Stay focused
It is interesting how some words of advice just stick with you. I wonder if my brother would be surprised that I still remember the words of advice he gave to me that seem to pop in my head as I read the verse above. My brother, Steve who is eight years my senior, ha ha, ‘my senior’. That sounds so old. Anyway, my brother who is eight years older than me once told me right before I was about to go to college, to ‘STAY FOCUSED’. He was an athlete and this was very appropriate advice for him to give. He would know. He played baseball his whole life, first baseman and would’ve gone professional if it wasn’t for a devastating injury during college. On the other hand I was a horrible athlete , well in the beginning and before I found my love for endurance sports that is. When I was in junior high, I was very awkward. I was made fun of a lot. I was a nerd! My athletic skills were nil to none so my dear brother must have felt sorry for me and he took me under his wing and coached me. He taught me how to hit in softball and improved my shooting in basketball. ‘Stay focused he would say and always keep your eye on the ball’. Keep your eye on the ball, another sports term. I managed to make a base hit that very week after his coaching session and I guess it did help me in college. I mean I had a lot of distractions along the way, but I managed to graduate didn’t I and get my medical degree.
I really needed these words of wisdom right now through this verse. Thank you Jesus.... and Steve.
Life continues to move fast around me. Nathan is about to start college. School year is approaching. Election year has the news all in a frenzy. And for me, the more time passes by, the more days go by that I haven’t published my book yet! Agh! I’m actually supposed to be working on that now. Maybe this will go in my book? God knows. I just needed this time to regroup and get my focus again. In a world with so many distractions, its easy to lose focus.
The apostle Paul was very focused. As he is writing that verse above, he is getting ready to go to Jerusalem where he knows it is all going to go down. It will be hard and he will suffer. Yet, that doesn’t deter him. He continues to live passionately for Jesus and getting the gospel message out. After all, his life would be worth nothing, if he didn’t get that one task done.
We’ve all been given this task.
My mission is to get this task done in the only way that God has equipped me to do so and in all areas of my life-work, family, my book and yes even play or rest or whatever you want to call it. Speaking of play, I continue to NOT run. I still miss NOT running. However, my swimming skills are getting stronger. In regards to my leg /scoliosis injury, I’ve been doing some of my OWN research. I just love it when patients tell me that. NOT really. It turns out that I do NOT have an actual ANATOMICAL leg length discrepancy but a functional leg length discrepancy. My legs are equal in length but its my hips! One hip is higher than the other making the APPEARANCE of a leg length discrepancy or uneven legs and not an actual leg length discrepancy. This makes sense since my problem started in the pelvis area or hamstring origin to be exact. One side sways too much to the other when I run. Hey, I'm a hula runner. Hula dancer good. Hula runner bad. I still believe an orthotic insert will help so I’m doing a little experiment with this… to be continued. As God as my witness, I will run again! Because as God as my witness, I will never go hungry again! Yep because I love to eat. I need to run because I love to eat. You get it.
Until then, and no matter what life throws at me, I will stay focused on the task that Jesus has given me. As the pitch comes, I will keep my eye on that ball, just like my brother taught me. Don’t pay attention to those girls making fun of you on the bench even if its from your own team. I will keep swinging, keep shooting, keep running toward that finish line. Any other sports analogies here? I think you get the point. Just be sure to stay focused on it.
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