bed vs. blog

I worked from 8 am to 11pm yesterday - and I didn't write a blog.  As I was getting cleaned up last night I thought I would write a quick something before sleeping.  But my laptop and my bed reside in the same room, and once I saw the larger more comforting object, I forgot about the smaller one...

My intention has been to write a blog a day for every day of Lent.  So from Ash Wednesday (mid-Feb) to April 7 there should be 40 entries.  One for everyday except Sundays because Sundays are not technically part of Lent.  I'm pretty close, but with my more intense work schedule as we try and get our house ready before I'm unavailable it feels much more like a discipline.


However, isn't that the point of disciplines.  They are patterns which help us become who we want to become, but  wouldn't end up there naturally.  The performer (theater, music, sports) does not become all they can be through natural talent alone.  They practice, they study, they push - they are disciplined.  In life, it is popular to think that we are our best self - naturally.  Could it be that just like a runner will not realize their potential without being pushed by regimented practice and coaching - each of us will not be all that we can without being pushed by defined disciplines and guides?  Most everyone figures out how to run on their own, but that alone does not make them a runner.  Most all of us figure out how to live this life, but that doesn't make us fully alive and wholistically successful.

Those disciplines might be making the bed, eating meals with your family, reading the Bible, taking daily walks, worshiping on Sunday, or giving lots of hugs - but without some conscious decisions, we will miss out. The first challenge is to realize we need this.  It is the loud message of reality, but there is a erosive counter message of "be happy with who you are."  The next challenge is pushing through the times when what we most deeply want, is pushed out by the activities of life.  I think there is ground for some flexibility; I'm okay with not blogging yesterday - but if I skipped again today, it is heading toward a pattern.


What disciplines (things in my life which I put in there to help be become whom God intends) have been pushed out by the "stuff" of life?