An Unfinished Woman's Guide to Grace

Above is the title to a book that has just blown me away.  The book is written by Kristin Armstong (the former Mrs. Lance Armstrong).  I have been following Kristin for years on her Blog that she writes for Runners World on-line.  She is a woman of great faith and she has a way of writing that just speaks to me.  I wanted to share a really moving page from her book
"Work in Progress: An Unfinished Woman's Guide to Grace".

The test will come.  These are the regular days we come before God in the morning, with our bed head hair, our pj's, our cup of coffee, our Bible and our fears.

Everyone wakes up without a clue on the morning of the day it comes.  Whether or not we rise to meet the challenge will be determined on how seriously we have taken our preparation and our training up to this point.

Fitness in all areas require diligence.  We can't put off exercising and wonder why we can no longer play with our children or simple activities, without becoming breathless and tired.

We can't replace books with TV and wonder why we feel so intellectually flat and inadequate when we are suddenly called to rise to an occasion or we are invited to a dinner party with interesting guests. 

We can't say we are too busy to nourish and cultivate our friendships and then wonder why we are alone in our time of need. 

We can't put our spouse's needs last and wonder why our marriages are failing.

We can't put our own needs consistently in last place and then marvel at our nervous breakdown.

We can't say that we will pursue a spiritual path when "things slow down" and then later wonder why a crisis leaves us utterly broken.

THINGS WE CARRY MUST BE MAINTAINED.

wow....aren't those words so true and powerful!  I hope to be the kind of woman who maintains all the areas of my life as best I can so when the day comes I know I am as prepared as I could be.

Sometimes we have to be reminded to give time and attention to the things that will carry us in hard times before those hard times hit. 

Kristin is an amazing author and she is so inspiring.  Her bog on Runners World is at http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/.