QT and Working Out

So I have been trying oh so very hard to find a consistent time when I can not only work out but also have a quiet time. I have stubbornly tried several different schedules with the latest one being to get up at 5am and ‘fit them in’ before either child wakes up. Sadly, I can’t seem to keep my eyes open that early, even to work out (I fell asleep while stretching). I may be stubborn, but this morning, after a night of K teething, I accepted that two little babies and a rock solid schedule just may not happen.

There are two problems here. The first is that I don’t like to do things 'half-way', shall we call it. If I am going to do something, it is all or nothing cause half-way seems worthless to me. So when I work out, I’d rather not go than go and have a weak effort. When I start a workout, I am going to complete it. So it makes me angry when a crying child ruins my best of plans (and I am pretty sure that anger is not the appropriate response to a hungry child waking up after a wonderful night of sleep). Secondly, working out and a quiet time are big priorities for me as they keep me balanced spiritually, emotionally and physically. I need them as much as you need food. I'm not kidding. Without them, I get depressed and negative and I can’t work my way out of it.

Anyway, this morning I decided that I just need to let go and relax. I need to get up and try for a workout and if I don’t get it all in before one of the girls stops me, then ‘that’s how the cookie crumbles’. I decided that I need to adopt the mentality that anything is better than nothing. And stopping in the middle isn’t quitting, it is getting as far as I possibly can under the circumstances. “Do your best and forget the rest” (our favorite quote from Tony Horton). Besides, it's not like I can't go for a walk a little later.

So, I tell you all that because I was at church again tonight and one of the songs was supposed to be God talking to us about how He loves us so much that He just wants to spend time with us…that all those things can wait for a little while longer, spend time with me, just a few minutes, just spend a little more time with me, I love you. Funny thing was, my first response was that it made me sad because it reminds me of how I feel about M. I say stuff like that all the time…the grass can get longer, spend time with me…you don’t have to check your email right now, spend time with me. And I thought, “If that’s all He wants, I’m his girl! I know just how he feels.”

I also realized that all the stuff I had accepted about my workouts was the same stuff that I needed to accept about quiet times. I don’t have to have a ‘perfect’ quiet time with God for it to ‘count’. I don’t have to have half an hour of uninterrupted conversation with Him. I can start and stop as many times as I need. I can start and get as far as I can and whatever that is, it is better than nothing.

So, when I sit down at the kitchen table and I pray, it’s good. Five minutes, ten minutes, whatever I can get, I need to take it…HE will take it. I am not short-changing God, short-changing God is not doing it at all…not starting because I can’t finish…not trying because I can’t do it ‘right’. Besides, it's not like I can't sit down and talk some more a little later in the day.

So this is my challenge (to me as much as you): think about how much you love the most important person in your life. Think about how much you cherish every moment you get just to be in their presence – even if you don’t talk – just to be together. And then realize that God loves you more than you could EVER love anyone and His desire is just to be with you. To talk to you and share his heart with you. Love him back. If your life allows you to have blocks of dedicated time, use it. But if your life is too unpredictable for that, do what you can, take what you can. Anything is better than nothing at all.

God Bless and Good Night!