Stay In Your Lane
Robin hit her PR at 170LBS!
Last week Dean and I had the wonderful privilege to go and cheer for my sister, Robin, in her CrossFit competition. This was our first time attending one and we loved it! We met some really cool competitors and wonderful families, friends, and coaches of the athletes. We loved being able to hang out with Robin, her husband, Mark, and coach Brittany. We immersed ourselves in a whole new world. We learned the lingo. We got to yell and celebrate and be amazed at what these athletes can do. They have spent hours preparing and strategizing so they can perform at their optimal level. They are totally amazing and awe inspring.
Over and over again I was reminded about what God tells us as I listened to some of the phrases used:
* “PR” = Personal Record. This is when someone lifts their heaviest or did the most “Toes To The Bar” then they ever have. I have had some “PR’s” in my walk with God. When I don’t overreact to a situation that would have sent me into a nuclear meltdown. Or when I am able to forgive and let go of resentment or bitterness that once would have bound up like a newly wrapped mummy.
”Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especailly the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1
She's amazing!
* “Stay in your lane.” Each Athlete has a lane that they are assigned. You have competitors right next to you giving it everything they have to beat your time, your weight, your PR. It’s loud because each athlete has a coach and supporters yelling. You have to watch your judge for the count or if you got a no-rep and have to do it again. There are people with cameras and videographers roaming through the lanes. It’s nuts!
I feel like that sometimes. I can get distracted by what I see others doing. I listen to the counts of others successes, get flustered and compare my life to theirs. I can hear a million voices shouting at me about what’s important and how I should live my life. When all I need to focus on is my coach = my God, my Jesus, my Holy Spirit. Their voice needs to be loudest.
”Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, mind your business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,” 1 Thessalonians 4:11
>>I get to live this life and love my family and be who I am made to be.<< Why would I try to live someone else’s life?!
”I run the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
She had to do that 75 times - twice!
* “Trust the training.” I think fatigue to an athlete is probably like doubt to a Jesus-Follower. It can make us forget what we know to be true or question if we have what it takes to live a life of faith that bears fruit.
There have been too many times in my life when I doubted the things that God told me about Himself or His promises to me: That He is faithful. That He has my good in mind. That nothing will touch me that I cannot handle or has His OK. That He will never leave me. His mercy is new every morning. That His grace is all I need. To be honest it mostly happens in times of tiredness, disappointments, failures, feeling lost or unsure of my future.
* “You were running a good race. Who cut in front of you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.” Galatians 5:7&8
Um. Enough said! (she had to touch the metal bar)
* “Get out of your head.” There were athletes who got a couple of no-reps (failed to lift the wieght or jump the rope or hit the tiny piece of plexiglass with the ball) and you could see the struggle to keep going and not give up. They would take a minute, take a few deep breaths, get in the right head space to go back and do it again.
I can struggle with depression or an overwhelming sense of malise at times and it can be hard to keep moving during the day. It’s like there’s this gravitional pull for me to go sit under my blanket and zone out all day.
We’ve talked a lot about mindsets recently and I think it’s so important because “You don’t win races with just your legs. Victory or defeat happens in your head first.” ~ Overcomer Movie
How we view ourselves and how we talk to ourselves can take us out before we even get started because we will never start. We stay. We stay the same. We keep that bitterness. We hold back from fully embracing who we are in God. We never see change in our lives because we stay.
“You keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. “
Isaiah 26:3
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
* Mass moves mass. If you are not strong enough to lift 170 LBS you will not be able to lift 170 LBS. No matter how much you psych yourself up or how many coffees you’ve had. You won’t be able to move the mass until you have the mass to move it. You need to put in the work to build the muscles; you need to learn the skill so you don’t get hurt; you need to repeat it over and over and you will fail at times. The choice is ours: put in the work to build the skill - the fruit, the perserverance, falling and getting back up, the obedience… OR we don’t and wonder why we are still dealing with a hurt from 10 years ago. We stay small and petty and live a life far less than one God dreamed for us.
20 feet you guys - 8 times! (I think)
“Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
1 Corinthians 9:26&27
You mourn the losses and shake it off.
Then you celebrate!
You celebrate your hard work and hours you poured into training. You celebrate others as they achieve their PR’s.
You celebrate the ways you have grown and how much more you look like Jesus in your words and actions.
God loves a celebration and put that into us! I’m so grateful for that! I love to celebrate someone! Life is hard and losses are many BUT we still can find joy and celebrate both the big and small things!
“For the Lord your God is with you, a Powerful One Who wins the battle. He will have much joy over you. With His love He will give you new life. He will have joy over you with loud singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 NLV
I think His Power - His mass can move our mess!
Have the most amazing day!
All My Love,
~ Jodi xo
P.S. I just have to say that I am sooo proud of my sister, Robin. She’s an amazing woman and I love her!
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