio? How about body weight Tabata squats?! (Tabata is an interval of 20 seconds on / 10 seconds rest repeated for 8 rounds or 4 total minutes. And don't lie to me and say you don't have 4 minutes to workout!) If you want to get strong whether you are an athlete, weekend warrior, or just someone looking for something to do in the gym... squats are right for you. Squat as low as you can keeping your chest upright, back flat, knees out and your heels flat on the ground. Don't let your chest lean forward or your heels come off the ground... both of which are signs of either anterior hip or ankle tightness/immobility. Also, don't allow your knees to buckle inward. If you continue to squat as low as you can maintaining a near vertical torso and flat heels you will start to loosen up, it's an active stretch. If you are really tight, play around with just your body weight for awhile and wait until you have gained a greater range of motion before you add too much of an external load. The goal for a good squat is to squat so the top of your thigh is below parallel with the ground while keeping your chest up (spine same angle as your shins), back flat, knees out, and heels down.
Squatting Myths:
- Squatting is bad for your back... FALSE!
- Not if done with correct technique, as mentioned above
- Your knees shouldn't go over your toes when you squat... LIES!!
- As long as your weight is in your heels and your heels are on the ground, squat away but at the same time don't force them way forward... stay back.
- Squatting low is bad for your knees... ERRONEOUS!!!
- Squatting low actually strengthens the muscles around the knee and the ligaments that support the knee
I tried to attach a published review article from a research journal on squatting but was unable so if anyone is interested let me know and I'll send it to you! The name of the article is "Squatting Kinematics and Kinetics and Their Application to Exercise Performance" by Brad J. Schoenfeld. Below are some pictures and instructional videos of squatting and squat stretches... enjoy!
Russian weightlifter Anatoly Pisarenko squatting heavy and deep!
People in some countries don't have toilets so they have maintained the hip and ankle flexibility from their youth. Also, makes for a great place to sit if you don't have a chair. If I were to be elected President of this great nation, then toilets are out!
Squatting is safe and fun for all ages! Don't forget you could squat before you could walk!
Instructional Squat Video from California Strength
Deep Squat Stretch - a great way to loosen up!
10 minute Squat test - its good for you I promise
So now you know and knowing is half the battle... the other half is squatting in the hole! So go get warmed up and start squatting... safely of course.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
A Letter from Home
Imagine you are a soldier in a foreign land far from home. Imagine you've been deployed for countless months maybe even years, you've been separated from your home and the ones you love. To put it in a way that we can understand it in modern day America... Imagine you are in Iraq or Afghanistan. Even with advances in modern day technology one of the easiest, most consistent ways for your friends and loved ones to contact you is through letters in the mail. Your family, your significant other, and your friends would send you letters in the mail telling you about what is going on back home, keeping you in the loop, telling you how much they love you and miss you... all providing an escape for your mind. For those instants while you are reading that letter you are transported to another world. You can hear the voices of your loved ones, smell you mother's cooking, hear you friend's laughter. They serve as an oasis. They may give you encouragement, strength, and hope to carry on; knowing one day you will be able to see them and spend time with them when you return home. You would cherish these letters. Savoring them, reading them countless times as you wait in great anticipation for the next one to come. You would probably keep them some place special, some place close to your heart. Maybe in your locker, maybe under your pillow, or maybe even on your person... under your helmet or in your shirt pocket. These letters would mean the world to you. When things would get hard and times would get tough, they would encourage you to finish the task at hand because something more awaits you. They would give you hope, the hope of returning home. You would read them, study them, memorize them.
The truth is we are all far from home because this world is not our home. We are all soldiers fighting a battle (and I by no means want to take anything away from people in the military, I am very thankful for this nations military and they are true heroes... I am merely using this as a metaphor). We do not battle a visible enemy but we battle Satan, demons,[a] and the very environment we live in... full of sex, pornography, money, cars, houses, and all kinds of other shiny, deceitful idols[b]. We fight the very flesh in which we abide. We war against our temporary spiritual capsule, this clay vessel, our body[c]. How can we relax when we are at war against the world which we live and our fleshly bodies that we live in? How can we go on? God sent us Jesus Christ to be our Savior. God gave us His Holy Spirit which lives inside of us. AND God sent us a letter from our home in heaven! The Bible. Oh how we should cherish this book. We should read it daily, study it, memorize it. Let it wash us, change us, teach us, convict us, strengthen us, and give us hope. We should keep it near to us.
I am going to try not to rant here, but I apologize if I am unable to control myself. When looking for/choosing a church home, choose one that teaches the Word. Not one that reads Bible verses here and there... one that immerses itself in the reading and teaching of the Bible. I prefer exegetical Bible teaching or when the Bible is taught verse by verse through an entire chapter and the teacher investigates the history and origins of the text (original language, ex Greek, Hebrew) and studies the historical and cultural backgrounds of the author, the text, and the original audience. This allows for a better understanding of the text. Topical teaching just doesn't do it for me and if you teach through the Bible every topic under the sun is going to come forth anyways so just let it happen in God's timing. Also Bible verses are a supporting network, meaning each Bible verse supports the verses before and after it. A verse can be pulled out of it's network and twisted to mean something different than the author intended. Thats why teaching the Bible as a whole is safe where as pulling different verses out to support a topic can be dangerous. Remember pastors and ministers are flawed people too. Keep it safe, stay in the Bible. When you choose a church, question #1 should be: Do they teach the Bible? Not how metro is the worship leader? Not do I like ambiance? The atmosphere may speak to your emotions but you need something that speaks to your spirit. Not how contemporary is the music or do I like the music... the music is not about you! As long as the music is God centered then its pleasing to God. You can turn on Hillsong, Skillet, Lecrae, Michael W. Smith, Kirk Franklin, or whatever it is you like when you get in the car or when you get back home. Do they teach and put emphasis on the living and powerful, eternally life changing text... the Bible.
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
- Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
The word of God is alive. Its still applicable and practical today. It's still changing lives. Maybe the reason we have so many luke-warm Christians and luke-warm churches is because no Christians are reading their Bibles because no churches are teaching the Bible. The Bible will cut deep to the core of you (even more so than Baxter... Anchorman reference). It will pierce you. It's convicting. We are sinners, sometimes God has to reveal our sin so that it doesn't kill us. The Bible can keep you from sin or sin can keep you from the Bible. It won't always feel good to hear the word or read the word because it contradicts the message of the world and our flesh... but the fault lies within us not it. We need God to use the Bible to trim the fat out of our lives. It discerns and criticizes our thoughts and our hearts. I've heard it said that when you read the Bible, the Bible is reading you. I know I have terrible thoughts and I know I have a selfish and lustful heart. I hope through Bible, God will continue to change me! And I pray that you will read it and give it a chance that it/He may change you too! If you don't know God you can't love God. If you don't know God then how can He change you. Get to know Him, I urge you... read the Bible.
Footnotes
[a] "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
- Ephesians 6:12, NKJV
[b] "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."
- 1 John 2:15-17, NKJV
[c]"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
- Romans 7:15-24, NKJV
The truth is we are all far from home because this world is not our home. We are all soldiers fighting a battle (and I by no means want to take anything away from people in the military, I am very thankful for this nations military and they are true heroes... I am merely using this as a metaphor). We do not battle a visible enemy but we battle Satan, demons,[a] and the very environment we live in... full of sex, pornography, money, cars, houses, and all kinds of other shiny, deceitful idols[b]. We fight the very flesh in which we abide. We war against our temporary spiritual capsule, this clay vessel, our body[c]. How can we relax when we are at war against the world which we live and our fleshly bodies that we live in? How can we go on? God sent us Jesus Christ to be our Savior. God gave us His Holy Spirit which lives inside of us. AND God sent us a letter from our home in heaven! The Bible. Oh how we should cherish this book. We should read it daily, study it, memorize it. Let it wash us, change us, teach us, convict us, strengthen us, and give us hope. We should keep it near to us.
I am going to try not to rant here, but I apologize if I am unable to control myself. When looking for/choosing a church home, choose one that teaches the Word. Not one that reads Bible verses here and there... one that immerses itself in the reading and teaching of the Bible. I prefer exegetical Bible teaching or when the Bible is taught verse by verse through an entire chapter and the teacher investigates the history and origins of the text (original language, ex Greek, Hebrew) and studies the historical and cultural backgrounds of the author, the text, and the original audience. This allows for a better understanding of the text. Topical teaching just doesn't do it for me and if you teach through the Bible every topic under the sun is going to come forth anyways so just let it happen in God's timing. Also Bible verses are a supporting network, meaning each Bible verse supports the verses before and after it. A verse can be pulled out of it's network and twisted to mean something different than the author intended. Thats why teaching the Bible as a whole is safe where as pulling different verses out to support a topic can be dangerous. Remember pastors and ministers are flawed people too. Keep it safe, stay in the Bible. When you choose a church, question #1 should be: Do they teach the Bible? Not how metro is the worship leader? Not do I like ambiance? The atmosphere may speak to your emotions but you need something that speaks to your spirit. Not how contemporary is the music or do I like the music... the music is not about you! As long as the music is God centered then its pleasing to God. You can turn on Hillsong, Skillet, Lecrae, Michael W. Smith, Kirk Franklin, or whatever it is you like when you get in the car or when you get back home. Do they teach and put emphasis on the living and powerful, eternally life changing text... the Bible.
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
- Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
The word of God is alive. Its still applicable and practical today. It's still changing lives. Maybe the reason we have so many luke-warm Christians and luke-warm churches is because no Christians are reading their Bibles because no churches are teaching the Bible. The Bible will cut deep to the core of you (even more so than Baxter... Anchorman reference). It will pierce you. It's convicting. We are sinners, sometimes God has to reveal our sin so that it doesn't kill us. The Bible can keep you from sin or sin can keep you from the Bible. It won't always feel good to hear the word or read the word because it contradicts the message of the world and our flesh... but the fault lies within us not it. We need God to use the Bible to trim the fat out of our lives. It discerns and criticizes our thoughts and our hearts. I've heard it said that when you read the Bible, the Bible is reading you. I know I have terrible thoughts and I know I have a selfish and lustful heart. I hope through Bible, God will continue to change me! And I pray that you will read it and give it a chance that it/He may change you too! If you don't know God you can't love God. If you don't know God then how can He change you. Get to know Him, I urge you... read the Bible.
Footnotes
[a] "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
- Ephesians 6:12, NKJV
[b] "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."
- 1 John 2:15-17, NKJV
[c]"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
- Romans 7:15-24, NKJV
Saturday, February 11, 2012
We Were Shipwrecked
Imagine you are shipwrecked in the middle of an ocean. Just floating... drifting all alone in the middle of the sea. Dark blue water stretches as far as the eye can see in every direction. Darkness falls. Close your eyes and picture that for a second. I don't think we can accurately imagine how frustratingly desperate we would feel in that situation. Hopeless... empty. All of a sudden a bright light shines down upon you and a voice calls out your name. Someone has spotted you! You are saved! How your heart would explode with joy and simultaneously you would feel overcome with relief. When you got to shore and regained your strength you'd probably want to meet the one who rescued you. You'd want to say thank you, maybe even try to repay them some how. You'd be excited to discover that your rescuer had been waiting for the opportunity to spend time with you! He wants to spend time with you.
Most of you are shipwrecked and you don't even know it. Maybe you've been floating for so long it just feels normal. Just drifting through life without any direction, identity, or fulfillment. You are lost and empty. Maybe you don't think you shipwrecked... maybe you think your life raft is a vessel that allows you to search every avenue to fill the gap in your soul. But life rafts aren't made for voyages or expeditions. They are temporary solutions to an eternal problem. The problem you keep trying to avoid is you are shipwrecked and you are drowning in selfishness, pride, addiction, lust, and hate. You've been treading water for so long and you are too tired to fight for you life anymore. The waters engulf you as you submerge and sink closer and closer to rock bottom. Its a terrible story but its the harsh reality for a lot of people. It would be a tragic ending to a movie, however this not the end... there's good news! The light appears and it has a name... Jesus. He is that light, that voice deep inside your soul that quietly prods and whispers, "There's more than this." He lifts your limp body out of the water and places you gently on the shore of forever. He gives you hope... He gives you a future. He is the breath that fills your lungs, reviving you to consciousness. You are no longer blind... now you can see! You are no longer empty... now you are full! And what's even more incredible is the fact that before you have a chance to love Him, He loves you. Despite every mistake you've ever made, despite every mean intentioned thought you've ever had, despite it all... He loves you and wants to spend time with you. Jesus is your Savior. Won't you spend some time with Him? I was shipwrecked but Jesus saved me.
Most of you are shipwrecked and you don't even know it. Maybe you've been floating for so long it just feels normal. Just drifting through life without any direction, identity, or fulfillment. You are lost and empty. Maybe you don't think you shipwrecked... maybe you think your life raft is a vessel that allows you to search every avenue to fill the gap in your soul. But life rafts aren't made for voyages or expeditions. They are temporary solutions to an eternal problem. The problem you keep trying to avoid is you are shipwrecked and you are drowning in selfishness, pride, addiction, lust, and hate. You've been treading water for so long and you are too tired to fight for you life anymore. The waters engulf you as you submerge and sink closer and closer to rock bottom. Its a terrible story but its the harsh reality for a lot of people. It would be a tragic ending to a movie, however this not the end... there's good news! The light appears and it has a name... Jesus. He is that light, that voice deep inside your soul that quietly prods and whispers, "There's more than this." He lifts your limp body out of the water and places you gently on the shore of forever. He gives you hope... He gives you a future. He is the breath that fills your lungs, reviving you to consciousness. You are no longer blind... now you can see! You are no longer empty... now you are full! And what's even more incredible is the fact that before you have a chance to love Him, He loves you. Despite every mistake you've ever made, despite every mean intentioned thought you've ever had, despite it all... He loves you and wants to spend time with you. Jesus is your Savior. Won't you spend some time with Him? I was shipwrecked but Jesus saved me.
We Were Shipwrecks - ilia
(good God-honoring rock is hard to find!)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Happy Birthday Em!
I want to wish my good friend Em a happy birthday! Em is an amazing person. She is an athlete I worked with at NC State. She is truly a team player; always putting the goals/needs of the team first. She plays so hard; she is always hustling, always giving her best whether its at practice, in the weight room, during conditioning, or in a game. She's had 3 knee surgeries to repair her ACL. Anyone who has ever had an ACL surgery knows how grueling the rehabilitation process is. Em once had surgery on her knee, completed the rehab, and the first day she was cleared to participate in activity she torn her ACL again! The first day she was able to play basketball she tore it again. The first day!!! In the first pick up game. I've had a minor surgery on my shoulders, that surgery and rehab pales in comparison to what she went through and if that happened to me I would've quit. I would've given up. Right when she worked her way back to almost normal she had to immediately start all over again. That surgery and all those days of rehab were for nothing... nothing! I can't imagine how frustrating and discouraging that must have been. She wasn't sure if she would ever play again. I remember a hot summer day on the track when the basketball team was running sprints. Her knee was noticeably bothering her. My boss made her stop running. She burst into tears. I remember it so vividly, while all of her teammates were whining and complaining about having to run and it being hot... she's crying because she CAN'T run. I love Em's passion, her drive... her heart. It's inspiring. She never quit fighting. She got discouraged at times but she kept a positive attitude through it all.
When asked in an interview about her knee surgeries and if she had ever thought about quitting, Em replied: "Quitting has never been an option. It never even entered my mind. That’s always been my personality; I’m not going to quit. Basketball was my first love, and nothing can keep me away from it." She looked for the good in her situation and she found it. She found an opportunity to watch and learn. To soak everything in.
Now she is in the starting lineup every game for the Lady Wolfpack. A few weeks ago she scored a career high 16 points against Boston College. I am so proud of her. She is relentless. So many times it would have been easy for her to quit, it would have made sense to quit, no one would have blamed her but she didn't. She didn't because she had a dream and it came true. I hope she relishes every moment. I hope she has an out of body experience where just for a second, she stops and looks around and realizes she did it, she made it. She wasn't sure she'd ever play again but she had hope and she never gave up. She kept battling. I can't express how happy I am for her. I love to watch her play. I saw what she went through. I saw how hard she worked... the blood, sweat, and tears. She deserves it and I hope it makes her heart glad. I hope what she went through has made her a better person. Good luck with the rest of your season Em! Keep playing hard and never become complacent! I am so proud of you. Miss you Nighthawk.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EM!!!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
An Unhealthy Relationship
Everyone has seen a friend go through one. We've all witnessed one up close and personal. Because of this friend we've had to experience unnecessary drama. We've heard their sob stories; we've wiped away their tears. We've even given advice, "You're better than this." or " You don't deserve to be treated that way." We've tried our best to persuade... to reason, but to no avail. When its good its sooo good but when its bad, its terrible... unhealthy. The thing is... its rarely good. Emotional abuse, God forbid physical abuse. We've all watched it unfold before our eyes in our friend's lives, vowing that it would never happen to us. We've all been pushed to the point that we were forced to quit helping, quit listening. So exhausted from all the drama they are voluntarily enduring. That will never be me. I will never let that happen. Until one day you wake up... and you are in one. You didn't even know it! Everything was going great, normal, perfect... or so it seemed.
I came to this realization today with weightlifting. I'm not able to lift often enough or probably heavy enough to experience too much physical pain but the emotional pain is all too real. Last week I couldn't really lift because of my hamstring. Of course all I wanted to do was lift. I had a craving, a yearning... I was like an addict having withdraws. Monday I felt healed up and I lifted... it was great. I pr'd (set a personal record) on snatch. I was high. When its good, its so good!
Just two days later, I'm tired. I hadn't missed a snatch yet and out of nowhere before I attempted the next one... I got dome'd up. My mind declared that I wouldn't make it and whats worse, my body listened. I hate that feeling. I had lost before the fight even started. Why does my body listen? I want it to rebel. I want to flip the off switch... shut my mind down and allow my body to do something it has done countless times. Then I could prove my mind wrong. My horizons would become endless. But I'm sitting there defeated... angry. The body is capable only if the mind is willing.
Later I wondered, is it weightlifting's fault or is it my own? Human nature is so quick to point the finger. It's always the other person's fault; it is impossible for blame to be placed on me. Is this relationship merely revealing my true character? Close relationships sometimes bring out a person's true qualities... good or bad. Now I feel even worse. This means I have to face the facts... I quit. The bar didn't make me. The weights didn't tell me to. I got scared. Why? I've lifted it before. I quit. That's what I did yesterday but that's not who I am. I can change. There's always the next attempt, the next lift... there's always today. I'm not breaking up, I've got too much invested. Maybe we'll go to counselling. All my friends sigh and roll their eyes. Maybe they will quit on me but I won't quit on weightlifting. I love it.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
I am Small
I've always been small. I work with college athletes... I'm smaller now than I've ever been. Female volleyball players tower over me. I stand in the middle of them and I can't see daylight. I DESPISE being small! I've always wanted to be bigger. I love lifting weights. It's the only time/place I remotely like being small. I thoroughly enjoy the dumbfounded look on a person's face right after they've seen me hit a lift... wondering, "How did he do that? or But, he's so small?"
[Just a side note, I'm not that strong and I'm quite aware that I'm not that strong... the two people I live with put me in my place daily (again I hate being small). Also thats why I slam the bar every time I hit a big lift (for me)... I fight those weights everyday and when I win they are going to know about it!]
However today I realized we are all small. We just look at our own lives through a microscope so our problems, accomplishments, etc appear large. They aren't... we are small. I realized this in the way I look at the church. I see black and white. I read and listen to English. Haha so small. The church is every color, people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Think about that. Listen to a sermon in Mosquito (a tribal language in Honduras), listen to a worship song in French, except... hold on you are in West Africa, listen to someone read the Bible in Chinese... by the grace of God I've been able to do all of these things but still I slowly become near-sighted. I have to remind myself I am small. The good news is God is big. How do I know this? I flew from Raleigh to Atlanta to Puerto Lempira, Honduras to somewhere else in Honduras where we landed on a dirt runway, then took an hour long ride in a truck, then got in a hollowed out tree with a motor attached to it and traveled 7 hours down a long, twisting river and when I finally arrived at my destination, God was there. A year later when I went to Benin, Africa I bumped into Him again. Oh and in China when I was sure I was wasting my time on what I thought would be a pointless mission trip... God showed up there too.
Everyday I ride my bike less than a mile to where I work. Upon arriving at work I stay in the same building (mainly the same room) for 10-12 hours before riding back home to my apartment. Let me remind you this is all taking place in rural Alabama. Unconsciously I zoom in using my microscope. I hate being small, I make my life big. Yesterday morning I watched a youtube video set in Africa (below). Immediately I shrunk down to size. Observing creation always makes me feel so small. Cliffs, mountains, valleys, fields, deserts, the ocean, outer space... I am so small, but at the same time I began to feel comforted. My God is big. My God made all of that and its beautiful. If this earth is so inconceivably gorgeous, then what will heaven be like?! I am small! I am weak! BUT He is big! He is strong! He can take small things and do really big things. Remember that time He fed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 small fish... I know I forget about it too. I think it's because my eye is fixed so tightly to the lens of my microscope that I can't see the big picture. He can use this small life to do big things, but I have to let Him. Lord, please allow me be willing. Help me to be willing.
I totally got this from someone else's blog but I wanted to share it because I thought it was awesome... hope you do too
[Just a side note, I'm not that strong and I'm quite aware that I'm not that strong... the two people I live with put me in my place daily (again I hate being small). Also thats why I slam the bar every time I hit a big lift (for me)... I fight those weights everyday and when I win they are going to know about it!]
However today I realized we are all small. We just look at our own lives through a microscope so our problems, accomplishments, etc appear large. They aren't... we are small. I realized this in the way I look at the church. I see black and white. I read and listen to English. Haha so small. The church is every color, people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Think about that. Listen to a sermon in Mosquito (a tribal language in Honduras), listen to a worship song in French, except... hold on you are in West Africa, listen to someone read the Bible in Chinese... by the grace of God I've been able to do all of these things but still I slowly become near-sighted. I have to remind myself I am small. The good news is God is big. How do I know this? I flew from Raleigh to Atlanta to Puerto Lempira, Honduras to somewhere else in Honduras where we landed on a dirt runway, then took an hour long ride in a truck, then got in a hollowed out tree with a motor attached to it and traveled 7 hours down a long, twisting river and when I finally arrived at my destination, God was there. A year later when I went to Benin, Africa I bumped into Him again. Oh and in China when I was sure I was wasting my time on what I thought would be a pointless mission trip... God showed up there too.
Everyday I ride my bike less than a mile to where I work. Upon arriving at work I stay in the same building (mainly the same room) for 10-12 hours before riding back home to my apartment. Let me remind you this is all taking place in rural Alabama. Unconsciously I zoom in using my microscope. I hate being small, I make my life big. Yesterday morning I watched a youtube video set in Africa (below). Immediately I shrunk down to size. Observing creation always makes me feel so small. Cliffs, mountains, valleys, fields, deserts, the ocean, outer space... I am so small, but at the same time I began to feel comforted. My God is big. My God made all of that and its beautiful. If this earth is so inconceivably gorgeous, then what will heaven be like?! I am small! I am weak! BUT He is big! He is strong! He can take small things and do really big things. Remember that time He fed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 small fish... I know I forget about it too. I think it's because my eye is fixed so tightly to the lens of my microscope that I can't see the big picture. He can use this small life to do big things, but I have to let Him. Lord, please allow me be willing. Help me to be willing.
I totally got this from someone else's blog but I wanted to share it because I thought it was awesome... hope you do too
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Debut
I've always battled with the idea of blogging. I've had many friends tell me that I should start a blog, but I considered it vain and pompous. Who really cares what I'm doing or what my opinion is concerning various subjects. It's the same reason I don't have a twitter account and I rarely put up a status on facebook. Recently, while reading one of our favorite weightlifter's blogs, my roommate and good friend Dave and I began tossing around the idea of blogging ourselves. I began thinking about it daily. A way to share thoughts, ideas, experiences, opinions, views, etc... about God, about weightlifting, about music, about things I find funny, about this life that is a constant journey of growth and education. Maybe I am wrong about things and people will read this and provide me with insight. Maybe I can help someone else. Maybe someone will help me and I will write about it and it will in turn help someone else. I enjoy helping people. It's why I love coaching. It's what Jesus commands us to do. Anyways here goes nothing... please don't get offended, these are my opinions (don't interpret them as facts)... I like to think I'm always open to the fact that I could be wrong, so feel free to let me know when you feel that way. Thank you for reading and thank you for sharing...
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