Good news! I can hit my new golf clubs and they work just fine after all (I know you care!) A little practice, a little concentration, and I persevered and overcame my disappointment (see Monday's blog).

My dad was believer in hard work. He came from German farming stock and went on to a military career. 'The Colonel' retired from the Army and made sure his troops (including his children) were in good order.

We learned the value of doing our best in everything, including recreational pursuits. When I was growing up, my whole family participated in bowling - everyone was on one league or another. My dad was my coach and every Saturday morning we hit the lanes with great excitement. Only - it wasn't enough that we just went and had fun. My father took bowling very seriously.

It's all in the "approach". No merely walking up to the foul line and hefting the ball down the alley (try that and you'll likely 'loft' the ball airborne and drop it onto the lane - big no-no). I remember the hours of coaching from my dad, off to the side of the lanes on the linoleum leading back to the pins - "One, two, three, slide. Shake hands with the pins. Now, do it again!" telling me to push out with the ball in my right hand, stepping out at the same time with my right leg, nice back swing - no windmilling (wrapping your arm around your back instead of swinging straight) release the ball in a smooth glide. Even today when I bowl I count out that rhythm to myself - "One, two, three, slide!" And when I follow his instructions it all works out pretty good. And it's all due to hours of practice, consistency, and what my dad called, 'stick-to-it-iveness'.

Now, if I would just pursue spiritual discipline with as much diligence as those hours of bowling and my recent ventures in golfing! We don't often think of spiritual pursuits as 'exercise' but it is - Galatians tells us to learn to 'walk in the Spirit', Hebrews to 'run with endurance' the race set before us, and 1 Thessalonians to 'pray without ceasing'. Endeavoring to accomplish anything on our own is not the answer - it's the willingness to yield ourselves that is the key and real 'discipline' of our spiritual lives. Just like the repetition of those bowling steps my dad made me do over and over, when we train ourselves to respond the right way - God's Way - to the circumstances we face in life, we learn a natural rhythm, changing from our instinctive old nature into the new creature we have become in Christ.

All for Him,

Missy

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