A Good Habit To Be In

Stretching really isn't much fun.  Any kind of it.  Taking time out before sports to stretch can seem like a drag, but not doing it usually leads to injury (so says my two major leg injuries in the past year).  Being stretched beyond our capacities isn't much fun either.  In the midst of it, we generally feel frustrated, bitter, and overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, I had a mentor in college who admonished me, "Never deny God the opportunity to stretch you."  I didn't think I could take on one more thing that summer, but then the opportunity came up to go to Kenya.  I went, on his advice, and that trip radically changed my life.  The saying has become central to my life philosophy.  I enjoy growing and learning anyways, so deciding to put myself in positions where God has to stretch me works out well.  It generally doesn't make it any more fun in the meantime, unfortunately.

Since getting married, my wife and I have tried to make it a habit to regularly do things we don't think we can do.  One of them is charitable giving.  We decided that every December, we would give a large amount to various organizations that we don't regularly support.  We don't really look at our budget or bank account, we just do it.  We use savings to cover whatever we don't have.  Giving becomes addicting if you give it a try.  We've tried this habit again with our current plan to spend the summer in Peru.  It's well out of our comfort zone, and we have to overcome all sorts of challenges like 3 month unpaid leave from work, sublease our apartment, find a long-term dog sitter, fundraise, and more.  We felt like it was what we were supposed to do, however, so we didn't let ourselves get distracted by those things - we just made the commitment.

I think this is a pretty good habit to be in.  There's certainly worse ones out there.  Putting ourselves in situations that we don't think we can do forces us to exercise our faith.  If faith isn't regularly tested, it can become self-confidence.  Self-confidence isn't a bad thing, but it's not faith.  Faith is relying on God to come through because there's no other way.  Making bold commitments is a great way to get there.  It's like jumping off a diving board - there's that moment when there's no turning back.  Faith can be like that - you just close your eyes and pass the point of no return without thinking too much about the consequences (please don't think doing stupid things is faith, however).  Like the water, we know that we've got an unbreakable safety net in God and that one way or another, things will work out.  Maybe it'll cost us tremendously.  That's okay!  Either way, you'll find yourself well-stretched at the end of it.  And more ready to be an instrument of the Lord.