It’s that time again. As a coach trainer at the Professional Christian Coaching Institute, one of the classes that I have the privilege of teaching is the 15-week Essentials course for aspiring Life Coaches. I love watching their coaching skills grow week by week as they prayerfully equip themselves to minister in meaningful ways.
(Hang in here with me; this really does apply to “Made to Crave.”)
Along with coaching competencies, tools, and techniques, we also spend about 6 weeks on a section we call Inside-Out. As coaches, leaders, and teachers, we know that we can never take those we work with to places that we have not been ourselves. In other words, we must walk the talk.
For many students, this is the first time they have sat down with the Lord and asked Him specifically, “What is my life’s vision, purpose and mission?” “What did you put me on this earth to do?” “How do you want me to live out the rest of my life?”
And as the students try to wrestle their thoughts onto paper, I always use this opportunity to pull out my own vision, purpose and mission statements to see what needs to be tweaked and more importantly, to make sure that I am living the way God has called me to live.
This morning, one particular part of my mission statement jumped out at me, “To arrange my life around the spiritual practices that open me up to intimacy with God.” That statement strongly correlates with a prayer of Lysa’s in Chapter 18, “Forgive me (for)… the busyness that makes me forget to stop and consider my ways, my thoughts, my actions. You, Messiah are the best match for my mess.”
It seems that both she and I have realized that spiritual practices can’t be worked around an already busy life, but instead, our lives have to be arranged around the core disciplines foundational to our relationship with the Lord. For me, this means that time in Scripture, prayer, silence, solitude, and meditation must be put on the schedule first before all the other blanks can be filled in.
(Finally, here is the part that applies to healthy living. Thanks for your patience. 
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As I’m going through this Made to Crave study it occurs to me that the discipline of healthy eating and living needs to be added to my list of foundational disciplines. This sacrificial lifestyle of love will not be sustainable unless I give it the time and attention it deserves. Hard choices need to be made.
Yes, I need to eat healthy food. Clearly, it’s important to wake up earlier and go to the gym. Success when eating out is dependent on proper planning before I ever leave home. But what I often forget to factor in is the fact that each and every one of these things takes TIME.
Time. It’s the one thing I can never get more of. I can’t beg, borrow or steal a single minute and add it to my life no matter how hard I try.
So, if I am going to say ‘yes’ to my Lord and pursue a lifetime of healthy living, I am going to have to say ‘no’ to some other things. Good things. Fun things. Things I like to do. But as the old saying goes, if I fail to plan then I plan to fail. And I don’t want to do that!
Intentional living is glorious but it is not glamorous. I have some tough choices to make in the weeks ahead as I pray through my daily schedule once again. But it will be worth it.
My vision is for all of the Christian women of the world to be Christ-saturated, joy-filled and purpose-driven. And that’s a vision worth sacrificing for. I hope you will join me.
What About You?
What choices are you going to have to make to have an on-going healthy lifestyle?
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Choices, planning, time. I feel rather clear on what my big picture should look like. It’s those small daily decisions and planning that get me every time. I read something (I think by Jim Rohn) that said those things that are easiest not to do - or to put off - are the very things that make all the difference.
So as I tell myself I “can do that later” or don’t plan my time well it seems like it’s the small things that don’t “need” to be done and can be put off - but really - in the big picture they make all the difference. And instead of being responsible for myself - I tend to blame my husband or my circumstances.
So I know this, but yet I don’t do it. Kind of like Paul in Romans 7.
That’s a very helpful insight about the things we don’t want to do are the ones that make a difference. I’m going to watch out for that and be more on guard. Thanks.