Back to the Basics -Kat

I'm glad to see you all this week!

The generation I've grown up in boasts athletics. That may not exactly be "new," I haven't checked the demographics of athleticism, but I do know how my generation has treated it. Everybody is working towards a scholarship to play some sport at some school. They spend hours upon hours practicing, playing, and talking about their sport.

My only experience as an athlete was in my high school marching band. Think what you will about the sport, but the way we practiced was not any different than the way other athletes practiced and that's all that matters for this point I have to make. It has been drilled into me that the details matter. You have got to know your technique backwards and forwards or your entire set of movements will be thrown off. There's no getting around it. Sport teams practice to win, which means they don't take a practice lightly. You have to practice the way you'd play in a game.

Humans, by nature, run on familiarity. Some of us are more methodically or routinely oriented than others (I'm a bit in the extreme) but each and every one of us is wired to like familiarity in some form. That's why when it comes to the "Real Deal," you have to already be trained in the small things. If you already know how to kick the soccer ball, your body won't be trying to figure out what angle to kick it as you're trying to figure out who you're passing to. If you can play your scales, your fingers won't be trying to make the jump from a C to a D flat while you're remembering the 16th notes coming in 4 measures.

If we're all used to this idea that we fall back on our habits, why do we not often value the habits of reading our bibles? Why don't we understand that having an open and honest prayer relationship with God serves to better our entire lives? So many of those athletes I know are Christians. And yet they find they are "too busy" to read their bibles or pray on a regular basis. Myself included! Sometimes, I just don't think I really need to work on my habit of daily reading. But you know what? If I don't work to make it a habit it will not become a habit. If I don't make the conscious effort to work on the little things, those little things won't be what I fall back on when I need to.

I hope you work on going back to the basics this week. Work with me to get back to studying your bible and praying.

I love you all!
Kat

"'For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.'" Luke 6:43-45

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny." Anonymous (I've seen this quote with credit attributed to several different people, but I really couldn't tell you who said it first.)