"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it" I live by this and that's dangerous.

I have been struggling with a few things lately due to the amount of things I have put on my plate and I saw this quote the other day and it really resonated with me. I know that I am always trying to squeeze in more and more. I think that is the major draw of triathlon for me, it's a sport that doesn't come natural to me and no matter who you are , you will never "beat the game". You will always need to swim, bike, or run faster or at least be able to do it easier than you did the previous time. This is the same story for almost any sport we can participate in as adults, be it Triathlons, Running, Cycling, Crossfit, Church league softball, etc... YOU get to make the decision what your goals are in a activity and I promise, you are never as good as you could be. Your body may be in the best shape you can get it in but your technique can use work. I guess my point here would be... perfection is unobtainable, even in something as simple as a sport, but does that mean we shouldn't chase it, absolutely not. I had a boss once that told me "you'll never get it perfect, but if you keep trying it will always be done as good as you can do it" That has stuck with me for a long time.

I have not been saved that long and have admittedly, very little intellectual knowledge of the Bible but in an attempt to bring this point back around full circle...how do you find balance? This is a double edged sword in almost every adults life. Whether it is a sport your trying to be the best you can be at, a job, being a mother, father or a husband or wife... or all of the above. A professor from Australia said "‘Those over 40 have the strongest work ethic’ he said. And he adds that we work the longest hours in the developed world. Other patterns – too much eating, too much continuous stress, too little sleep, too much hostility, too little physical activity – can all lead to higher incidences of illness and even death." It's a lot of pressure and I know for me, between trying to be a good husband, a good provider, and being a good athlete at the age of 30 and take care of my body, and just plain ol' having fun takes up pretty much all my time. Matter of fact 99% of the time a couple of things are usually getting abused due to the desire to learn more or do better at one specific thing. The major problem with that lately has been... God is almost always the first thing to get pushed out of the way. I am embarrassed to say how many times I have fallen asleep during a prayer at night. The next day Im like "wow, I couldn't break away from whatever I was doing to give God some solid time, get it together Steidley" So how do I correct that? How do I find the balance? I think it is a matter of putting him at the top of the list. A lot of times I try to do every single thing by myself then call on God, like he's a mascot for my life, when I need a pick me up, or when something went just right. I believe it to be true, that God wants in every aspect of our life. Indeed a day should start and end with God but what Im striving for in my personal life is to take God to work, to take him when I go training, to take him into a conversation with my wife, I need to take him everywhere. I have faith that if I lean on God for answers, he will provide. So when I am stressed out and think I can't chew everything I have bitten off or do everything I have planned, he will guide me through that and either give me strength or show me the areas of my life that need tending to first. I want to act like I don't know why it's so easy to push God to the side but that is one answer that is simple, hard to deal with, but simple... Im simply taking advantage of his forgiveness, and when you think about what Jesus did on that cross, thats a hard truth to deal with. So for me I just thank God that he is merciful, forgiving and all knowing because I think we all condemn ourselves and others will condemn you because we can't be perfect, we can't get it all right, we will always be sort of stumbling through life, and I will always be trying to find that perfect balance in life while I continue to grow and mature. I know I will be asking God to guide my footsteps and help me navigate my crazy life in the coming days and months and I know Im going to fail at it, but I hope to get up and keep going, so I can try to put myself in a position where God can use me, and Im going to fail at that too and take the easy way out... but it's verses like these that bring me joy and hope and I hope they bring you joy and hope and make you feel okay with pushing yourself and asking more of yourself at home, at work and in the gym. I don't think it will ever feel "just right" but just give it a try.
Romans 8:33-39 ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[a]

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

TriForArubah is off to a fantastic start

Im so excited about how generous people have been and we are not even a week in to the project yet that I wanted to make a post about it! On Sunday we raised a little over $800.00 which far surpassed our expectations, and I looked at the face book page today some money has been donated on there that puts us at almost $2000.00, once the $800 + is put on there and that is before the match, so as of right now we are at almost $4000.00! Thats huge folks! This is something that will be a game changer for the town of Collinsville when we are done with it and I am honored to be a part of it, but everyone that donates shares the same amount of credit to the cause as I do in my eyes. Im absolutely amazed this evening. Thanks for your support and spread the word! God is good!! Go check it out and donate if you can, otherwise just tell some friends!
http://ironman.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1043745&supid=371606183

Check Out The Promo Video Played In Church On Sunday For TriForArubah

Link to Video Click Here

TriForArubah Off and Running!! Why Do this?

On Sunday the church "unveiled", so to speak, the idea, TriForArubah, the feedback and support could not have been any better. There was a lot that went into getting ready to launch this endeavor and a lot of people put a lot of effort into helping get everything from, artwork to t-shirts and it would have been an overwhelming task without their help. On day one we raised a little more than $800 which far surpassed my expectations. I thought it would be a good idea to post how this whole thing even got started. My history in triathlon is a short one, less than two years at this point. I tried it last year as something that sounded fun that would hopefully peel some pounds off me and I was hooked immediately. I participated in several sprint distance and olympic distance triathlons and managed to finish a half ironman (Ironman 70.3) in Branson. I already knew in my head that I wanted to do a full distance Ironman but after finishing in Branson it was a must. I picked an event in Florida and registered for it. I was extremely excited I was able to get an entry to that event (it sold out in less than a minute, 3000 slots) and it was all I talked about for the rest of that day. I can't remember if it was that evening or not but, after listening to me talk about what "I" was going to do, my wife challenged me to make this "Ironman thing" about more than "me". I prayed about it and wasn't really coming up with anything and then started noticing some people doing events for all kinds of different causes and a buddy even did one for a local charity. I decided that was going to be the way to do it, but then the big debate was "how to I make it benefit the kingdom?" There were two non profits that were on my mind and for many reasons, Arubah Community Clinic became the obvious choice. Out of the blue Glenn Krispense contacted me to have coffee on a totally unrelated subject and I pitched the idea to him and it took off like a wild fire from there. I believe with all my heart that coffee meeting was one of the most obvious God thing's I have ever had happen to me. Im far from an expert on the Gospel and this is definitely the first time I have made a solid effort to try to bring God glory in one of my athletic endeavors, but I would challenge any of you to do the same. I know for me it has made me more conscious of how much more I could do the same thing in my marriage and career and I hope that being aware of that will cause some awesome changes in how I approach those two aspects of my life. 
Thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing and thanks for your support! Remember you can go to the facebook page TriForArubah and donate or hit me up and buy a t-shirt for 5 bucks! Arubah Community Clinic is doing an amazing work and couldn't do it without your support. Thank You

Tri For Arubah

I wanted to start my blog with a quick run down of where the majority of my focus is right now. I have teamed up with an outreach of my church, Discovery Bible Fellowship, to try to raise funds and awareness of a free medical clinic that is in my hometown of Collinsville Oklahoma. Arubah Community Clinic was founded in 2010 with a vision to share the hope and healing message of Jesus Christ through providing excellent health care services to the uninsured. Arubah is a local solution to a national problem. Every time they open their doors they are trying to fill a gap and help people in need. I am currently training to do a Ironman Triathlon in November and am dedicating my training and that event to Arubah Community Clinic. I want to make this blog and facebook a fun and easy way to keep up with the progress of our fundraising goals and my training goals. Keep your eyes open for more posts, videos, and fun facts and quotes.