Doug E. Pudge

And Now The Pain Begins

You know, I was thinking. Over the past few months there have been many changes in the Pudgeman's life. With those changes have come many different challenges that have helped me to grow as a Christian and as a person. I think of all of the things that used to scare me to death that are now just part of life. I have been doing my best to balance out my life lately. I have dedicated myself to the Word and to prayer. I have been blessed with the challenges of a new ministry. I have once again become socially active (that means I'm dating again). I am striving to be a better worker for my employer. All of this has been getting on track very nicely and is moving in some postive directions but I realized that something has been missing. Pastor Tom spoke some great wisdom to me a couple of weeks ago when I was really stressed out about things in my life. He mentioned something that hit me as strange at first but the more I dwelt on it, the more I realized that he was right. On top of all of the other things that I am doing to get my life on track I have neglected the most obvious..............diet and exercise! I have some very bad habits that need to be dealt with in these areas. So, I prayed about it and have made some solid changes in what I eat (not depriving myself, just making smarter choices) and I am going to the gym every morning. Yep, my already packed schedule had about an hour that used to be spent watching the news or reading the paper. That hour is now all about dragging my sorry butt out of bed and going in to the gym for a workout. I found out something lately, all of those years of inactivity have taken some toll on me. This morning I am quite sore! Muscles that haven't known what to do in awhile are now waking up and saying "hey Doug, I'm hear"!
I think about how that applies to our walk with the Lord. People who have never known Jesus or those who know him but haven't known what to do about that knowlege are now coming to him in droves! These people are going to receive so much love and teaching that they are going to become spiritually sore. Just as I have a temptation to quite what I am doing to keep from feeling pain physically, many young Christians are going to do the same spiritually. But just as I have come to realize that the pain of working out eventually settles down and the good will come pouring out, so will the young Christian realize that if they keep on doing the right things that the growing pains will also go away and Jesus will come pouring out! Positive life changes aren't easy but they are always worth the time and effort that you put into them. The old saying "no pain, no gain" can be applied to a number of areas in our lives. May God bless you beyond belief today!

posted by Doug E. Pudge @ 7:38 AM