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Running at the high school this morning, enjoying the silence and the solitude, I realized something two-a-days are here. Two-a-days are that lovely time of year, before the football season, when the players come and meet twice to get into shape for the upcoming season. It is a time of sweating, running testing and even at times tears. The purpose of this time is to 1) get in game shape and 2) maximize the opportunity to work out without letting lactic acid to form in the muscles. When I was growing up, I thought this was merely a time to push us to the brink and to shape us mentally.

Hear the Good News, Just as the players being to prepare themselves for the season that is approaching, each day we build upon and prepare for the next day of faith. Moreover, as we shape our faith, it is never pushed harder than we can handle it. We may approach our limit, but we will never surpass it. So as we approach each day, maybe a two-a-day approach to our faith is in order. Prayer and study, once in the morning and later in the afternoon, may be the prep we need. Also, players that just show up for game time, they tend to get hurt. Why, because they are not in shape. Those players that do the work in advance, well, they typically excel.

Gracious Father, for football players, the dog-days of August are here. For Christians, the dog days of life surround us each day. Enable us to, enable me, to be prepared for what the day has to offer and reassure me that nothing I face today will be too hard, but that I will be able to in fact endure anything and everything that comes my way. Thank you Father, for all You have done and all You will continue to do in my life. Amen.