You've got more in you...

Aron recounted a story upon returning from Catalyst that one of the speakers had told. Now this is second hand, but I'm going to attempt to retell it as best as I can, because God has really been using it to call me out lately.

So this dude named Craig Groshel (who started a pretty amazing church called LifeChurch.tv) was on vacation early in his ministry. He was poolside swimming with his kids, when this guy swam up and challenged him, "I'm a swim coach...its what I do for a living, and I bet you I can hold my breath longer than you."

Being a man, he couldn't not accept the challenge. The coach allowed him to go first. He submerged himself...and lasted approximately 1:20. When he came up, gasping for air, the coach said, "I'm pretty sure you can do better than that. Now I want you to try again. This time just submerge your face, and listen carefully to my directions. Do everything I tell you."

So he tried again. This time, instead of moving all extremities to stay afloat, he was coached to hold perfectly still. "Okay, you're at thirty seconds," he coached...but he was really at 45 seconds. "Now in a few seconds your going to feel your lungs burning, like they're going to explode. They're not going to explode. That is just your body's way of telling you you're running low on oxygen. But just stay calm. Let out a little air. 1 minute."

He continued on. "In a few seconds you're going to feel the urge to take a gasp. Stay calm. Rest through it. Your body is protesting, but you've got more in you. 1 minute 30 seconds.." He was at 2:00 minutes. The man continued to coach him through until he finally could bear no more. When he surfaced, gasping for dear life, he couldn't believe his time...2:3O - MORE THAN DOUBLE his previous time.

Then the coach said to him, "Mr. Groshel, I've been following your ministry for a while now. And God has sent me to tell you, 'You've got more in you.'"

God was calling out his potential.

So this is where I have been the past few days. I feel God calling me out... I know I haven't been living up to my potential, and the unrest is growing day by day. I don't what the end product looks like, but I know little steps I can take to get there.

1. I need to step up my prayer life.
2. I need to begin reading again. And by this, I mean idea books. Books about the nature of God or that offer insights to the inner world of the heart.
3. I need to do a better job of taking care of my body. I never felt more alive than when I was working out 4 to 5 days a week and eating healthfully.

So that is where I start. I'll keep you updated about how I'm doing.
all my love, friends
ejk