The Second Mile Club

I hate running. I don’t like the fact that there are people that can wake up at the first sign of the sun and throw on their running clothes and go out for a jog or a run. Why? Just because they love doing it! They also don’t just run one mile. They run lots of miles. For me, to get down the end of the block without grasping for air, and clutching my chest, would be a major miracle. I am what you would call a walker.

I don’t have anything against runners; I just hate the fact I can’t do it. I would love to do it. To put my iPod on to some upbeat tune, and just feel the wind rush through my hair. A bounce in my step and the occasional wave to the neighbors you pass by. Runners most of the time look happy. I am a walker. So I have resolved to walk. I am happy with walking.

Most runners run for miles at least, more than the one mile I would see as a ‘lifetime achievement award mile’! Some run marathons. My hats off to you! I am a walker. There are some people however in life, we call “one milers”.

They are the people that do just what they need to and quit. No more for me thanks. I am done!

These are the students who study just enough to get a passing grade on the test when just a little more effort would get them a better grade.

These are the people that do just enough around the house and no more. They do just what is asked and nothing extra.

The employees who show up and just do what they were hired to do and then leave precisely at 5pm.

The people who show up at church to put their time in and leave when it’s over.

The people who see others hurting and walk away.

They are only willing to go one mile.

But what happens when you do go the extra mile? When you are willing to do just a little bit more. Doesn’t something inside you change? Your attitude, your heart, your soul change just a little bit for the better. Here are classic examples of “second milers”.

They are the person who serves in the ministry at church, but is also willing to help clean the bathrooms because they need it. No one asked them to do it.

The parent who chooses a better school for their children, over a career advancing promotion. The children usually will never know.

The student who eats lunch with the neglected kids instead of the cool ones.

The daughter who spends her day off visiting her sick mom instead of hanging out at the mall with her friends.

We make all kinds of decisions everyday on which fork in the road we will chose to take. All of them fall under the category of who comes first; do they or do I?

If we turn away from personal dreams for the sake of others, you are, in Christ’s words, denying yourself. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NLT.

The most surprising ingredient to any great day is self-denial.

The world’s expectation of a great day is just the opposite. It is a day filled with self-indulgence, self-expression and self-celebration. Isn’t that the reason for day spas? The way to pamper yourself, feel good about yourself and indulge yourself. I am not in any way putting down spa treatments, but what if we were to think about someone else. Like taking a friend who really needs a relaxing day, then we would be second milers. It’s the ones that see it as a deserved reward. I am entitled to it, I need it, and I have to have it. Watch that attitude.

My challenge for you, “Daily do a deed for which you cannot be repaid.” It will get the ball rolling. There is a joy in the second mile. Trust me. Try it.

There is an elderly man in your community who just lost his wife. An hour of your time would mean the world to him.

Some kids in your city have no dad. No father takes then to the movies or ball games. Maybe you can. They can’t pay you back. They can’t afford popcorn or sodas. But their smiles and memories you create with them will be beyond what words could ever convey.

Down the hall from your bedroom is a person who shares your last name. Shock that person with kindness. Something outlandish. Your homework done without any complaints. Coffee served before he awakens. A love letter written to her for no special reason. Just because you went that second mile.

The world needs more people willing to go that extra mile. I want to be counted among those that do, even if it means I walk to that second mile instead of run. I want to be a “second miler”!

The Song of the Soul

Ever wake up out of bed one morning or even every morning and have a song in your head?? I find that the closer we are to God in our daily walks, the more the songs have meaning in our life. I also notice the older I get, the more I am drawn to classical music, instrumentals and oldies as my kids call it.

Things I wouldn't even admit to listening to when I was a teenager. I think I referred to them as my parents music. No one wanted to hear "that" kind of music.

OK, I also grew up listening to records, you know the ones, with the hole in the middle made of plastic, no, dear, not CD's, much, much bigger. I would have to show them to you. Then we went from records, to 8 track tapes, remember those too???

Then we finally think we have revolutionized the world with cassette tapes. More smaller than an 8 track and more portable. Who was kidding who back then? I mean how many times did you have to retrieve your favorite cassette out from being eaten from your tape player??? I know I did, thank goodness most of them faired well enough to be played again.

Then someone invented the CD. Virtually indestructable, nothing can harm them. So everyone rushed right out and got one. Guess what??? The slightest smudge on the CD or worse yet, a scratch and it was completely worthless. The music marketing people have it made. Perhaps that is one of the ways some of this economic crisis was started, the need for something better.

However I like the songs that stick in my head. The songs that I can play my favorite parts over and over and never get tired. No scratches, no tapes to wind back in, and the best part, no money to spend.

I found that the Lord calls these "soul songs". They are songs my soul sings out throughout the day if I am quiet enough to hear them. Like right now, I am listening to "In the Hands of God". It plays over and over again. I often wonder if God uses those soul songs to speak to us. How relevant it was to me in typing this that I would be listening to that song, while I am writing this blog to you.

Sometimes God changes the station on me, like "How Great Thou Art" is the song going on now. I just smile and sometimes to the horrors of my children, yup, I sing along! OUT LOUD!!! So everyone can hear me!

Those are often the most happiest moments in my day. Lots of times, I just hum along with my daughter, who is often working along side me as she is emailing friends. Then I pause and wait. Yup, there she goes, she is humming it too!

I look up and tell her, "Got you!" She often looks bewildered because she forgets what I meant because it becomes subliminal like that sometimes. I reached out and touched her soul! It's usually followed by some eye rolling and then moments later, she is still singing it or humming it.

Gotta love God, gotta love His humor and love! Gotta love the songs He gives up to play in our heart and soul. Whatever it takes to keep our minds and thoughts on Him.

What song is playing in your soul at this very moment?? Can't wait to hear if any of you are tuned into the same station.

Psalm 57:7, "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music." NLT

Weight Gain for the Soul

No, this isn't a book from the authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul, but it would make a great title wouldn't it?? This is about my personal spiritual journey of late, that I am experiencing day by day. First of all, I need to explain things.

I was raised a devout Catholic until I was about 20 years old. Not the kind that goes to church on Sunday's and Ash Wednesdays and such, but it was the religion both my parents raised me on. I didn't know there was anything else out there.

Then I met my first husband who was a Born Again Christian that attended a pretty fanatic church. For some reason something clicked for me, perhaps it was all the stuff that they talked about when it came to the devil and demons since during my highschool years I was fascinated by Witchcraft, but not for the reasons of getting back at jilted loves or at friends that wronged me. Little did I know what I was curiously getting my self and soul into. Until that life changing moment when I gave up my life to Jesus Christ at a youth service, I wouldn't have believed half the stuff in my blog.

Something changed that day, I felt a whole lot lighter, physically, like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders that I had been carrying. Picture if you will, a huge boulder tied around my neck is about the feeling I had. I had such low self esteem growing up you couldn't measure how low to the ground I had come. My father and all the men in my life had managed to convinced me that would be as high as I could go. I deserved to be that way. It was my fault, or so I believed.

I had a pretty strong faith in the Lord for almost 2 years solid and would fall away and then come back. Pretty much the story for most Christians. Until my ex-husband found a new love for his future, and I was left alone without any hope, except Jesus. He never left me. I laid in bed one day contemplating suicide and taking pills one by one, every hour. I had convinced myself that all those men and what they had sold to me for so long was really true. I would never be a strong person and would always need a man to make me feel whole. I was worthless.I would never amount to anything. I was a failure. So I made an agreement that night, that I would pop a pill every hour until someone cared enough to pick up the phone and call me. I think I even clued God into that agreement even though he already knew. Trust me, life in the deepest, darkest pit of your soul and sinking farther than you ever thought you could possibly go in this life is nothing compared to actually being in the place. I think you stand at the crossroads at your life with a literal life or death decision.

Thankfully four hours into my quest, someone called. No one knew what I was doing because I felt utterly ashamed at even thinking this, but I honestly didn't care anymore. I was like on auto pilot and sat there all day crying, sobbing, and laying in bed. NO ONE knew! Just me and God. Thankfully that person was my current husband now, Steve. At the time, he was just a good friend that worked with me. He had no idea what was going on, but he took the time to listen to me cry and pour out my problems. It was at that moment that God reached down through Steve and offered me a way out of the hole I committed myself to. Years later I told Steve of that time and how he literally saved my life without knowing it. Thankfully I never went through that again, thanks to my renewed hope in God.

I have recently recommitted my life to God with Steve's help even though I had never lost my initial relationship but I certainly had quite a few things to clean up. First of all, my initial assessment of my life from men's perspectives, wasn't there fault, it was my own for believing their lies. Now I was determined to change my inner thinking. I had to release that burden to God since I was tired of that boulder being around my neck again of self doubt and self worth. I have learned through my husband how to really trust and love again. I have put God first in my life and that alone has done wonders for me. Next I put my husband's needs and then my kids! You've got to set up your priorities right and try your best to keep them there.

I have also learned how to recognize those signs when I hear others in the same dark pit. Oh I can remember that place all too well and God has blessed me with this so I can try and save people on that very place where I stood. Let's call it the crossroad to Hell, because once you make that decision I believe the devil stands there waiting to make sure you follow your decision by feeding you exactly what you believe you have to hear in your thoughts. You're not worthy, no one really cares about you, I bet that they won't even miss me when I gone or maybe they will and then they will be sorry.

Yeah right, wake up and smell the literal coffee! It's time we gain some weight for our soul and take the right steps to make a better decision to choose life. It won't be easy and sure taking the shortcuts may or may not make it better, but in the end, you will have to make an account for all the things you have thought, done and didn't do to God and I want to make sure that every day until that day, I don't have to feel ashamed anymore for my faith in Him or be embarrassed by watching my life's movie with Him. I want him to be proud of me, like any child would want their parents to be of them.

So don't be so quick to dismiss some of your mistakes in life, whether you feel ashamed or not, God will use those circumstances to help you bring another to Him and finally home! Every action we make, has to filter through God's hands so He is completely aware and waiting for you to come back to Him. He is never ashamed of you and never will be. Just say you're sorry and try not to do it again. He will use you for His glory anyway!

Isn't He amazing??!!!