Running with someone faster than you...

Hey all. Well, I've been busy, but this has been in my head...... I've been trying to go running, cause I'm thinking about doing cross country this year. Exciting! When I go running, I take my dog Shelby with me. Shelby is a young, furry, fast, ball of energy. So whenever I'm thinking about slowing down, I see that little white puppy butt running in front of me and I speed up. This dog is crazy! Just when I think that she must be getting tired too, she'll see a bird or something and go sprint for a few minutes, then come back and go 'slow' with me. Honestly, I would be running so much slower if that dog wasn't in front of me!! I think we all need to run with someone faster than us, in life I mean. Of course, sometimes we have to be the fast one for someone else. But, even though Shelby is faster, I don't just blindly follow her. She often gets distracted by sticks, cat poop, cows, leaves.... etc. So, when she stops for a moment, I keep running. I can see the path, so I know I should keep following it, I just call her name as I go. Am I making sense? How I mean for this to apply is that sometimes people we look up to make mistakes. We have to watch the path ourselves because we have to keep running even if they don't. But, we don't abandon them, we just keep running as we call their name. So more practically- Hang out with Christians that are stronger than you. Be the strong one for some people. Read the Bible (Know the path) 'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path' And of course, the ultimate spiritual runner- Jesus. When it seems like there isn't anyone sharing God's light, be the one. But you have to be keeping your eyes on Christ, and watching your path. When you aren't sure, read about Jesus and see what He did when He ran the path.

Time managment- and how to waste time....

Okay. Let's be up front. Most of us have days where we're really busy, and days where we accomplish nothing. Now- I love days where your schedule is open, and you can just be lazy. Everything in moderation right? But- If we feel guilty after wasting a whole day [unless you totally earned it!] then shouldn't we feel guilty about days where we don't have a relaxing moment all day??? I mean sure, we get a lot done. But if you fall into bed exhausted and unable to think, is that really any better? I know we have things we have to do. It's important to prioritize our tasks, manage our time, and get them done... Maybe we need to learn a balance. We shouldn't be running on empty! Maybe we should learn to take a few minutes [or hours!] where we just... chill. I have two dogs. And I love them, by the way. And I love watching them take a break. After working [okay, playing] really hard, they just lay down. They don't look hurt, sick, or over tired, they don't wait till they can hardly move. They play really hard, then take a nap. If I leave the door open, they'll go outside and just lay in the sunshine. It's one of the most relaxing things I've ever seen. I think we can learn from them! Today I got up early and went to a work out class. Then I went and did hard cleaning at the church. Then I helped get ready for a meeting. And by 8:00? I was TIRED. I was sitting at the playground [waiting for my ride home] and two of my friends were there. We sat on top of the playground [cause we're cool!] and just talked. We laughed pretty hard, talked to some local kids, and didn't accomplish anything. And you know what? It rocked. And sometimes we forget to take the time to do things like that! We GO,GO,GO all day long. At the end of the day? We got a lot done, maybe helped people, and feel good about that. But if you are exhausted, mentally or physically, take a break! Sing in the car. Read your Bible. Sit on your bed. Read a book. Sit in the sun and be quiet. Go for a lazy walk. Pray. Paint a picture. Eat a meal in a quiet room. Do something that doesn't require you to be thinking super hard. Let your mind wander! Take a few minutes where you aren't talking to people, or doing something that 'has to be done'. Just let your whole self rest. Side benefit- taking a few minutes to be quiet and think is supposed to help you sleep better at night! After all, if you've let your mind wander during the day, you don't have to do it at night! So the over all lesson? You deserve a daily break. Don't run yourself so hard for weeks that you get totally run down and have to sleep for a week. Just take a few minutes everyday to unwind! 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul' Psalm 23:1-2 P.S. Thanks to Taylor for those pictures! Also, those pictures of my dogs are like two years old, when Shelby was still a puppy! But, that's Samantha and Shelby taking some down time!