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Lessons from running: Stringing days together

The following is a guest post by my friend Gloryanna Boge. She’s a writer-runner-mama who I met through the Hopewriters writing group online. She and I share similar hearts and lots of Voxer messages across the miles.

 

By Gloryanna Boge

I’ve really missed coaching high school Cross Country these last couple of years. I coached for five years and after my son turned one, I decided to quit. It’s been three and a half years since I last coached. 

I had several situations arise this past year that made me long to coach again. My heart got that twinge with each running opportunity that came across my path. I’d reminisce about morning practices, long runs, and competitive meets. 

When coaching cross country, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind: the big race. Usually this means the regional meet where you hope your team qualifies for state. 

Cross country is a unique team sport. Teamwork is incredibly important. Practices are vital. Each individual runner’s improvement over the course of the season is key to remaining competitive during the season. 

To keep the big picture in mind we always coached the kids to run their best time. Not just for the team, but for personal improvement too. I’d always say to the kids, “It’s about stringing your days together. Every day you’re putting money into a savings account. With each race you make a withdrawal.  Each day that we practice takes you one step closer to your goal.”

We’d be running repeats on the track and the kids would get tired of hearing me holler that this next set of 400 repeats was like putting money into their savings account. 

Gosh, I miss that time in my life.

Back in January when I picked a word to focus on this year, I knew the Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart  the phrase, “stringing days together.” I wasn’t exactly sure what that phrase was going to look like as the year played out, but I trusted God would reveal himself to me.

Now, we are in December, and I’m just beginning to grasp what this phrase has meant for me this year. I think it will mean something for you too.

Holiday season has begun. Schedules are filling up even more so than normal. Busy is about to take over. 

If you’re anything like me, I tend to hit pause on routines during the holidays. I tell myself things like, “I’m going to eat that extra cinnamon roll. It’s the holidays!” Or, “I’m going to sleep in because I was at the party late. It’s the holidays!”

“It’s the holidays” becomes an excuse. Is it just me??

This excuse somehow creeps its way into my relationship with God. The rhythms I’ve made to cultivate my relationship with Him, like prayer, Bible, or journaling time, get disrupted.

My practice of stringing days together with God (which can look like a lot of different things), becomes few and far between.

When I get this way, all the other areas of my life get disrupted.

If you think about it, we thrive when we string days together. The more we practice or discipline ourselves to do something, the more we’ll make it a practice over a longer length of time.

The more you read, the better reader you become.

The more you write, the better writer you become.

The more you exercise, the more likely you are to make it a lifestyle.

The more pictures you take, the better photographer you’ll become.

The more often you go to church, the more connected you’ll feel and as a result, you’ll go to church more often.

Here’s a fun practice. Let’s change some of the wording and replace it with “stringing days together.”

The more days you string together with exercise, the more likely you are to make it a lifestyle.

The more days you string together reading books, the better reader you will become.

The more Sundays you string together of going to church, the more connected you’ll feel (and be!) with your community.

You get the idea.

When I’m going through hard seasons, or when I feel depression knocking at my door, I have to ask myself, have I stopped stringing my days together? Have I made some big withdrawals without putting the days in to refill my account?

There is an Enemy we face every day who wants nothing more than to disrupt our stringing days together. He wants to destroy our rhythms and the relationships that draw us closer to Christ.

“It’s the holidays!” can be an easy excuse to use over the next few months, but what other excuses might the Enemy use to disrupt our stringing days together?

I know a big one for me is “I’m tired.” I’m too tired to read. I’m too tired to exercise. I’m too tired to socialize.

I use the same excuse over and over. Before I know it, I haven’t exercised in months. Maybe it’s been months since you’ve been intimate with your husband. When was the last time you spent any quiet time with the Lord?

It’s okay to miss a cross country practice here and there. But if you start missing practice regularly, come meet time, you will not be able to race your best. You’ll most likely race your worst. When it comes time to withdraw from your running account, you’ll be running on empty.

How does the play out in our life?

When I lose it with my kids and wallow in guilt and perpetuate anger in my home, I easily forget God’s truth because I haven’t been stringing days together with him.

When work gets overwhelming, I turn to coping mechanisms just to get through the day.

When we need to make a withdraw from our life saving account, our faith gets easily shaken. We’ve let our days get disrupted.

I tend to go into “fix it” mode when a specific area in my life gets all disjointed. But what if instead of reading another self-help book, or another book on parenting, I focused my attention on stringing my days back together?

Instead of seeking a quick fix from an expert online, what if we slowly tend to our souls by regularly connecting with God and absorbing His truth.

Let us surrender those daily distractions and grab hold of what God has for us instead. As the Psalmist said, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12 ESV).

God will give us wisdom in exchange for stringing our days together with him. 

All we have to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other, one day at a time.

Gloryanna is learning to look to Jesus for growth instead of Google for fixes. She encourages women to reclaim their faith from the noise of this world so they can focus more on Christ. Join her on Facebook or Instagram. Read more at www.gloryannaboge.com/blog.

 

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December 10, 2019 Categories: Guest Blogger, RunningTagged: abundance, christmas, courage, family life, inspirational, schedule

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Meet Dorina

Aloha, friend! If you love stories, you are in the right place. I write about grief, glory, running, food, and more. I hope these words inspire you to chase after God’s glory in your life today!

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Today I got to watch my Zayla girl and her choir perform at CalPoly Performing Arts Center. What a great opportunity for these kids! I loved hearing all the choirs and the variety of pieces and styles they brought.

Afterwards we spent the afternoon with friends at Cayucos Beach and rounded out our day at one of my favorite restaurants Giuseppe’s at the Central Coast! Yummy!

These are the days I want to slow down, the days I want to savor and remember forever. My baby girl is not a baby girl anymore!

#oceantherapy #choirkid #momlife

View

Mar 25

Open
Today I got to watch my Zayla girl and her choir perform at CalPoly Performing Arts Center. What a great opportunity for these kids! I loved hearing all the choirs and the variety of pieces and styles they brought. 
Afterwards we spent the afternoon with friends at Cayucos Beach and rounded out our day at one of my favorite restaurants Giuseppe’s at the Central Coast! Yummy! 
These are the days I want to slow down, the days I want to savor and remember forever. My baby girl is not a baby girl anymore! 
#oceantherapy #choirkid #momlife
19 1

Several months ago, I invited my friend to join me for a pottery class at a new local studio for her birthday present. We both love to try new things and were intrigued by the experience of using a potter’s wheel to create something out of clay.

The process of forming clay on the wheel was longer and harder than it looks.

The trick was to keep adding water to keep the clay supple and moldable. We pressed, pulled, and pinched until that ball of clay eventually became a bowl or vase.

Metaphors for life abound in the pottery studio.

A few times, the teacher came over, stuck her hands in front of me, and started to work with my clay. At first, I wanted to take control of the clay myself. I wanted to learn by doing it myself. But soon I realized the value in surrendering to her expertise. In fact, I learned a lot from watching my teacher and her techniques.

The first surprising lesson was that it requires lots of water to make a clay pot on a wheel. Clay is naturally hard and heavy, but water makes it workable.

Our souls are much the same. We need consistent hydration. We need the living water that only Jesus offers. On our own we are heavy, brittle; we are dust. With Jesus’s living water, we are malleable clay.

{Read the full devotion at DorinaGlorygram.Substack.com} #pottery #clay #potter #biblestudy #bibleverse #encouragingwords

View

Mar 24

Open
Several months ago, I invited my friend to join me for a pottery class at a new local studio for her birthday present. We both love to try new things and were intrigued by the experience of using a potter’s wheel to create something out of clay. 
The process of forming clay on the wheel was longer and harder than it looks.
The trick was to keep adding water to keep the clay supple and moldable. We pressed, pulled, and pinched until that ball of clay eventually became a bowl or vase. 
Metaphors for life abound in the pottery studio.
A few times, the teacher came over, stuck her hands in front of me, and started to work with my clay. At first, I wanted to take control of the clay myself. I wanted to learn by doing it myself. But soon I realized the value in surrendering to her expertise. In fact, I learned a lot from watching my teacher and her techniques.
The first surprising lesson was that it requires lots of water to make a clay pot on a wheel. Clay is naturally hard and heavy, but water makes it workable. 
Our souls are much the same. We need consistent hydration. We need the living water that only Jesus offers. On our own we are heavy, brittle; we are dust. With Jesus’s living water, we are malleable clay. 
{Read the full devotion at DorinaGlorygram.Substack.com} #pottery #clay #potter #biblestudy #bibleverse #encouragingwords
30 4

Such a good conversation tonight with @sarahrubiobooks about her new book, Her Story, Her Stength: 50 God Empowered Women of the Bible (@zonderkidz )

This is a book I wish I had when I was a young person. I love the way Sarah illuminates the stories and strengths of these diverse women in the Bible and how their stories point us back to God.

We pull back the curtain a bit tonight and dish about how Sarah got the idea for the book, the trials she faced during the writing, and the glory she experienced during the process!

👉🏾Which Ezer story is your favorite? Share in the comments about the woman from the Bible who inspires you! 📚

View

Mar 23

Open
Such a good conversation tonight with @sarahrubiobooks about her new book, Her Story, Her Stength: 50 God Empowered Women of the Bible (@zonderkidz )
This is a book I wish I had when I was a young person. I love the way Sarah illuminates the stories and strengths of these diverse women in the Bible and how their stories point us back to God.
We pull back the curtain a bit tonight and dish about how Sarah got the idea for the book, the trials she faced during the writing, and the glory she experienced during the process!
👉🏾Which Ezer story is your favorite? Share in the comments about the woman from the Bible who inspires you! 📚
21 3

I’m so excited to chat with @sarahrubiobooks on my Global Glory Chasers broadcast tomorrow about experiencing God’s glory through writing and reading kids books. Sarah’s new book is Her Story, Her Strength: 50 God-Empowered Women of the Bible. Join us at 5 pm PT | 8 pm ET here on IGlive!

Sarah Parker Rubio edits children’s and young adult books by day and writes them by night. She was born in the United States, grew up in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and now has a bilingual and bicultural family with her husband, Colombian composer Gary Rubio. They live in Cincinnati with their three wonderful children and two sassy cats.

In a world that too often tells girls that they are not enough, Her Story, Her Strength uses biblical retellings and reflections that include the historical context behind each story to remind young women that they have a God who loves them deeply and empowers them to live and love like he does. For any girl ages 8 and up who is asking questions about her worth, identity, and place in the world and church, this colorful and engaging book provides a positive, loving, and scriptural lens that helps them interpret the messages they receive from their peers, media, and society.

#kidlit #womenshistorymonth #womenofthebible #womensupportingwomen

View

Mar 22

Open
I’m so excited to chat with @sarahrubiobooks on my Global Glory Chasers broadcast tomorrow about experiencing God’s glory through writing and reading kids books. Sarah’s new book is Her Story, Her Strength: 50 God-Empowered Women of the Bible. Join us at 5 pm PT | 8 pm ET here on IGlive!
Sarah Parker Rubio edits children’s and young adult books by day and writes them by night. She was born in the United States, grew up in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and now has a bilingual and bicultural family with her husband, Colombian composer Gary Rubio. They live in Cincinnati with their three wonderful children and two sassy cats.
In a world that too often tells girls that they are not enough, Her Story, Her Strength uses biblical retellings and reflections that include the historical context behind each story to remind young women that they have a God who loves them deeply and empowers them to live and love like he does. For any girl ages 8 and up who is asking questions about her worth, identity, and place in the world and church, this colorful and engaging book provides a positive, loving, and scriptural lens that helps them interpret the messages they receive from their peers, media, and society.
#kidlit #womenshistorymonth #womenofthebible #womensupportingwomen
38 1

“Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory,” Mama sings. 🎶

Glory?, Zayla thinks, wrinkling her nose, “Mama, we talk and sing about glory at church, but what exactly is glory?”

“Well, that’s a good question,” Mama says with a broad smile. “Let’s go look for it.”

____

These are the opening lines to my new children’s book, Chasing God’s Glory. When my three daughters were little, we started going on glory-chasing hunts together. This was the way we would lift our heads to see God at work on ordinary days and difficult days.

The word glory is mentioned more than 500 times in Scripture. If we study the scriptures that mention it, we discover God’s glory is the very essence of who God is, His character. Glory is what sets God apart. It’s the way God reveals Himself to us. It’s His presence.

Back in 2014, I chose the word glory as my word of the year. Little did I know that this single, five-letter word would be the thing God would use to transform me, inspire me, lift me, and carry me through the most difficult year of my life. This would be the beginning of tracing His glory story in the most unexpected narrative.

I had to train myself to notice  God’s glory around me through tragedy and triumph. That was the year my husband was diagnosed with stage four cancer. That was the year my lover leaped into Heaven – the ultimate Glory – leaving me a widow with three small children. That was the year I experienced God’s glory in little girl giggles, home-cooked meals, and road trips. That was the year He showed up for us through our community who served us, fed us, collected money for medical bills, and lifted us.

God has shown me that glory is the very beginning of the story and also the grand finale…

{Read more about it at @incourage today and enter for a chance to win my new book!} 🫶🏾🚴📚🍀🌊🥰

#chasinggodsglory #glorychasers #kidslit #picturebook @waterbrookmultnomahkids #newbook #glory #creation

View

Mar 21

Open
“Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory,” Mama sings. 🎶 
Glory?, Zayla thinks, wrinkling her nose, “Mama, we talk and sing about glory at church, but what exactly is glory?”
“Well, that’s a good question,” Mama says with a broad smile. “Let’s go look for it.” 
____ 
These are the opening lines to my new children’s book, Chasing God’s Glory. When my three daughters were little, we started going on glory-chasing hunts together. This was the way we would lift our heads to see God at work on ordinary days and difficult days. 
The word glory is mentioned more than 500 times in Scripture. If we study the scriptures that mention it, we discover God’s glory is the very essence of who God is, His character. Glory is what sets God apart. It’s the way God reveals Himself to us. It’s His presence. 
Back in 2014, I chose the word glory as my word of the year. Little did I know that this single, five-letter word would be the thing God would use to transform me, inspire me, lift me, and carry me through the most difficult year of my life. This would be the beginning of tracing His glory story in the most unexpected narrative. 
I had to train myself to notice  God’s glory around me through tragedy and triumph. That was the year my husband was diagnosed with stage four cancer. That was the year my lover leaped into Heaven – the ultimate Glory – leaving me a widow with three small children. That was the year I experienced God’s glory in little girl giggles, home-cooked meals, and road trips. That was the year He showed up for us through our community who served us, fed us, collected money for medical bills, and lifted us. 
God has shown me that glory is the very beginning of the story and also the grand finale…
{Read more about it at @incourage today and enter for a chance to win my new book!} 🫶🏾🚴📚🍀🌊🥰
#chasinggodsglory #glorychasers #kidslit #picturebook @waterbrookmultnomahkids #newbook #glory #creation
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