Walking the path

(2 minute read)

In that family history questionnaire at the doctor’s office, if they asked, “Is there any history of exercise in your family,” my only answer would be my brother Bob. He is 84 years old and has a gym membership. He usually walks 6 miles a day. His version of having a good vacation is to hike on the Appalachian Trail, which he often does alone. The entire family worries about him. I asked him once how he got so far afield of the standard family lifestyle. You’re probably already way ahead of me on his answer. It was a woman that took him down that road.

He met a woman that was a runner, and he wanted to spend more time with her, so he took up running. Taking up running sounds easy, but hundreds of little things are involved. On his first morning out running, he discovered that he would have to quit smoking. Instead of recording the distance he ran in miles, he counted mailboxes. He could no longer go out to bars at night as he had to get to bed early to get up early to run every day. Running and junk food evidently don’t go together, so Bob had to change how he ate.

Every significant change that we make in our life requires numerous small changes. Discovering those small changes and learning to do them well is the secret to success. Several times in my life, the Lord led me to what for me was a major project that didn’t turn out as well as expected. Instead of looking like God’s will, it looked more like my will with some influence from God. It has taken me a while to figure out the problem was that I wasn’t always faithful in the little things.

I feel I’m at the beginning of a new project. Trying to learn from my mistakes, I’m asking the Lord to show me the little things I need to learn and do. I’m sure that prayer is involved, and I’m trying to say “yes” to the entire list even before seeing if fasting is on the list.

Photo by Lucas van Oort