Who's Setting Your Pace?

In a race, you often pace yourself based on the speed of those surrounding you. You can push yourself a little harder if the people near you have a quicker pace.

When I go for a run by myself, I'm not the fastest runner - but if I go running with someone who's just a little bit faster than me I realize I can push myself to run faster than usual! All it takes is a little motivation and encouragement from the person next to you setting a faster pace.

So think about your own life. Who's setting the pace for you? Who do you surround yourself with?

Do you spend time with people that challenge you to think and grow? Do those around you motivate you to try new things, accomplish goals, and be creative?

How about your spiritual life? Who's setting the pace when it comes to your walk with the Lord?

"You pace yourself according to whom you run beside."

This statement is from a Bible study book I'm going though with a group at church, and it stuck with me and made me think.

Life is meant to be lived with other people. If we are willing to be open and share in relationships, they can encourage us and keep us accountable in our spiritual life and other areas.

When you're unmotivated or have hit a low point - look for others who are full of energy and have a passion for God's Word! Chances are, if you surround yourself with people eager to live their life for the Lord, they'll set the pace for you and you'll be encouraged to join them and run along side them in this journey of life.

Who is setting the pace for your life right now? Could you push yourself a little farther if you surrounded yourself with other people? Find people that are going to encourage and motivate you - share life with them!

Delayed Gratification

I miss blogging.

I miss doing a lot of things right now.

It's already October, and I have yet to pull out one fall decoration. I don't think it's even going to happen this year.

I think there's a lot of things that will not be happening this year - but there is a lot of other things that will be happening. And it's all part of this weird transition into marriage.

I may not be decorating for fall, but Nate and I are fixing up a house that I can decorate for fall every year in the near future!

I may only be blogging once a month, but right now we're dreaming about the lifetime of memories we'll make in the years to come!

Time spent with Nate now usually consists of working together to plan out his truck routes, hotel stops, and directions - but helping him learn the routes beforehand reduces the stress he has on the road and puts him in a better mood when he calls me from his hotel. And those 2 hours of prep work before each of his trips will some day mean he will be able to complete his trips a little faster and be home for the night instead of in a hotel!

Catching up with friends now typically involves a paint brush or a cleaning product, but some day those same  friends will be over for dinner or a game night in a fresh and clean house!

I shop at Lowes more than any other store right now, but the effort we put it at the house now means it should be fairly low maintenance for a while after it meets certain standards.

I stay up late to work on wedding stuff and get up early to work on house stuff - but someday our marriage and our home will be worth it!

As much as it might be nice to fast forward to March and have this all behind us, there's value in delayed gratification. Nate and I are learning how to best communicate our needs, desires, struggles, and frustrations. We're learning patience and forgiveness. We're giving up a few months that could be full of fun activities for preparing for a lifetime together.

We can't predict the future, but we have hopes and dreams. We're prayerful that our time spent putting in the hard work now will pay off down the road - in our relationship, in our home, and in our life together.

We're making sacrifices now, but it won't always have to be this way.

I may miss blogging, but Nate told me the other day he's thinking about not getting his hunting license this year. We had never talked about it - he came to that conclusion on his own. He may set hunting aside for one season, but that doesn't mean he won't ever be out in the woods again waiting for those deer to come along. Just like I don't have to give up blogging for good. Our engagement is just a season in our lifetime together - and this season calls for different priorities than we've had in the past.

So we're trying out this delayed gratification thing and giving up a few things now for potential future gain!