Friday: Time and/or Money...

I had a great opportunity last fall to meet Tod Bolsinger. Very aunthentic and decent guy. And he loves the Lord.

I say with embarrassment that I have not read his blog It Takes a Church... in several months. He is quite perceptive and understanding. On this time or money Friday, I want to defer to him to talk about something we've looked at before: rhythm in life....

Not too long ago, I read a lengthy article about the legendary track coach from the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman. Bowerman was to running, what John Wooden was to college basketball. Indeed, it was Bowerman’s genius that led to the modern running shoe, as he used his wife’s waffle iron to create the first wide waffle-soled shoe. He was also one of the co-founders of Nike.

Back in the day when all training for running simply meant logging as many miles as hard as possible, Bowerman was convinced that it was impossible to reach your potential as a runner unless you also built in regular, committed, disciplined, dedicated periods of NOT running. He used to gather his new recruits to the university together at the beginning of the season and tell them:

“Gentleman, take a primitive organism, any weak, pitiful organism. Make it lift or jump or run. Let it rest. What happens? A little miracle. It gets a little better. That’s all training is. Stress—recover—improve.”

I believe that without even recognizing it, Bowerman was pointing to the rhythm for all living the way God intended it to be.

Stress, recover, improve.
Stretch, relax, change.
Work, rest, grow.
Trial, trust, transform.