Pace yourself. That’s wisdom suitable for a seasoned athlete…or any Christian. With the COVID-delayed 2020 Summer Olympics beginning this month, many Americans will be tuning in to watch all the games from the artistry of gymnastics to the exhaustion of track and field events as well as everything in between.  Even Olympic badminton can be exciting!

Not all the Olympic events receive as much televised attention or fan interest, but all teach us lessons about skill and tenacity. And this is where pacing becomes part of the equation. An athlete may possess great skill and have incredible tenacity, but if that athlete does not pace himself or herself for the long haul, the skill and tenacity will be lost.

What’s wrong with an un-paced life?

An un-paced life is wearisome. Expending your energy quickly may be good for sprinters, but is disastrous for distance athletes, leaving them weary when they need the strength to finish. Too many stressful moments, worrisome days or chaotic weeks and you’ll be flirting with emotional burnout. And as your emotional state simmers, your demeanor becomes irritable and inconsiderate. Tempers flare. Words become terse, patience grows short, email and text responses take on an abrupt feel that leave others wondering what you really mean. Your usual, loveable personality packs up and goes on an extended vacation.   And while you may be able to keep it together in public, your family often suffers through your meltdowns at home.

An un-paced life often lacks integrity. When you bite off more than you can chew, some responsibilities are hard to swallow. You get IRS heartburn – Integrity at Risk Syndrome. Some wise sage once said, “The person who burns the candle at both ends isn’t nearly as bright as he thinks he is.”  When exhausted, you are more tempted to cut corners; you don’t care how you get things done or even if you get them done. And that leads to guilt, because you know you should do better. There’s no satisfaction in responsibilities done poorly.

As the emotional burnout deepens, you may even consider compromising your integrity. When you are emotionally and mentally exhausted, your spiritual energy suffers. You become dismissive of spiritual disciplines that normally would be viewed as priorities. In essence, you stop caring about the important matters of life because your mental and emotional clarity has been compromised by exhaustion. Your integrity takes a beating.

I enjoy anything that has to do with aircraft and aviation history. One of my favorite television series from the late seventies portrayed the WW II squadron known as the Black Sheep Squadron. Flying F4U Corsairs in the south Pacific, the series loosely reenacted the antics of squadron leader “Pappy” Boyington and the marine pilots under his command. Some time ago, I discovered a website that offered the entire television series for sale on DVD. The site presented the product as “all thirty-seven uncut NBC episodes” – what a find!  When the DVDs arrived, they were homemade discs copied from VHS tapes of the series as aired on the History Channel. Needless to say, I was disappointed. Technically, I received all 37 episodes (with commercial interruptions as a bonus!) but I was far from satisfied. The product had been misrepresented – corners had been cut and integrity sacrificed.

You and I cannot afford such fallout from mental and emotional burnout. Former US Senator, Alan Simpson said it best, “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” 

Consider these simple ideas to help you keep pace:

• Be realistic in how much you can do. Take on too many responsibilities and you’ll find yourself headed toward burnout. Don’t take on more than you can accomplish with excellence.
• Find ways to clear your mind and refresh your energy. When the stress of life weighs you down, step back for a moment. Pause and read a chapter from your favorite style of book. Exercise or take a walk in God’s creation – it will help restore your focus. Talk with a trusted friend and enlist their prayer support. Watch a funny movie and laugh out loud. Any of these activities can help refresh and restore your mental and emotional energy.
• Reserve time for your family or close friends. Invest emotional capital in those irreplaceable relationships so that when you are struggling, they can provide your biggest support and encouragement.
• Most importantly, make quality time for your relationship with God. Pray, spend time in the Word and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Make the Lord your priority!

Life is not a short race; it is a marathon. You cannot afford to give out halfway through this race. Pace yourself so that you can “…press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Phil. 3:14 (NIV)

Have you ever considered what you would have if you didn’t own a thing? Look at the beauty of nature around us; only God could paint such a glorious scene. Very soon our southern Indiana hills will explode in the colors of spring. The soft white of the Dogwood blossom combined with the delicate purple of the Red Bud will add a splash of life to the barren landscape. No artist can duplicate the grandeur of that which belongs to each of us in the spring of the year. Or spend time with friends and feel the warmth of their loyalty or the joy of their smiles. No amount of money could buy something so valuable.

Gaze into the eyes of a small child and watch them dance with the wonder of life all around them and remember that each day of life is precious. Hug your family and remember they are more precious than gold. Art Buchwald was right when he wrote, “The best things in life aren’t things.” Indeed, the best things in life are gifts from God!

And speaking of dogwood blooms, I’m always reminded of the folk tale that surrounds this gnarled little tree. Legend has it that the dogwood was once strong and straight, and its timber was used for the cross of Jesus. Following Christ’s death, however, the dogwood was so ashamed that God made it spindly and crooked, so that it could never again be used for such a dishonorable purpose.

Of course, the legend is not true, but the story of the crucifixion is seen in each blossom. Four white petals form a cross with a notch in each petal edge like a nail print. Each indentation contains a reddish-brown spot as if to mark Christ’s blood from his head, hands and feet. And in the center of the blossom one can see what appears to be the crown of thorns. But the story doesn’t end there. Because the blossom itself is alive, it reminds us of Christ’s resurrection.

Even in the humble dogwood we discover anew the greatest story ever told!  It’s true – the best things in life aren’t things.

Ice – amazing, isn’t it, how something so simple as frozen water can bring our lives to a screeching halt.  And while we regret the impact of icy roads, slick sidewalks and treacherous steps, even in the nature of ice, we see God’s creative fingerprint. 

For most of us, ice is so ordinary that we seldom pause to consider its uniqueness.  Nearly all compounds become denser as they get colder.  Water, however, is most dense at 39 degrees.  At 32 degrees – the freezing temperature – water does the unexpected; it expands as it freezes making ice lighter, not heavier.  “Big deal,” you say. Yes, it is a big deal – it’s actually a matter of life and death.  If ice, like most compounds, were denser it would sink and cause lakes to freeze from the bottom up. Consequently, most lakes, with a few exceptions, would be solid ice by March killing all life in the process. But because ice is lighter it forms on top of the water and creates an insulating layer between the cold air above and the life below.  So, when spring returns, there is life in the lakes and ponds because ice floats.  

If God can sustain marine life through the harsh winter with something so simple as ice, imagine what he can do to sustain you in the harsh moments of life! 

In the early days of 2021’s second month, our attention can be drawn to several special days.  Perhaps it’s February 2nd and an overgrown, pampered, weather-predicting rodent that resides in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  You know the drill; if he sees his shadow, that’s six more weeks of bad weather.  However, if the sun doesn’t shine on the old woodchuck, the resurgence of springtime life is supposedly just around the corner.  Unfortunately, he got a glimpse of his shadow (so they tell us) and now the immediate future is gray and cold.

Did you ever wonder how Ground Hog’s Day came to be? Believe it or not, in the ancient church February 2nd – Candlemas – commemorated the day when the infant Jesus was presented at the temple forty days after his birth. As time passed, however, people added their superstitious beliefs to the date. How and when the ground hog entered the picture I do not know. But this I do know. The resurgence of life in the soul comes as a gift from God through His Son. That is truly good news! As for the ground hog and an early spring? I wouldn’t hang up your winter coat just yet! 

Or maybe it’s February 12th (Lincoln’s birthday) or February 22nd (Washington’s birthday), two of our greatest presidents.  Wouldn’t they be appalled at our polarized government and culture today? 

Perhaps you’re looking forward to February 26th – National Pistachio Day.  It’s kind of a nutty celebration.

But I suspect most first think of Valentine’s Day in association with February. Poet, Robert Frost, wrote this simple statement about the heart’s affection, “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.”  There is a longing deep within us to love and be loved. This month the floral, greeting card and candy industries will profit greatly from our desire to express our love to that special person in our lives.

One man asked his wife of 25 years, “Is it alright if I take you out for a hamburger for Valentine’s Day?” “Certainly,” she replied, “as long as that hamburger is in Hawaii.” A gift of love requires thought, effort and some sacrifice. Extravagant or simple, it’s the heartfelt motivation behind the gift that makes it meaningful.  One of the more familiar verses of Scripture begins with these words, “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16). God’s expression of love didn’t come as a red, heart-shaped box of candy or a bouquet of roses, but no gift has been more extravagant or heartfelt.  God’s love bridges the gap between his heart and ours, a bridge shaped like a cross. That gift, more than any other, satisfies the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. 

 This month do something irresistibly meaningful for another life to express the love of God within you.  Do it without expecting something in return and your February will have great meaning…regardless of the weather prognostication of a furry rodent in Pennsylvania. 

December is a wonderful time of year.  Yes, I know, it gets cold in the hills and hollers of southern Indiana.  And yes, I know, we could get a big snow at the most inconvenient moment.  But December is wonderful because it is the month we pause to celebrate the best gift ever – the gift of the infant Christ.  Consequently, the joy of Christmas is always best viewed through the eyes of a child. 

Each December as we unpack our nativity scene, I smile to remember a Christmas when our oldest daughter Emily was very young.  I had arranged the characters in the scene as always with the shepherd and sheep peering in from the outside.  Sometime later, however, I passed the nativity and discovered the sheep were all inside the stable.  I didn’t think much about it as I rearranged them but later in the day, they were back in again.  Now I was puzzled.  This went on for a couple of days but neither Elsie nor I had touched them, so how did they get there?  We were mystified; Emily was much too small to be moving them, wasn’t she?  But sure enough, we discovered that it was Emily.  Each time she had pulled a step stool over to reach the table and rearrange the sheep.  Her explanation?  “Sheep belong in a barn.”  

She was right – livestock belong in a stable; a manger is no place to lay a baby.  Sheep are at home around a feeding trough, but the infant Jesus deserved better.  But with such a humble birth, God demonstrated his incredible love for all people.  He didn’t come solely for the famous, the rich or the powerful.  No, he came quietly, simply and humbly so that he could relate to everyone, from the least to the greatest.  And aren’t you glad that we too are welcomed at the foot of his manger?  You see, his birth made possible our new birth!

So, during this season, don’t get so busy in preparing for the holidays that you forget to prepare your heart to worship the One who came to be the Light of the world.  Stay close to him this Christmas!