Some Reasons

 

Kristen Armstrong wrote in Runner's World:

There is an underlying purpose & meaning behind my training, always. It isn't about the next race or the next workout. It's about fitness & fortitude for the next test around the next corner that I cannot see. Everybody will face a challenging experience, whether we want to acknowledge its inevitability or not--the doctor calls to say he needs to discuss the test results in person, or a police officer has news at the front door, or you find a lump in your breast, or you lose your job, or your child is diagnosed with something, or your spouse walks out the door. When my next moment comes I want to be strong & centered enough to handle it with some measure of grace. But perhaps more importantly, I want to be fast enough to be first on the scene when a loved one needs me, and I want to be fit enough to carry the load for as long as it takes to reach the other side... Runners are doers by nature--we're not people content to sit back & let life happen passively. We want to move act, contribute, stand for something.

Why do I run?

Some of those reasons.

And more.

Why do I follow Jesus?

Some of those reasons.

And more.

Familiar

Wrapping presents after midnight. Sleeping a few hours. Waking with the birthday boy's excitement. Challenging conversations at the office. Enjoying a special lunch with family. More challenging conversations. Returning home balloon-laden. Partying superhero style with a dozen kids. Talking with friends into the evening. Bathing the kids after a day's play. Praying good-night with the sleepyheads. A full day.

A day like this one begged for some

runtime

. Sultry & still it was as I

slinked

out the door. Uncommon. Feverish feelings in my first running steps. Immediately sweaty & clammy. Like a sickness you don't want. Uncomfortable.

Yet within the passing miles arrived new thoughts. Familiar streets. Familiar turns. Familiar hills. Familiar footsteps. Familiar breathing. Familiar pace. These things are familiar. This is my 5k course. There are other runners in the neighborhood, but no one else would run this route. It's mine.

And in the familiar I find comfort. Safety. Security. Predictability.

Life is change. Life demands choices. Life leads to the unfamiliar.

In my run. On my course. Through the night. With new thoughts of the familiar. I pray something like this...

Father, I thank you that your character is unchanging from everlasting to everlasting, yet your mercies are new every morning. I celebrate that facing unfamiliar I can rely on you as familiar. I rejoice that you will never leave me or forsake me. I embrace that you hold for me a future & a hope. I rest from my burdens & labor under your gentle hand.

Running on. Praying further. The uncommon warmth of tonight somehow becomes comfortable too. As familiar as waking rested, warm & snuggled together with my wife on a cold winter's morning.

Question Marks

Olympic marathoner, Peter Maher states, "Running is a big question mark that's there each & every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?'"

I finished my second marathon feeling more wimp than strong on Saturday whipped by the 20-plus mph north winds that arrested my steps six out of the final eight miles. With greater nausea than celebration I crossed the finish line 10 minutes & 41 seconds beyond my four hour goal. Was I strong? Did I wimp out?

Running isn't a question mark for most.

Life is. Work is. Marriage. Money. Parenting. Love. Forgiveness. Self. Pain. Addiction. Past. Future.

Those are question marks.

How will I answer?

Where will I turn?

What will I do? 

Who will I trust?

"There are grave difficulties on every hand, and more are looming ahead; therefore, we must go forward," wrote William Carey, founder of the modern missionary movement & no stranger to danger. 

Psalm 23 goes so far to say that God's people will "walk through the valley of the shadow of death" & not over or around it. In John 10, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd who protects & cares for his followers that he analogizes to sheep. In verse four Jesus says, "his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

What do I do with the question marks in my life? The big ones? The scary ones? The little ones too?

Follow Jesus.

Move forward.

Answer the questions.

Better Together

The unexpected--for me, the optimist--is one of the joys of life. The unexpected can bring challenge & trouble, I know, but I can trust in God's providence.

So, it's a great day for a run out on a rural trail that meanders across the rolling farmland of Eastern Nebraska. I've got my thoughts, my prayers & my iPod to occupy me for a few hours I've imagined. At the trailhead, I'm stretching in prep for an 18 mile training run. (Yes, 18 miles all at one time. And, no, I am not crazy, although I know it's been debated at times.) And appearing out of nowhere from the trail--softly striding toward me--is a geared up, 50-ish looking runner.

Want some company?

Sure. How far you going?

21 or so.

Wow. I'm going 18. Give me a minute more to get ready.

After introductions, off we went. Me & my new running buddy. For near three hours our conversation ran much wider than the 18 miles of trail we covered. My buddy had been running an average of 40 miles a week for more than 20 years. He'd run countless marathons & ultramarathons. Even 50 & 100 mile races. The best hundred-mile time he'd ever recorded was 20 hours 17 minutes. My buddy had been there & back. And again. And again. And... you get the picture. I plied him with plenty of running questions as we matched our pace, but we talked about work, family, politics, worldview, & Christianity. And the 18 miles we ran together--short for him, but fifth longest ever for me--rolled by.

We were better together.

Having a more experienced, open, & friendly buddy made all the difference for me.

How about you?

Who do you need to run alongside you?

And who is it that needs you to come alongside them?

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.—Hebrews 10:24

Gear & Guts

Last night: 43 degrees; dark; windy; rainy. Have a treadmill in my basement.

I'm no hamster. Love the outdoors.

Tell me the weather. I'll tell you the gear. Head to foot. Technical fiber. Moisture wicking. 360 reflective. Temperature-tuned. Flat-seemed. Blister-free. Wind-stopper. Water-resistant.

But. Any day. Any weather. Any extreme. Do I have the guts? Guts to get up, get out, go run.

I'm no chicken. Love to test myself.

Gear & guts is all you need for all-weather running.

Life's like that.

Tell me the situation. I'll tell you a direction. Been schooled. Done conferences. Read books. Studied articles. Had mentors. Know strategies. Got techniques.

But. Any day. Any challenge. Any extreme. Do I have the courage? Courage to stand up, speak truth, & live.

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong & courageous.

Do not be terrified;

do not be discouraged,

for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9.