Put in the time and enjoy the results

Recovery is a lot like working out.  It builds muscles that are relational, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  My gym mentor likes to remind me of a training principle she calls - “What the heck?”.  I’ve never been able to do a pull-up my entire life.  Last week I managed one.  What the heck?  I had not been practicing pull-ups because I did not believe it was possible for me to ever succeed at doing one.  However, I have been faithfully doing the exercises my mentor prescribed for me to do several times a week.  These are not marathon workouts.  I’m talking twenty minutes a session, three sessions a week.  I don’t break out in excessive sweat or groan and moan like a cow in labor as I practice.  The routines are challenging but not intimidating.

Evidently, they are also effective.  When she asked me to hop up on a stool and grab a bar above my head, I thought she was going to let me hang there and decompress my back.  Instead, she challenged me to try a pull-up.  What. The. Heck.  I could do one!

Spirituality is an awful lot like going to the gym, putting in the time, and one day - “What the heck?” - happens.  You change.  Maybe at first this change is minimal, even discouraging.  But if you continue doing your part, over time willingness increases and so does capacity to live differently.

I did not lie to my husband about my rug purchase.  I also did not purchase a rug that exceeded our budget.  We had no conflict and I had no need for shame or guilt.  I didn’t even register the story as a big deal until I was working on the blog posts.  Suddenly I thought, “What the heck?”  The old me would have lied; the not quite as long ago me would have not lied but it would have been a struggle to do the next right thing.  What the heck?  When did honesty become my go-to practice?  I could not tell you.  It’s mysterious.  It’s a God thing. 

It took a long time.  There were many backslides and face plants along the way.  But at some point my readiness invited God to change me.  And he did.  No need to throw a parade or anything.  There is PLENTY more work to be done.  But progress is progress and I am thankful for it.  What progress have you made as you have committed to your journey?  Where is your “What the heck?”