Preparation

I was laughing earlier today talking to Steve about people going to Walmart and preparing for the 3-5 inches of snow we might get. With that amount of snow, I will still go to work tomorrow. The kids (kid, wow that sounds weird) will still have school. Steve will still go to work. And since I now run when it's 20 degrees outside, the half mile to Kwik Shop for milk won't hurt me. (I also grocery shop on Thursday or Friday every week, so we're never in danger of running out of food.)
I also am preparing for a 50K in February, which I decided this weekend to downgrade to the 20 mile. I didn't run at all this weekend, because I just didn't feel well. I'm at a place in training that I know I can run 20 miles and finish it, my last training run was 18 miles, so I'm good. That leaves me 2-3 weeks to push and 1-2 weeks to taper before the race. This way, I can prepare to run 20 well, and not push for 31 (and hurt myself). Also, the MAN came in the other day and asked if I wanted to go to Texas and run our first race again, only this time instead of the half, I will run the marathon and he will run the 50 mile. So I have that to work on after the February race, so I get to keep building.
I spend a lot of time eating and working on nutrition (only to ruin it with cake) and cross training and strength exercises, preparing my body for this punishment I call fun.
And it made me look at the rest of my life and think about preparation. I buy groceries in preparation of cooking. I pack Steve's lunch in preparation of him eating. I put money in Whitney's lunch account in preparation (hope???) that she will eat something during the day. I do laundry in prep for wearing clothes that look nice and smell good.
I could go on (and on) but I want to end with this. How do I prepare in my Spiritual life? I read my Bible, Bible Studies, pray, talk to other Christians, attend church, all the stuff "good" christians do. But I think I could do more preparation. Do I prepare for encounters with unbelievers? Specifically ready to share Jesus love with them? Do I prepare for temptation? Areas I know I'm weak, do I prepare to defend myself? Do I prepare for attacks on my marriage and family? On my attitude? I'm going to work on this. As a self proclaimed fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl, this is a huge undertaking.
A good place to start...

Ephesians 6:10-18 (New International Version, ©2010)
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.