Goodbye Summer, Hello Life

September 1^st.  It may not be official but the summer for all intents and purposes is over.  It was a good season for me even though I spent most of it dieting.  No matter.  Soon I will be dining out again and enjoying a glass of wine with dinner and even a dessert or two.

The highlight of my summer was definitely August as it was set aside as The Month of Prayer.  I took August as the time to earnestly petition God and let my desires be known.  It was amazing.  I kept a very detailed prayer journal and I spent every Monday night at church for the soaking prayer service.  I needed to hear from God like never before. 

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that prayer doesn’t change things.  I’m not saying that God is some wizard that waves a wand and grants wishes.  I’m saying that God is moved by our faith.  We pray with the faith, hope and expectation that God hears us and answers.  I found myself praying the same prayer every day, “just show me the way”.  Very simple but very powerful.  My prayer was that God would bring to my remembrance the dreams that I once had.  I asked Him to remind me of the things that brought me so much joy and fulfillment.  I needed him to guide me back to my passion.

He did just that and I’m praying that I won’t lose sight of it again.  It was interesting because in order for me to really hear from God, I had to tune out the distractions -- for me, that was simply turning off the television and no mindless web surfing before 8:00 pm.  Once I was in a position to receive,  God  was able to give.  

The challenge is maintaining that balance between the life that I currently have and the life that I’m going to have.  I want to jump in and get started right now but timing is everything.  I’ll get there though.   I have no doubt that I will get there.  Each day I do something concrete to move me one step closer to the long term goal.  It was the same with my training for competitions – each day I did something to get me closer to that stage:  lifted heavier, ran farther, drank more water, cut out sugar.  I put in the work and it paid off.  I believe it’s like that with every aspect of our lives.  Whether it be how we raise our children or how we perform in our careers. 

I’m ready for the next step.  The second act.  My encore.