Discipline

I ran 11 miles the other day.  It wasn't really fun, but I had to do it if I'm going to run the half marathon I registered for.  And I was thinking that training for a run is a fitting activity for lent.  It is sacrifice.  It is discipline. 

 

Then I was thinking about how discipline in one area of our life flows over into other areas--like how if I can make myself run 11 miles even if it doesn't feel the greatest, it's easier to have the discipline to pray when I don't feel like it, and vice versa.

 

I was listening the day before that run to a talk given by Fr. Larry Richards to the men of our diocese about a month ago.  This was what stood out to me (actually, it smacked me in the middle of the forehead):

 

Which of us, if our children were being attacked, or if physical harm threatened to come to our spouse wouldn't step in to intervene, even lay down our life for our loved ones if necessary?  Yet every day we leave our loved ones wide open to the enemy without protection.  The enemy sneaks and prowls to destroy our families, and we are lazy, sitting on our butts, and too foolish or selfish to spend time in prayer to cover them.  We say "I'm too tired",  "I'll do it later",  "I'll watch this tv show first",  "Tonight's too busy, I'll do it tomorrow", "(you insert your excuse here)". 

 

It's amazing what that visual image does to my motivation to pray more. 

 

Lord, help me to be disciplined.

"It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that. "

1. I cooked my husband a birthday dinner complete with rhubarb pie for dessert and he felt loved.

2. I managed to get to stations of the cross with Mary this week with my 8-month-old in tow.

3. I kept the sap pan filled and the fire going for cooking it down while my husband was away at work.

What are your successes this week? This is a great exercise in holding ourselves accountable and patting ourselves on the back. Mothering and homemaking don't have built in performance reviews and bonuses. The internet can be a source of support and encouragement. Let's encourage one another in our small successes. Share them at Faith and Family Live!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to King Nebuchadnezzar: "There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up." (emphasis mine)

But even if he will not.

Lord, give me the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

25 random things about me...

I was tagged on facebook to write 25 random things about me. Thought I'd put it here, too, because my husband is not on facebook and there may be things here that he may be interested to learn.

1. I love to go fast on the ground--cars, snowmobiles, ATVs--anything motorized.

2. I took a motorcycle class at the tech but never got my license because at the time I didn't know anyone I could enjoy going riding with.

3. I would love to be a school bus driver some day.

4. I seriously considered becoming a semi-truck driver in college (sense a theme here with motorized things?). I was too shy to talk on the CB so I ditched that idea.

5. Speaking of shy, I'm not anymore. I used to be painfully shy and quiet, though!

6. I have been present with several people at the exact moment of their death. It is a very sacred moment.

7. I haven't met an alcohol I didn't like.

8. I grew up Lutheran and Christian Reformed, attended a non-denominational church for about 20 years, and converted to the catholic faith 3 years ago. I have never felt closer to God than I do now.

9. I love to climb trees.

10. I don't like flying and think I would absolutely hate spelunking. I can't really think of any other phobias except maybe mucous. And that's not really a phobia--it just involuntarily triggers my gag reflex. And in the 15 years of hospice work I've done, I've had many people show me what they have spit/coughed up thinking I was the nurse instead of the social worker.

11. I'm a nerd in a pretty body. I like math and arctic expedition novels and historical fiction and graphs. (Ok--any other nerds reading this--don't get mad. I AM stereotyping, but not in a way that intends mockery)

12. I can not think of a single person I've ever met that I did not find something to appreciate. And I've met a lot of people. They are so interesting and I love their stories. I find it especially interesting to listen to the stories they choose to tell. I guess that's the social worker in me.

13. I would love to take a kayaking/camping trip along the shore of Lake Superior in Upper Michigan.

14. I really really like to shoot guns--any size, shape. The louder the better. I like to shoot my bow, too.

15. I would like to run a marathon once in my life just to say I did it.

16. I often think I'm dull.

17. Ever since I can remember (age 8 maybe?) I've sought to grow closer to God. Except for about 2 years in college, I can honestly say I've done that my whole life and continue to do so. When I get to heaven, I so want to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been a woman after my own heart."

18. I'm running out of things about me. See--I knew I was dull. Just thought of something--I wear name brand clothes, but most are purchased at Goodwill, Saver's, or rummage sales.

19. I pray this prayer every morning: "Lord, I do not know what will happen to me today. I only know that nothing will happen that was not foreseen by you and directed to my greater good for all eternity. I adore your holy and unfathomable plans and submit to them with all my heart out of my love for you. Amen." A hospice patient many years ago dying of ALS asked me to say this prayer for him on his deathbed. He had me repeat it over and over for about 20 minutes until he fell asleep. He died 2 days later. I still think of him.

20. I find life is constant submission to God and practice in self-denial. Especially motherhood. And it is sooooo worth it. There is freedom in God's will.

21. I'm an excellent speler (ha! How many of you caught that?) and can actually visualize in my brain how a word is spelled. I once lost a 6th grade spelling bee in Mr. Herman's class with the word aspirin. I spelled it a-s-p-r-i-n. I've spelled it right ever since.

22. I love journals--not so much journalling, but the journals themselves. There is so much potential for a pretty journal, or one with nice crisp lines, or one with an embroidered leather cover. I have lots of empty ones just waiting for the right thing to journal about.

23. On a dreary, down day, give me a closet or cupboard to clean out and reorganize and I'm rejuvenated and happy.

24. I've never let a cigarette touch my lips. But I occasionally have dreams that I smoke, that I can feel the smoke going into my lungs when I inhale, and that I enjoy it in the dream. Weird. I have puffed on a cigar around a campfire on occasion, though.

25. I don't care for chocolate and I really dislike malts and hot fudge.

She left Samuel there.

This sentence comes out of the first book of Samuel, chapter 1. Hannah prays to God for a baby and promises Him she would give the baby back to Him. After he was weaned (age 3? 4?), she brought Samuel to the temple of the Lord to fulfill her vow.

She. left. him. there.

As much as I say I know my boys belong to God, and not to me, I ask myself if I'm really all that good in living that out. Have I completely given them back to Him? How much do I unneccesarily hold on to?

Could I leave them there?

How can I hold on so tightly to someone who was never mine in the first place?