How I Benefitted From Getting Narrow

So it’s been a while. A big reason is that last post I wrote on Getting Narrow. I had three months of student teaching to do, and it was hard. But I felt the clarity of God saying, “Put other things aside to finish these three months of your schooling well.”

So now I am back. I will say, the narrow road definitely is right in my eyes. It is hard. But it is right.

Every decision has a price and a pleasure. Unless you are planning to sin, it really isn’t much about right or wrong. It is more about being wise, doing what you feel in your gut, and committing fully. So if you are going to make decisions you can live with, you need to rightly look at the price and the pleasure.

For me, these 3 months meant giving up a lot. I cut down my worship priorities to one night a week at The Omaha HUB. I cut out pretty much all other activities. I even had to cut out regular workouts. My body definitely took a beating. I have never been in this bad of shape.

But I gained tons of benefit.

1. I passed with flying colors!

My cooperating teachers and supervisor were very happy with my performance in the time that I was there. Because I devoted myself to what I was doing, I grew a lot. I learned where I had weaknesses and brought those up. I also learned where I was strong and learned to bring that out more.

2. I gained insight on my physical body.

I realized that I have put my body through a lot of terrible things in my early life for the sake of trying to get somewhere faster. I want my life to be a steady progression that builds a momentum of conquering. I don’t want to get to fifty years old and say my back and shoulders are too worn out to do anything. So it has drastically changed how I am working out and eating.

3. I gained insight on my life.

A lot just got revealed to me during teaching about my desires, strengths, and weakness. It helped me figure out who and where I want to be and good paths for getting there.

4. I survived well!

It was hard. My wife and I were doing about two hours of commuting each day. And I had to be to school at 7am each day. Everyday, I had to grade papers and plan the next day’s classes. I also had work to do for my college course. And we have a little baby boy. I look back and realize I was averaging about 4 hours of sleep per day for about 3 months. As soon as I was done, the next weekend was spent sleeping. Whenever I woke up, I would down vitamin C and go back to sleep. My body was clearly fighting off sickness. So I believe that for three months God was giving me grace to deal with the stress because I never felt tired or stressed during the time. I learned that to do things well demands sacrifice. It is both hard and rewarding.

So I feel like the last three months were really spent with the Narrow Road message pounding in my head, and I benefitted greatly from it.