but sometimes they get the job done. You know what I mean … words like relevant, authentic, outside the box, synergy. Ugh! I really don’t like to get caught up in the most fashionable language of the day when plain, old words will do the trick; however, in my quest to reach 1,000, I tripped (not literally, thank goodness) over one of these phrases that really helped me obtain victory.
BE INTENTIONAL
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, when I decided to try to reach 1,000 miles in a year, I had to calculate what my running would look like week-to-week and month-to-month. I figured out that I would need to run 20 miles per week to achieve 1,040 miles. After the first few months, I was easily accomplishing that goal, so I bumped myself up to trying to run 100 miles per month. I knew that would put me well over 1,000 but would also give me a little leeway in case of emergency, illness, or injury. While this plan worked, it was the Sunday morning look at the week ahead, the daily decisions, that made things challenging.
I preferred getting more than half of my miles for the week completed by Wednesday so that I could “play around” with the rest of the schedule, but some Mondays (my long run days) were rainy. Some Mondays I simply didn’t feel like a long run. Some Mondays were holidays, and why couldn’t I take a holiday, too? On these days, I would need to shift my long run to Tuesday. But Tuesday is the day my friend, Katie, walked with me after my run. She had to start at 6:30 a.m. If I wanted to get my long run in on Tuesdays, I would have to start at 4:00 a.m.! And on and on the Sunday planning went … every . single . Sunday.
BE INTENTIONAL
I did just that with my weekly/daily planning. I knew that if I did not plan carefully, I would be struggling to make up for the lost miles at the end of the week…or even worse on Saturday or Sunday before church only to burn my rest days. I learned a lot about planning and being purposeful in calendaring my runs. If I had not learned this lesson, I don’t think my outcome would have been as successful. But I also learned about planning and being purposeful spiritually.
BE INTENTIONAL
My relationship with the Lord does not just happen randomly. Like intentionally planning my run schedule every week, I must be intentional when I plan time with God every week and every day. I cannot put off time with Him on Monday and hope to “catch up” on Thursday. I won’t have what it takes to finish strong and be ready for the next day or the next.
So where and when should I be intentional?
1) Intentional prayer time — King David wrote a song about his intentional time with God, saying, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” The Bible says that Jesus went out regularly to pray. Luke 6:12 says, “During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God,” and Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” This habit of early morning prayer drew them closer to the Father and set them on a course for daily success.
2) Intentional fellowship (oops! church buzzword) Intentional friendship and association with those who share the same interests — One HUGE motivation to completing my running challenge was the constant support and encouragement from family and friends. Scott and I often ran together, and as I mentioned earlier, my friend Katie became my cool-down walking partner more often than not. Without someone saying, “YOU CAN DO IT!”, I’m not sure the outcome would have been the same. Hebrews 10:24 tells us that we must do the same for each other spiritually. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
3) Intentional Bible study — During the course of the year, while I did not subscribe to running magazines, I did read articles about how to train better, what strength training to do to improve my runs, how to avoid injuries. Becoming more knowledgeable about running and learning to recognize how running was affecting my body and what I could do to affect my running helped in ways that I probably don’t even realize. In the same way, the Bible describes this kind of devotion by a man named Ezra. Ezra 7 says, “the gracious hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” I want to be like Ezra and like the early church who “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).
Just like I did not accidentally complete 20+ miles every week in 2018, none of these activities — prayer, fellowship, and Bible study — happen by accident. As I look ahead each day, each week, each month, I need to BE INTENTIONAL in how I walk (or run) with the Lord. The success of the outcome depends on it!
BE INTENTIONAL — Come near to God and He will come near to you. James 4:8
Choosing Life 
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