Cross-training

I wrote in my last entry that I am training for a marathon. I have been running diligently now for a year. I admit to taking four months off to recover from a car accident but other than this temporary hiatus from training, I have been running diligently since June of 2007. I have been a recreational runner for a long time so I have above average length strength. I knew that as I trained and ran more and more miles, my legs would get stronger and have greater endurance. What I didn’t know was that I need more than leg strength to run a marathon. I need upper body strength, too.

I discovered my need for increased upper body strength when various body parts starting hurting; my low back, hips, upper back, and neck. As I talked with a friend who is preparing to be a certified trainer, we discussed my need to strengthen my upper body. As I increased my mileage, my weak upper body could not hold itself up. As a result, I started leaning forward with my shoulders then I would lean forward at my hips. This breakdown in my running form created all the upper body aches and pains. The solution from my fitness trainer friend? Cross-training. I need to strengthen my upper body so I can run stronger and more efficiently.

I purchased a fitness program on DVD and have been doing the strengthening routines on my non-running days. Needless to say I am sore. I still have aches but they are of a different kind. These aches are the result of working muscle groups that haven’t been worked in a long time (if ever!). I don’t necessarily like this strengthening program (I much prefer to run) but I know that in order to finish a marathon, I need to train and strengthen my entire body, not just my legs.

I think our spiritual life is like training for a marathon. We can’t just do one thing and expect to be fully developed even for the task or activity we are doing all the time. We can’t just grow in one area and not others. For example, are you faithful and consistent to give your money and live by Biblical principles of giving but you do not give yourself and your time to others? Do you attend church every time the doors are open but do not volunteer in any area of service or ministry offering your gifts and talents to the church? Do you read your Bible regularly but pray only when things are difficult?

As a believer, I think it’s relatively easy to be strong and growing in one area while neglecting other areas of Christian living. The solution? Cross-train. If you have some aches and pains in certain areas of life, maybe you’re not as spiritually developed in those areas as you could be. Ask God to show you how to cross-train in these areas so that you can become a mature Christian possessing all the strength and endurance you need to run the race God has prepared for you.

Progress...Not Perfection

A few months ago friend of mine gave me a quote she has posted in front of her computer at work. The phrase is “Progress…not perfection.”

My friend knows me well and with this one phrase she was trying to tell me that God does not expect me to be perfect…He doesn’t even expect me to be close to perfect. However, He expects me to grow.

God knows we are not perfect. God knows we are human. After all, He created us to be human and He is well aware of our frailties, our weaknesses, and our bent toward selfishness. These things come as no surprise to God.

We must accept the fact that we are human and give ourselves permission to be human. We will never achieve perfection this side of Heaven so it would be beneficial to our spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being to accept the fact that we are not perfect. In accepting the fact that we are not perfect, we take the pressure off ourselves to be something we cannot be. As a result, we can stop pretending to be someone we are not and we can be real with ourselves and with each other.

For a perfectionistic person like myself, this phrase “Progress…not perfection” provided a brief moment of fresh air. After that brief moment, my perfectionistic mindset automatically kicked in and I started focusing on my progress. Is my progress what it’s supposed to be? Am I behind where God wants me to be? I know I’m not where I want to be but I don’t know how to get there…how do I get there? As I resisted these thoughts and considered my personal growth, I realized that God is the One Who makes me grow. I cannot change me. Only God can change me and lead me down the path of progress. There is an effort of my self-will that I could apply that might change me to a certain degree, but God is the only One Who can truly change me and cause me to grow the way He wants me to grow and to become the woman He wants me to be.

How does this happen? How do we grow? We grow and make progress when we trust and obey. We trust God and believe what He has revealed about Himself and about human life in the Bible. We obey God when we read about something in the Bible that we are to do and then we do it. As we trust and obey we grow. As we grow we make progress. I have heard someone say “I’m not where I want to be but I not where I used to be, either.” I’m learning that life is all about progress…not perfection.