Starting small

How can you eat 70 hot dogs in one ten minute competition? Sheesh!

How can you drink two pots of coffee a day? One cup at a time.

How can you run and continually lower your split times? Perseverance pays off.

How can you stand this incredible heat? Hydration and conditioning make it so.

It's all about our bodies tolerating things.

I'm sure Joey Chestnut didn't start out eating 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes. He had to work his body and mind up to that benchmark. Drinking large amounts of coffee probably also depends on the body craving larger doses of caffeine, so increasing amounts of coffee increases caffeine.

Lately, I have been watching my lovely wife doing her daily workouts and she invests 22 minutes to cardio one day and then strength training the next day. Each day brings her to a whole new level of strength and stamina. I'm not smart-mouthing her like I used to!

Not to be out down, I have been doing some bodyweight workouts on my own. Phew!

The first day I tried some pushups. I wrenched out eight (8)!! With each dip of the arms came this labored grunt and then the arm shaking press upward. Not one to give up easily, I decided I would try to do ten pushups next time. A week and a half has passed and today I will be aiming for 45 pushups. How did I get here? Each day I have purposed to increase my total by several more than yesterday.

Eating a gaggle of hot dogs is accomplished the same way. Mr. Chestnut had to start somewhere and now he is the one who wears the mustard belt for champions. Wait, is 70 hot dogs called a gaggle or a 'mess'?

Disciplines are all about starting small and then committing a little more to the exercise each new day. The benefits that come back to us usually always grow in value the more we invest.

How much time do we spend talking to God in prayer?

How much time do we spend reading God's word each day?

How much time do we spend listening to God each day?

These are questions each of us must wrestle with in coming to a place of personal contact with God. Apart from a meaningful growing relationship with God is the place where panic arises. When our lives are spinning out of control, it's easy to look desperately for God and grasp at anything we can reach. This action would look similar to you and I trying to eat 70 hot dogs right now with no training. I hear a gurgling and then a hurling sound. There she blows!

Better to cultivate and grow an ever strengthening relationship with the one who created us for relationships. God has a way for us to do this. Check out this passage from the Old Testament.

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These

commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk

about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you

get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the

doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:5-9, NIV)

Each day brings a new opportunity to strengthen our bond of relationship with God. We learn the art of faith and trust by relying more and more on God's will and good plan for our lives. Whatever time you spend with God today is you simply investing in something that will provide growing dividends. Have a good one!

PS: I see 45 pushups staring at me defiantly!