Day 7! Step by Step; Bite by Bite!

Yesterday as I was out walking the track, I remembered the way I was taught to train for a marathon.  We increased our distance by increments on a daily basis.  Nothing too hard.  I personally went by time rather than distance because I did most of my running on the open road.  Most days I would try to increase my time by five or ten minutes from the day before. Nothing too hard.  Then on Saturday, I would run double the time of my average for the week. That was it.  Little by little I grew stronger and ran farther.  Over the months of training, I was delighted to discover that running ten miles was nothing!  After the marathon (26.2 miles) I realized that if I really trained I could even do a 50 miler!  The secret was perseverance!

I was encouraged on this 60 day challenge, because I am finding that the small incremental increases in exercise are making a difference.  I added the double the distance in my walk yesterday, and it was not that hard.

The same principle is helping me with food choices.  I have been asking God what to eat, but I still need to watch how much I eat.  So, say I want two eggs and toast; instead, I cut back to one egg and toast.  If I use one tablespoon of butter, cut back to one half of that.  I am seeing this begin to work!  And I am increasing the time I spend eating.  The discipline of putting the fork down between bites, is slowing me down.  This gives my body time to register..."I am full!"

Today, I am thinking of that training schedule and how I can apply it to my spiritual walk.  More than 30 years ago, I learned about the different spiritual disciplines from Richard Foster.  The inner disciples include meditation and prayer, study and fasting (and I add personal worship here).  The outward disciplines are simplicity, solitude, submission and service and then there are the corporate disciplines: confession, worship, guidance and celebration.

I can see where I can add time or action in each area and I see God's wisdom in giving us a Sabbath day of rest.  If I double my daily average of time spent in each of these areas I will have some Glory-filled Sundays!!