Running Shoes & AT&T Full Bars of Service

Okay so I know your probably reading the title and shaking your head thinking how in the world do those two things have anything to do with anything....just keep reading I promise I will make the connection for you.

This past weekend was the Getaway, the Watermark student ministry girl leader retreat. After much discussion and convincing from a few friends I was on my way on Friday night - needless to say I was really anxious about going because most of the leaders I am close to weren't going and a few of the leaders that were going I wasn't on the same page with on a few issues. All that to say I just didn't want to go, but I also knew once I got there that I would probably have a good time, like I did last year. On Friday night Mel challenged us with thinking of where we were in our life and walk with God and where we wanted to be, and in typical Mel fashion we were going to have to be artistic/creative and draw this out on a rock - one side where we where and one side where we wanted to be. So for those of you who know me I can't draw and being a perfectionist this stressed me out, so after I apparently gave Mel a not so nice look - to which I was told to deal. It didn't take much thought at all to know that a running shoe defiantly can describe my life right now - not only do I literally run, but my life is really busy right now as we head into the holiday season (just part of working for a retail company), and I haven't taken a whole lot of time in the past two weeks to just sit and be still before the Lord, and I was excited because I knew how to draw a running shoe. So the flip side of a running shoe that came to my mind was a pillow because that is probably the only time that I have honestly slowed down in the last little bit. Sad to think that the only real time I have slowed down has been when I am sleeping and my time with Lord has lately been right before my head has hit the pillow. So on half of my rock is a running shoe and the otherside is a pillow...representing how I know my life is crazy and I like it that way honestly, but that I still need to slow down and just be still and enjoy life for what it is worth.

Now for the AT&T full bars of service part, and it's not just because my step dad works for AT&T. Something that God has really convicted me of lately through a good friend is that I am not the best at communicating clearly what I mean, think or feel. So I have been working on saying what I mean and meaning what I say at all times, which isn't always the easiest for this people pleaser to do. Out at the lake this weekend no one had cell phone service, so all of our little bars were empty if they were that at all - as cheesy as it is God made me realize that this is how I have been communicating with people because my lines of communication haven't been clear or had full service. I realized that a lot of times I think I say something clearly and it makes sense to me, but when I have stopped and thought about it - I realize that the person I was communicating with has no clue what I am trying to communicate and this leads to frustration on both sides. So the other side of my rock had the signal bar with one tiny bar and the other side had the signal bar with all of the full bars - representing full and clear communication.

While I know my life isn't resting on the pillow of stillness near enough - I am working on making sure that I give the running shoe of life a rest at least a few times each week. I also know that my signal bar of communication doesn't have all five bars yet, but that is something I am trying to work on and hopefully by truely saying what I mean and meaning what I say, I will have all five bars soon. Because a life that just runs the race all the time and can't get the message isn't the one that I want to live.