A Disciple Without Discipline

After several posts relating to public matters, a little window into my private world. I'm in a funk, and the Christmas holidays can't get here soon enough. Those who know me will attest to the fact that I am a creature of habit. I like to joke that one reason I'm conservative is that there have been many changes in my lifetime, and I have been against all of them. Likewise, I've admitted in this space before to being a bit of a neat freak. I value order, in my environment (the clean desk), in my time (ah, the DayTimer), in my possessions (even my sock drawer is organized). So the past several weeks of having our house turned upside down by renovations has really gotten me out of sorts. The lack of space has made it more difficult to do things like sit down and balance the checkbook (harder with 3 kids, a dog, and a makeshift mini-kitchen in the same 100 square feet). I find myself hiding in the back of the house and watching too much TV. My reading has suffered, and especially my Bible reading. Truth be told, my discipline of daily Bible reading has been rocky since November. Every day, I try to read a passage from the Old Testament, a passage from the New Testament, a verse or two from Proverbs, and a Psalm. (I didn't make the plan up; I use the One-Year Bible, and it's set up that way.) Ever since the end of cross-country season, my control of my time has been a bit off. And I must admit, I just got killed by Isaiah this year. I've kept up with the NT and Psalm (or rather, I've caught up when I got behind, as the passages are shorter). But my OT reading fell off the wagon. After 6 full trips through scripture, I'll have to claim "almost 7" now, with the disclaimer that I just skipped the prophets. After all, lying about reading the Bible is like a double sin.

In addition to that, I've been neglecting my running. I haven't so much as jogged a step in 3 weeks, and I'm on pace to record the lowest annual mileage I have logged in the past 10 years, barring one year of long-term injury. This is made even worse by the fact that Mrs. Sal has been working out about 4 times a week, and gets 30-45 minutes a day on an ellipitical machine. So I feel wimpy and guilty all at the same time. But every day, I find some new excuse NOT to go for a run and break the lazy streak. After almost 25 years as a runner, the hardest part is always still the step out the door. And it's even harder when you know you're out of shape and the run is going to feel bad. And it's been cold. Ugh.

Luckily, the end is in sight. The kitchen is nearly done, and in a couple of days we get off for the Christmas break. And then comes New Year's day--after Thanksgiving, one of the best holidays. With the New Year comes a new start in the One-Year Bible, a brand new clean running log, and the opportunity to make resolutions and set goals to do better. Thank heaven I didn't get in this funk in July!