Thursday Thoughts on my Faith

I read an article in last Sunday's Sacramento Bee that still has me thinking. It was in the "Health" section but I found a spiritual connection to one of the articles. It was titled "If time is of the essence in your sport, find good coaching". It focused primarily on a man who was an athlete all his life and decided in 1999 to run the Boston Marathon. He trained and completed the race in a little over 4 hours, which is pretty good! He kept training on his own and enjoying smaller competitions like 10ks and the Boston Marathon each year but he never did particularly well. The man decided to "get serious" and joined the Boston Athletic Association and after training with them he got better and better. Last Monday he posted a time of 2 hours and 39 minutes in this year's Boston Marathon. It was his best time to date. He ran with a bad cold but still did exceptionally well, finishing 161 our of 23,000 runners.

Where on earth am I going with this spiritually you may ask? Well, I drew an analogy from this story to my spiritual life. I've been training for my spiritual race pretty much on my own the past several years. Not really by choice however I haven't sought out spiritual "coaching" consistently either. I did when I was younger. My first spiritual mentor was Glennie, my High School Sunday School teacher. She would meet with me for lunch and talk through my walk with Christ. Glennie led me to volunteering at the Crisis Pregnancy Center when I told her how deeply the abortion controversy was effecting me. Glennie also introduced me to a professional counselor from our Church when it was obvious I needed more than just spiritual counseling. She and I wrote through my first year of college and although we are not in touch today she holds a very special place in my heart.

The next woman I met with was Kitty, the Executive Director from the Bible Camp where I spent many summers as a camper and staff. I told Kitty things I had never told anyone and she always pointed me back to the trustworthiness of God. Kitty helped me see that God was kind and good and He loved me unconditionally. I am still in touch with Kitty through Facebook and her amazing smile lifts my heart everytime I see it. In her eyes I see that God loves me, no matter what!

Next came Dawn. Another year round resident of the camp I mentioned above. Her husband was the Camp Director. With Dawn I was encouraged to face my fears and trust God with them wholly. She is a woman who has faced her own fears with tremendous courage and faith in God. We are also still in touch through email and letters and when I think of her inner strength that comes from a close walk with Christ I am still inspired.

In college I met with Deb. She was the school's Vice President of Student Affairs (if I remember her title correctly). It's kind of an interesting story how we met which I won't go into now, but I spent many a hour in her living room just a couple of miles from campus sorting out the struggles of my faith. One night I walked around for hours with heavy thoughts on my mind. I wound up on her doorstep, totally distraught and she took me in of course. Made me tea and called my roommates to reassure them I was alright. Deb coached me through some of my darkest thoughts about my faith. Remembering Deb's infectious energy and tenacity always reminds me to keep going when the going gets tough.

And that's where my being coached ends. I met with Deb when I was 22 so for the last 14 years I have been without a "coach". My training as a Spiritual Athlete has seriously suffered because of it. I've even stopped "training" altogether at times. It's so easy when we are on our own to make excuses, rationalize our choices and become lazy. Fellow Athletes are essential as well to hold us accountable, challenge and encourage us but I think having a coach is not to be overlooked. I think the level of coaching we need depends on each individual person. For some, listening to a Pastor preach each Sunday is all the coaching they need. For me, I think I need one-on-one mentoring from an older Christian woman. This is what I'm praying for: an mature Christian woman who can coach me back into being a top Spiritual Athlete. I need to help getting my discipline back and what the best way is to strengthen my "muscles" without hurting myself. I want to run in the race that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 9:24 in the most efficient and fastest way possible and I need a spiritual mentor, coach or personal trainer to do it.

I hope God shows me who she is soon. Maybe if I find the right coach I can do some coaching of my own someday..............."Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Titus 2:3-5