stretching
as an athlete, stretching is KEY to performing at your highest and best abilities, no matter what sport it is. Golf to swimming to curling to basketball, all requires proper stretching before anything else. when i was captain of the basketball team in high school, i had to lead stretching before practice started and i remember one time my coach got on my case about how one practice we stretched for a certain amount of minutes, but then that day we only stretched for this amount of minutes. he said i have to be more consistent with how long we stretch for and started giving me a hard time and i was thinking to myself, “why the heck does it matter if we stretched for 30 seconds less than the day before?” i thought he was just trying to find a reason to give me a hard time, but, ultimately he just didn’t want anyone getting hurt because they didn’t stretch well enough or whatever. i guess i understand his viewpoint, now.
i feel as a christian too, stretching, is key to growing a deeper relationship with God. without being “stretched” we, as followers, aren’t being challenged to have more faith and we’ll just remain the same or become stagnant. but, what does it exactly mean to be “stretched?” i guess for me, i interpret it as being tested to my limits, where i’m forced to ask for help and seek for His guide and hand. being in korea, i feel like i’ve been stretched to the max, and that i’m learning SO much because of it. God has revealed to me many things that i wasn’t aware of back at home where i wasn’t being tested, since i was comfortable and in a familiar environment where i can just do things without really having to think much about it—no effort in anything. i realized i don’t want to be in korea, but i NEED to be here, but all for my benefit. i need his help in order to realize my short comings, to realize He is the only one i can depend on. without Him, i am nothing.
