Chicot Verses 1

I am starting a new series in the blog today called "Chicot Verses." These are Bible passages that I stumbled across in my devotional reading and made application to the Chicot Challenge and my preparation for it. You who regularly read this blog know I am prone to whine a bit this time of year. Try as I may, I can't seem to help myself. The tension always builds, my confidence always falters, and my nerves always fray. You may think I am a drama queen, but trust me, I'm not. I just want to train and do my swim. But every year I feel like I am reliving the The Book of Job with God letting the enemy cause pain in my body, the weather to work against me, and pool time to get cancelled over and over. All of this makes me mental. I just want to train and do my swim.

In an effort to have more faith and less fear, I started collecting verses that speak to me in this annual struggle. My plan is to post one per week and to make a few comments on the verse or verse, whichever the case may be. The first passage is Psalm 20 verses four and five (New American Standard Version):

     May he grant you your heart's

          desire

     And fulfill all you counsel!

     We will sing joy over your

          victory,

     And in the name of our God we

          we will set up our banners.

     May the LORD fulfill all your

          petitions.

Bethany and Evan Thielman with my (their) banner.

Right now my chief desire is selfishly to be able to train well and complete the next big swim. I fell 10,000 meters off pace this week. Sigh. But I am on Spring Break for the next ten days and by the grace of God I can get some real training in. If you are a praying person, please lift me up to God. I need help.