Limits

Boot Camp 2009 rocked into my life and kicked my butt. My friend Becky invited me to come along with her to the Boot Camp she is participating in. Even though they were in their last week of class, I thought for sure that visitors would catch a break. Was I ever wrong! We moved from backward lunges, crab walking on the asphalt all while keeping paper plates under our feet, jumping over cones, 100 sit-ups, 50 push ups and so much more. I complained the entire time and came so close to quitting. By the end of the 1 hour class that started at 5:45am, I was trembling and feeling sick. What is amazing is that I managed to finish the hour workout and I am still feeling the pain a few days later. However, I have felt pain in muscles that I did not know even existed. In the end, it was a great day learning how much I can push myself despite the pain.

As I have with so many things in life, I wondered how I could take this experience and apply it to my current life and there are so many areas. I thought about all of the times when I have wanted to quit different things because of the pain and stress. How many times has the Lord pushed me in my life to trust Him but I grumble and complain the entire time and try to quit or I do quit but once it is over, I look back and realize how much I learned about myself.

The Boot Camp class pushed me to my absolute limits but I realized that we are all going to be pushed to the limit in life more than one time but we will always survive. There will be challenges, struggles, pain, fear, feeling sick and much more but we always grow from our experiences.

Extreme Fit Training

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Hopeful Below the Water

Do you ever feel like you are struggling to keep your life above water? You can see the bright future and the many blessings in life but it still feels like you are just under the surface of the water but you can't seem to reach the top. I have been struggling with balancing married life, work and grad school. I feel sometimes that I wake up struggling to catch my breath and I go to bed still trying to catch my breath. I lose my temper easily, I immediately say no to everything at work before even thinking about what I should say, I stay stressed out about my thesis and sometimes I just lose hope in things ever calming down. I am ready for peace and times to not be so hard. However, God has a different plan. A few weeks ago in church the pastor spoke about the fact that we need to prepare for hard times and we, as Christians, are not immune to despair and loss of hope. A verse that really spoke to my heart was

1 Peter 1:3-Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The sermon spoke about the idea that grace comes when we are mindful of God and we need to include God in the equation of life. I need to ask myself "what is my concept of God?" My concept of God shapes everything. My concept of God has been that there is no mercy being shown and I just want a break from things in life being so hard. However, I am told to endure the hard times in life with patience and graciousness. God is in the best and worst moments in life and I should never give in to despair, resentment, bitterness or anger. I must demonstrate my faith in God to those around me, be mindful of God all of the time, and know that there is a purpose for where I am.

Where are you in life and what is your concept of God? Where is your focus?