#28

Bullseye

Before you ever rise in the morning, I am sure that there is about 50 thoughts roaming in your head about the upcoming day and the mundane tasks that need to be accomplished.  Days can be very overwhelming, so do you have a plan as to how you are going to hit the bullseye each and every day?  Recently my dad told me that “don’t just wake up in the morning and just start flinging arrows-locate the bullseye first.” Well, Madeline, what do you mean by that? I mean wake up with purpose.  The morning is the most crucial part of the day for me because it sets the entire tone of my day.  If I hit snooze for 30 minutes, then it is going to seem as if I am flinging arrows because of the loss of 30 minutes toward some task that needed to be done for me to start on the right foot.  The same can apply the other way around.  Getting up on time, making your bed, spending some time with Jesus, and eating a good breakfast just narrows in my shot, and I am a lot more likely to hit the bullseye throughout the day because of the success that I have set myself up for.  Go to bed that 30 minutes early so you are not so tired in the morning; do things at night that will take stress off your plate in the morning; make your bed as soon as you get up. I keep including make your bed because it is one step in my life that I do not fail to do. If I do not make my bed in the morning, then I look at it as I have failed to complete my first task of the day. I feel so much neater and am a lot less likely to take a nap if my bed is made. (haha probably the real reason I do it because ya girl loves a nap ;)) 

Narrow your focus today so that you are not going through life wasting arrows. Shoot with purpose. Do each task like it is the most important thing on your plate at the moment.  Put pride behind your agenda and don’t just start flinging arrows to ‘accomplish’ those 50 things you woke up thinking about.  Truly give your best shot at each and every one of them.

#27

Faith is a Muscle

This past Sunday at church my pastor said something during his sermon that really stuck with me and so I wanted to share it with you all.  The entire sermon was on faith; which is something that I love to learn more about because it is an area of my life that I need the most growth in but also have seen the most transformation in throughout my life.  How does our faith grow each year or even each day? It can be so hard to see the good that is going to come out of what seems like a bad situation.  But our faith grows when we are put into situations where we have to exercise our faith.  As you all probably know fitness is a huge part of my life and I am so passionate about it.  So looking at faith as a muscle really hit home with me.  We do not try to get our physical bodies in shape by sitting on the couch watching TV.  So, what makes us believe that we are able to get our faith ‘in shape’ by living sedentary? Our God is a God of action and I don’t know about you, but I want to get right in there with Him in the action.  The next time you are going through a time where your faith is being exercised and you feel fatigued remember to look at your situation through the eyes of God and not the eyes of man.  I am always trying to improve the strength and stabilization of my physical muscles as I work out.  Looking at a situation through the eyes of God will allow us to see a glimpse of the strength and stability that is to be gained if you chose to trust in and lean on God during tough situations.  My pastor at church used this as an example and I really loved it.  In life, because of Christ's love for us, we can be 4^th and 99 to go and love the odds instead of sitting on the edge of our seats worrying. This is because Jesus is the QB of our life and his nail pierced hands do not miss. It may be within the last second of the game (Auburn plug haha… War Eagle) before you realize it, but up until the hail mary pass is caught, our faith muscles will be tested and strengthened until we cross the goal line.