We Have Not Because We Ask Not

Why did I wait until a few days before the Marathon to ask for prayer? When I finally sent an E-mail out to folks called, “I’ll pray for you, you pray for me” with a list of prayer requests for the Marathon, the response was overwhelming and overwhelmingly positive! (By the way, one prayer request I gave was that people would pray that the Lord would hide the sun behind the clouds most of the day so that we would have cool weather…and OH MY GOD DID HE DO JUST THAT!!!! We started at 7:25am and the sun did not even make an 'appearance' until around 12:30pm AND EVEN THEN, the Lord wouldn’t allow it to just be 'all out' and make us uncomfortable. The clouds kept covering the sun up as if the sun and the clouds were playing peek-a-boo, AND there was still a cool breeze the entire day!!! LOOK AT GOD!!!!)

But what took me so long to ask for help? Women, who lied to us and told us that we are suppose to have everything together all of the TIME and if we don’t, then we ought to just figure it out because every other woman does have it all together so why shouldn’t we? Who told us that lie? In that E-mail that I sent, my asking people to send me an encouraging word between Noon and 2pm of the Marathon, when I knew it would be the hardest, WAS ONE OF THE BEST IDEAS THE LORD EVER GAVE ME!!! Those encouraging text messages were SO VERY helpful!!! And some people didn’t wait until Noon so I was actually receiving the messages for most of the event!! THANK YOU! It turned out that those text messages were just as much the fuel and energy that I needed as were the energy chews that I chewed throughout the day.

Guess what? You aren’t the only mother who took fast food to her child for lunch because you still needed to go grocery shopping. You aren’t the only mother whose child wasn’t dressed up for picture day because you didn’t even know it was picture day. You are not the only woman that still serves leftovers! Your children are not the only children who have a T.V. dinner every once in a while. You aren’t the only woman who has elderly parents to care for and you are struggling. You aren’t the only wife who could really use a date night with her husband. You aren’t the only woman who needs to learn how to say ‘No’ the next time the folks at church or her child’s school, ask her to volunteer to do something. You are not the only woman who just can't seem to find the right nine-to-five for her.

As we choose to live healthy, let’s choose to ask for help when we need it. We all need help from time to time. And here’s an idea, since we know our girlfriends are usually reluctant to ask for help, just like we are, then let’s start asking more often if there is anything we can do to help. Especially, if we’ve ‘been there done that’ and we have an idea of what the person is not telling us when we say, “How are you doing?” and they say, “Fine”. Also, since this is a two-way street, when someone asks us if we need help, let’s not be too proud to say, ‘Yes….as a matter of fact, I really could use some help.’

Yes, these bodies are our temples, but sometimes if we have some help, we can do a lot better job of taking care of them.

Life Happens

IT'S MARATHON MORNING!!
Morning Devotional? CHECK!
Foot Orthotics? CHECK!
Bib w/participant number? CHECK!
Timer thingy for my shoe?CHECK!
Scriptures to wear on my back?CHECK!
Powerade?CHECK!
Kiss from Hubby?CHECK!
Driving in circles between closed off streets before finally being able to get on the freeway? YIKES! NOT ON THE LIST!
Exit off the freeway CLOSED earlier than they said it would?!YIKES! NOT ON THE LIST!
Parked where I did not plan to park?! YIKES! NOT ON THE LIST!
Slight cramp (not enough to stop me; but just enough to annoy/distract me) in my right calf from the beginning of the day and throughout?YIKES! NOT ON THE LIST!
Arthritic zinger in my right hip at the beginning of the day?YIKES! NOT ON THE LIST!
Having to STOP FOUR TIMES to use port-a-potty!!!!! YIKES! NOT ON THE LIST!
Now, WHERE DID I PARK MY CAR?!! YIKES!! Not on the list!

Sometimes as we move forward to a lifestyle of healthy living LIFE HAPPENS! Sometimes we will have our healthy breakfast planned but then we oversleep and grab whatever is quickest! Sometimes we will have the perfect healthy lunch planned and get to work and discover that lunch is being catered for everyone! Sometimes we will have the perfect dinner planned but little Johnny’s game goes to overtime so it’s fast food here we come! Sometimes we will have our exercise clothes in the car, drive STRAIGHT to the gym after work only to find EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER is there too!! Life happens! Life may happen but we are still in it! We must continue to make healthy choices in spite of an unplanned event that may occur. An unhealthy breakfast does not mean the remainder of the day might as well be made up of poor choices. An unhealthy DAY does not mean the rest of the week might as well be made up of poor choices. An unhealthy WEEK does not mean the rest of the month might as well be made up of poor choices.

I SO WANTED to be finished by a certain time today! I admit; I am really disappointed with that aspect of the day. But! As my performance was developing I did not allow that reality to stop me from pushing, and pumping, and moving as hard as I could throughout the day. WHY? Because I was still in it! We’re still in this thing! And, I was reminded by the back of SOMEONE ELSE’ T-shirt, the race is not given to the swift! Not only was I still in it, but the scriptures on my back were STILL blessing people whether I was going to make it in my desired time or not! Countless people went by me thanking me for the word of God, and I in response encouraged them in the Lord!! Hallelujah! Toward the end, one young man came up to me and said, ‘I almost started to give up until I read you shirt. Thank you!’ Look at God! Another lady said, ‘I was feeling like I might not finish but I read your shirt. Thanks for the inspiration!

So, don’t give in to that curve ball of the day that is thrown your way! Keep moving forward! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!