A while back I had to change my “about me” description on a page.  I deleted one word – “runner”.  Oh man I hated to delete that word.  It took such hard work to earn that title.  I had never ran a mile in my life before I was an adult!  But a few years ago I, yes me, Stacey, ran 8 miles – the longest relay leg in the OKC Memorial Marathon.  Shaking. My. Head.  So after I thought of all of the hard work it took to become a runner, putting in mile after earrrrrly morning mile, you can imagine how disgusted I was at having to delete that one little word.  Runner.

But I hadn’t ran in days.

Ok weeks.

Ok maybe months.

Surely any  QUALIFIED runner actually RUNNING – putting in the sacrifice and miles on a regular basis over and over and over would probably not be too happy about being lumped in to the same category as me and my sleeping in self.  It would have been SO easy to just keep those little letters up there and allow them to continue to make me look like some hardcore thing of fitness with actual discipline.  But the truth is, at that time, I was not a runner anymore.

I had reached the point of disqualification, since to be a runner you have to… run.

Truth be told…

just because you worked your tail off for months exercising, ate a gazillion healthy meals and lost a ton of weight a few years ago does NOT mean you’re healthy NOW.

It means you WERE.

Just because you used to make time to read your bible, to meditate and listen and pray every day doesn’t mean you have a close walk or deep relationship with the Lord now.

It means you DID.

Just because you ran in a marathon years ago doesn’t make you a runner now,

Just because you helped with Habitat for Humanity a decade ago doesn’t don you a  humanitarian for people currently in need,

Just because you talk about your disgust with the issues of hungry or homeless children or even hang out with people that actually feed and shelter them doesn’t qualify you as an actual advocate for children,

and just because you have a blog you updated months ago doesn’t mean you’re a writer. Today.

To BE healthy in the present, I cannot rely on my past memories of salmon eating days while I indulge in cupcake after (delicious) cupcake.

To BE close to God, it’s not enough – not even close to enough to live off of memories of past journeys with Him, sweet as they may have been.  I have to actually get my tail up and spend time with Him.  TODAY.

Nobody cares what your facebook status was in July of 2009.

Why?  Because things have changed.  You’ve changed.  Hence the questions, “What are you doing right now?”  and “What’s (as in what *IS* -present tense) on your mind?”

Too often we do the work to accomplish something amazing in our lives and then somehow get the idea that we get to keep that title or status for life.

I have become…

Healthy.

Intimately close to God

Runner.

Writer.

Servant.

Missionary.

Encourager.

Pray-er

I became all of these things at one point or another.  But am I all of these things today?

It is one thing to BECOME what you’ve always aspired to BECOME.

It’s quite another thing to BE.

To BECOME takes work.

To BE takes maintenance.

EVERY.

DAY.

Knowledge is not power.  APPLICATION of knowledge is power.

Action.  That’s what’s up.

We can’t stop at knowledge, we must apply.

And apply and apply and apply.

Annnnnnnnnnnd repeat.

What have you accomplished?

Today?

What have you become?

Today?

What kind of parent are you?  How’s your marriage?

Today?

How’s your walk with God?

Today?

Who are you?

Today?