Routine vs. The Hat Trick

 

I like to exercise.   I’m not a fanatic – the Iron Man is not on my “Bucket List” and I don’t aspire to be the world’s oldest Olympian.  But I like to stay in shape.  Until recently I enjoyed (and often boasted about to my children) a rigorous “routine” of push-ups and pull-ups; pull-ups one day, push-ups the next.  I wanted to increase my strength and lose a few pounds in the process.  To my surprise my weight increased, and so did my body fat!

 

I was befuddled until my good friend and fitness expert, Dr. Bert Chandler, described the reason for my problem.  He told me that when the body recognizes strenuous routine, it automatically adapts and starts reserving calories to compensate for the activity.  In other words, my body found it’s “comfort zone”, which reduced the benefit of my exercise.  Bert recommended that I work out in a number of different ways as he and his partner , Dr. Todd Stewart, demonstrate in this video:

 

 

Bert was right!  I varied my work out day to day which resulted in better fitness, endurance, weight loss, fat loss, and the ability to respond more quickly in more varied sports activities. 

 

Remember the Heavenly Hat Trick I mentioned several months ago?  One of my most respected friends recommended a 3-pronged approach for growing in faith and experiencing God’s power on a regular basis:

1. Dig in to the Bible daily
2. Spiritual Radar on Defcon 1 (expect God to show up)
3. Be willing to look foolish

 

How often does our comfort zone produce a routine of experience that prevents us from growing in expectation of God’s power and intervention? 

I encourage you to shake things up a bit in your spiritual life.  If the result is anything like the physical impact of a varied work out – you will be exhausted and “sore” – but you will certainly be better prepared for a different level of participation – and you will enjoy “the Abundant Life” (John 10:10) all the more. 

 

Get your son involved.  Try different activities and challenges in your CHAMPION Training.  He will love it!

Highest Dreams

 

My highest dream through college was to fly jets.  No aspiration I could envision compared with the possibility of piloting an F16 through high G-force maneuvers as I blasted through the sound barrier.  My dreams were shattered, however, when – unlike two of my college buddies – I failed the Air Force pilot test.  For years I fantasized about an alternate path in my life, flying as Captain Sapp for a prominent airline while pursuing successful entrepreneurial ventures on the side.  I couldn’t understand why God would not fulfill my desire to sit behind the stick.

 

A few weeks ago my incredible children (who would not be a part of my life if my dream had been fulfilled) and wonderful mother surprised me with a “Bucket List” birthday event – to sit behind the stick of an old Navy Fighter and actually guide the plane through maneuvers.  What an opportunity!

 

 

Every once in a while we learn better how to appreciate God’s sense of humor.  It took exactly two aileron rolls and one loop for me to take my hand off the stick and reach for the airsick bag.  If a prop-plane graciously gliding through calm acrobatics propelled me into dry heaves, what would a jet pulling 10 Gs do to my gag reflex?   My flight was a great experience as I laughed my way through violent nausea, while gaining insight as to one reason God did not fulfill my “highest dream.”

 

How can I turn to anyone else? I would be insanity, foolishness.  You are God, I am not.  I abandon myself to You.  Like Jabez, I ask that you bless me.  I ask that you satisfy the highest dream my heart can envision – an encounter with You. 

 

Larry Crabbe, Shattered Dreams

 

Thank God that He shattered my dreams.  Thank God that, even when I don’t feel blessed to my own specifications, my highest dream can be still be fulfilled, and that is to know Him better.