I have been out of sorts the last week or so. Everything feels off. Mood, productivity, quality time with kids (or lack thereof), communication with God. I really blame the Easter candy… damn chocolate! See how my mood is off! Ok, maybe it’s something else…
I find it so hard to find margin in my schedule. You know – space for life! Unscheduled, happy a friend stopped by, hangin' with the family, let’s build a fort, lost in real, live conversation, sit at the feet of Jesus time. You can look at my calendar and think that it is there, but curiously it’s not. Time flies when you’re chasing preschoolers, or teenagers, or grandkids, or whatever you’re chasing in your world. So I’m going to conduct a little experiment. I invite you to join me...
Fasting is taught about in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and by Jesus, and usually involves holding back food. A food fast is its own post entirely, but that’s not the kind of fast for this post. I want to see how much of my time is sucked away by this thin box with a keyboard. While I think I just send an email here or check Facebook there, how much of my time is really spent on this little machine? Is this the robber of my margin? Time will tell! Three days of time to be exact - three days of no email, no internet, no computer power. So if you need something, dear Sisters, call me! ;)
Do you have margin in your life? Do you have suspicions of what robs you of it? I encourage you to pray about it and consider fasting from the alleged culprit for a time to see if it does anything for your pace of life. Are you on American time or God time? A New York minute or a Jesus moment? The difference spans eternity!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
TRAINING WEEK 4 & 5 - April 10-April 23, 2010
Ok... since I haven't been great last week or this week about getting the training schedule up in a timely fashion, I am posting 2 weeks at a time.
Week 4 Training Schedule:
See Week 2
We had a great 3 mile run on Saturday and were delighted to see some new faces on the trails! We missed those of you that couldn't join us!
Week 5 Training Schedule:
See Week 3
I would love to hear your input as to when works best for you to get together for the group runs. Please comment below as to your dream day and time for group runs.
I'll be taking it easy this week because I never heed my own advice and listen to my body. So learn from my example... injuries happen when you ignore your body!
Happy trails!
Week 4 Training Schedule:
See Week 2
We had a great 3 mile run on Saturday and were delighted to see some new faces on the trails! We missed those of you that couldn't join us!
Week 5 Training Schedule:
See Week 3
I would love to hear your input as to when works best for you to get together for the group runs. Please comment below as to your dream day and time for group runs.
I'll be taking it easy this week because I never heed my own advice and listen to my body. So learn from my example... injuries happen when you ignore your body!
Happy trails!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Running on Purpose
As women after God’s heart, we are called “to open our arms to the poor and extend our hands to the needy”(Proverbs 31:20). Doing so on our own has its own share of blessings, but how much more impactful could we be together? So, I thought we could sprinkle a little fundraiser in with our training…with the idea of donating the proceeds to an organization that reaches the poor and needy in the name of Jesus.
Remember fundraisers when we were in grade school? Perhaps many of you are doing this with your own kids now. You went door to door and asked your friends and family to pledge an amount for every hour you jumped rope or every lap you completed around the track? I thought it would be fun to see how much money we could raise as a group for each mile of the Bolder Boulder we individually complete. These days, fundraising seems like it would be easier. Sure you can knock on doors – or you can just jump on Facebook!
So where should the money go? Well…
Lately, God has been teaching me a lot about sufficiency – His definition versus my own. Every time I think I need a divinely decorated house, or a snazzier wardrobe, or a bottomless checking account to come and go as I please, God gently reminds me of the privileged life I already live – without all those things. I open my refrigerator or pantry and select a variety of foods I want to prepare in my suitably equipped kitchen to serve my healthy family on a kitchen table with enough chairs for everyone in a pest-free house with multiple rooms that registers a comfortable temperature on a programmable thermostat ready to heat or cool as needed. When I lift the handle on my faucet, clean, purified water always comes out and at a flip of some switches, I can flood the house with light. I watch my TV or jump on my computer with high-speed internet to see what the weather is going to be like so I can choose my outfit for the day from my walk-in closet. And when I am ready to leave my dry-walled, carpeted, insulated house with a shingled roof, I choose from a variety of pairs of shoes in my garage before I jump in my over-sized vehicle to travel 4 miles to shop at one of the 7 grocery stores in town in order to stock my already stocked food supply.
Out of all the things I’ve mentioned and the countless privileges I’ve left out, I think the fact that I have shoes for my feet is what I take for granted the most. I mean doesn’t everyone have at least one pair of shoes. The shocking, desperate reality is, NO!! We have shoes for warm weather and cold weather, snow and rain, running and working, Uncle John’s wedding and the 2006 family reunion… but in stark contrast, there are millions of children around the world who don’t own a single pair of shoes to protect their precious feet. And as a result, they contract serious infections and parasites because of cuts and sores they get from traveling more than 30 miles in bare feet, just to go to school for an education that offers a glimmer of hope that one day it might be different for them. Heartbreaking!
So… I got to thinking. We rely so heavily on a good pair of shoes to run in that maybe as we’re running in these well-suited shoes, we could at least be earning a pair of shoes for someone who is without. A subsidiary of Campus Crusade for Christ, Soles Blessing Souls needs just $3 to provide a pair of shoes to a needy child. Just $3 will protect a child’s feet from disease and disaster. How many $3 pair of shoes can we come up with, Sisters? Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” How many pairs of shoes can we give Jesus when we run in our own well-cushioned soles for a measly 6.2 miles? Ooh, I love the smell of a good challenge!
If you are in the Faithfully Fit distribution list, I will be emailing you a pledge form, if you care to use one. That’s the Type A in me – and you know you love it! If you wish to make a pledge email me at mikelisafischer@msn.com. Dear Sisters, this is not meant to be one more task. The Lord loves a joyful giver, so don’t feel obligated to donate or participate. But I would encourage you to at least pray about it. Let’s pray together, now…
Thank you Jesus that we have shoes on our feet, clothes on our back, food in our pantries and freedom to worship You at will. Thank you Lord that though these may be tough economic times here, we do not know poverty like what exists in many parts of the world. Lord, I pray for the millions of children in the world without soles on their feet. I pray that You would strengthen them and protect them and give them hope in You. I pray that hearts around the world are not only breaking for the poor and oppressed but moving for them out of their love for You. Lord it is our highest honor and greatest privilege to do Your work, work you prepared in advance for us, and work you long to bless us each with if only we could see it, if only we would grasp the opportunity. Give us eyes to see what You see, Lord, and may You alone be glorified in everything we do! I pray this in the precious, powerful, sufficient name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Remember fundraisers when we were in grade school? Perhaps many of you are doing this with your own kids now. You went door to door and asked your friends and family to pledge an amount for every hour you jumped rope or every lap you completed around the track? I thought it would be fun to see how much money we could raise as a group for each mile of the Bolder Boulder we individually complete. These days, fundraising seems like it would be easier. Sure you can knock on doors – or you can just jump on Facebook!
So where should the money go? Well…
Lately, God has been teaching me a lot about sufficiency – His definition versus my own. Every time I think I need a divinely decorated house, or a snazzier wardrobe, or a bottomless checking account to come and go as I please, God gently reminds me of the privileged life I already live – without all those things. I open my refrigerator or pantry and select a variety of foods I want to prepare in my suitably equipped kitchen to serve my healthy family on a kitchen table with enough chairs for everyone in a pest-free house with multiple rooms that registers a comfortable temperature on a programmable thermostat ready to heat or cool as needed. When I lift the handle on my faucet, clean, purified water always comes out and at a flip of some switches, I can flood the house with light. I watch my TV or jump on my computer with high-speed internet to see what the weather is going to be like so I can choose my outfit for the day from my walk-in closet. And when I am ready to leave my dry-walled, carpeted, insulated house with a shingled roof, I choose from a variety of pairs of shoes in my garage before I jump in my over-sized vehicle to travel 4 miles to shop at one of the 7 grocery stores in town in order to stock my already stocked food supply.
Out of all the things I’ve mentioned and the countless privileges I’ve left out, I think the fact that I have shoes for my feet is what I take for granted the most. I mean doesn’t everyone have at least one pair of shoes. The shocking, desperate reality is, NO!! We have shoes for warm weather and cold weather, snow and rain, running and working, Uncle John’s wedding and the 2006 family reunion… but in stark contrast, there are millions of children around the world who don’t own a single pair of shoes to protect their precious feet. And as a result, they contract serious infections and parasites because of cuts and sores they get from traveling more than 30 miles in bare feet, just to go to school for an education that offers a glimmer of hope that one day it might be different for them. Heartbreaking!
So… I got to thinking. We rely so heavily on a good pair of shoes to run in that maybe as we’re running in these well-suited shoes, we could at least be earning a pair of shoes for someone who is without. A subsidiary of Campus Crusade for Christ, Soles Blessing Souls needs just $3 to provide a pair of shoes to a needy child. Just $3 will protect a child’s feet from disease and disaster. How many $3 pair of shoes can we come up with, Sisters? Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” How many pairs of shoes can we give Jesus when we run in our own well-cushioned soles for a measly 6.2 miles? Ooh, I love the smell of a good challenge!
If you are in the Faithfully Fit distribution list, I will be emailing you a pledge form, if you care to use one. That’s the Type A in me – and you know you love it! If you wish to make a pledge email me at mikelisafischer@msn.com. Dear Sisters, this is not meant to be one more task. The Lord loves a joyful giver, so don’t feel obligated to donate or participate. But I would encourage you to at least pray about it. Let’s pray together, now…
Thank you Jesus that we have shoes on our feet, clothes on our back, food in our pantries and freedom to worship You at will. Thank you Lord that though these may be tough economic times here, we do not know poverty like what exists in many parts of the world. Lord, I pray for the millions of children in the world without soles on their feet. I pray that You would strengthen them and protect them and give them hope in You. I pray that hearts around the world are not only breaking for the poor and oppressed but moving for them out of their love for You. Lord it is our highest honor and greatest privilege to do Your work, work you prepared in advance for us, and work you long to bless us each with if only we could see it, if only we would grasp the opportunity. Give us eyes to see what You see, Lord, and may You alone be glorified in everything we do! I pray this in the precious, powerful, sufficient name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Monday, April 5, 2010
TRAINING WEEK 3 - April 3 - 9, 2010
Happy Belated Resurrection Sunday!!! He is not here, He is risen! Oh, how I love Easter. It’s a good reminder for me that, as I endure physical challenges such as training for a race or just trying to keep His original workmanship in tact, no physical challenge I will ever face is greater or more brutal than what Jesus endured. And nothing I face do I face alone.
O, Lord, may I be my whole life devoted to You as You are devoted to me! And may Your light pour out of my brokenness and every one of my pores so that I am unrecognizable. May they say of me, she is not here but she is risen in You!
As you enter into this training week, which is a little late (I apologize), I encourage you in your prayer time to thank God for the abilities He has given you, even at the most simple level of being able to run - however slowly or quickly. And let it resonate in your soul that Jesus endured an atrocious injustice to justify us all and set the captive free. "I am free to run!" from the Newsboys can be taken by this group literally! ;)
And please, above all, remember, this is about BEING with God, not DOING for God! Just be with Him this week. If that doesn’t look anything like the training schedule below, so be it. We all have different physical abilities and goals. Just BE with your Redeemer, your Counselor, your Prince of Peace this week.
Week 3 Training Schedule
Saturday, April 3:
We had a great 4 mile run this Saturday. We missed those who were unable to join. This was the long run for the week!
Sunday, April 4 – Recovery run: 2 miles
Monday, April 5 – Rest: 0 miles
Tuesday, April 6 – Pace run*: 3 miles
Wednesday, April 7 – Easy run: 2 miles
Thursday, April 8 – Easy run: 0-2 miles
Friday, April 9 – Rest: 0 miles
*Week 3 Pace Training:
½ mile easy
¼ mile race pace
¼ mile recovery
½ mile race pace
¼ mile recovery pace
½ mile race pace
¾ mile easy
I am praying for each of you, dear sisters. I pray that you don’t get overwhelmed by the task but that you are carried away by your Prince.
“The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.” – Psalm 146:7b-8
O, Lord, may I be my whole life devoted to You as You are devoted to me! And may Your light pour out of my brokenness and every one of my pores so that I am unrecognizable. May they say of me, she is not here but she is risen in You!
As you enter into this training week, which is a little late (I apologize), I encourage you in your prayer time to thank God for the abilities He has given you, even at the most simple level of being able to run - however slowly or quickly. And let it resonate in your soul that Jesus endured an atrocious injustice to justify us all and set the captive free. "I am free to run!" from the Newsboys can be taken by this group literally! ;)
And please, above all, remember, this is about BEING with God, not DOING for God! Just be with Him this week. If that doesn’t look anything like the training schedule below, so be it. We all have different physical abilities and goals. Just BE with your Redeemer, your Counselor, your Prince of Peace this week.
Week 3 Training Schedule
Saturday, April 3:
We had a great 4 mile run this Saturday. We missed those who were unable to join. This was the long run for the week!
Sunday, April 4 – Recovery run: 2 miles
Monday, April 5 – Rest: 0 miles
Tuesday, April 6 – Pace run*: 3 miles
Wednesday, April 7 – Easy run: 2 miles
Thursday, April 8 – Easy run: 0-2 miles
Friday, April 9 – Rest: 0 miles
*Week 3 Pace Training:
½ mile easy
¼ mile race pace
¼ mile recovery
½ mile race pace
¼ mile recovery pace
½ mile race pace
¾ mile easy
I am praying for each of you, dear sisters. I pray that you don’t get overwhelmed by the task but that you are carried away by your Prince.
“The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.” – Psalm 146:7b-8
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