This Morning

Last Sunday several people gave "updates" on prayer concerns with statements like, "I got a text from them last night" or "I talked with his wife this morning."  It is a way of conveying this is the most up to date news availible to the group. 
Nicole C. Mullens sings a song My Redeemer Lives.  Toward the end of the song she says, "I spoke with him this morning."  This line, more than any other in the song, gives me chills every time.  It says that her relationship is up to date.  It is a way of conveying that she didn't just speak to him a while back, but she has a current and relavant relationship with Jesus.  It is for me the true testimony of her faith and her belief that her Redeemer, Christ Jesus, does live.

Most mornings, I speak with my Redeemer while I go for my run.  Sometimes it is the brief good morning of old friends.  Others it is a powerful moment as sweat runs down my brow and the sun breaks the horizan.  Either way it is for me a moment of proof that indeed he lives.  It is not something that is just biblical or creedal; it is personal. 

More than a Run

In the last 15 months, I have run six, 1/2 marathons and hundreds of miles of training. Today the run was different. Today it was more than a run. Today deserves a tip of the hat for all that it was.

The Benbrook 1/2 marathon is known for the rolling, winding course on the west side of Lake Benbrook. It is a tough course on a good day. Today was not a good day. We started in 27* with a 15 mph north wind, which means it felt more like 14*. Many fewer runners even came to the lake this morning than had actually paid their entry fees.

At about mile one is a low water crossing. It rained pretty heavy over the last few days so water was running a couple of inches deep and about 10 feet wide. Yes, we all got our feet wet. Well, so not all of us. One lady piggy-backed on a guy, and a number of people literally turned around. Now, with wet shoes, on we go.

A couple of miles later a blast of cold wind hit me in the face and which made me turn my head to see a doe, a deer, a female deer (Yeah, I just quoted liberally from the Sound of Music. It is my mom's favorite movie.) come running out of the woods, cross the road 20 yards ahead of me, and then jump the fence and disappear into the pasture.

Another mile or so and the Benbrook ambulance drove by me. I have no idea if someone was hurt. About the same time there is a man standing in the road telling us to run in the grass (which was really just mud) to avoid the ice sheet on the road. On the way back, we just walked across the ice.

Thank you to the nice couple who was standing at the top of the "Nice Hill :)."

On the way back, the hills begin to take their toll. And we were running more or less toward the north. It was brutal. I kept thinking to myself, "If you finish strong you can go to Starbucks or Einstein's." Sadly, my self-motivation was not enough to keep the pace as strong as I had really hoped. The wind, the hills, the cold all proved to be better than my best. It didn't help that at the last water stop gave us water that was beginning to freeze. Nothing says, "Finish strong," like a half-frozen cup of water.

Mile 12 brought me back to the low water crossing. This time I chose my steps poorly as I went ankle deep with both feet. And as the guy next to me said, "I think the water has gotten colder."

Finally, the last turn, you can see the house. And there only yards from the finish was my family, Tammy and the boys. I told them they were crazy for standing out there in the freezing cold. I was so cold much of my stomach and legs were red from the cold even 15 minutes later as I undressed to take a warm shower.

Yeah, if was more than a run today. It was a test. And I passed. I know I can do hard things again. So much more seems possible today. Two hours and 27 minutes of a test in a 15* windchill but I passed.

Discipline

St. Paul talks about the discipline of the athlete in his first letter to the church in Corinth (9:24-27). I heard a pastor speak about this briefly on Sunday, and it came into my head as I was running earlier today.

Physical discipline is hard. To go and run, to do push-ups and sit-ups, or to do Bikram yoga (like Tammy does), is hard work. It is much easier to just sit. It is much easier not to be disciplined in what you do. The same is true with the food you eat. The Lord knows, I would rather have a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke, than most of the stuff I should be eating.

As much work as the athlete does to discipline and train the body, so there is just as much work for those trying to discipline and train the spirit. And it is not as readily obvious to the casual observer if the spirit is not well trained as if the body is not well trained.

Here is what I realized today: if you are wounded, the discipline and training are harder. Think of Colt McCoy last week. He was prepared and ready and then with a relatively minor blow to the back of his shoulder, he was unable to play. He will not be able to train in the same manor probably for a few weeks. I realized that as I am trying to put a spiritual life back together, that the spiritual wounds that I carry (some new and some very old) can hinder the training and the discipline I can receive.

Thursday night, Colt knew how to throw a football but he could not. Even today I know how to do many things and expect that some day I will get back in the game. I am not training aimlessly. But or right now, my spirit is resting and healing so that when the day comes, I will not have run aimlessly nor boxed as though beating the air, but I will have punished myself and enslave my body, so that God's proclamation shall not be in vain.

Running II

Ok, so this weekend I turned 37 years old. That is not a big deal really. Beyond turning the dial on my years, I also did something I have never done before on that same day. I ran eleven miles. I know it is crazy, and I have been trying to keep quiet about it most the summer. Somehow, slowly, people have heard that I am training to run a half marathon, (13.1 miles for those of you playing along at home) on November 16 in San Antonio, Texas.

I will give some answers the frequently asked questions.
+ No, I am not fast. I average around a 12 minute mile.
+ No, I have not lost any weight. Well, I guess since May I have lost about two and a half pounds.
+ No, I was not a runner in school. Previous to this summer, the farthest I had even run without walking was no more than a mile. I had run/walked several 5k’s with Tammy and Austin.
+ I have not yet enjoyed the “runner’s high.”
+ No, I don’t feel better. I feel tired, sore, grumpy, and emotional most of the time.

I am doing it because one person brought up a training program to me several times and invited me to an informational meeting. Vance Bates simply invited me to try it. Me, a guy who doesn’t run, doesn’t believe in running, doesn’t particularly like running, and by no means has any natural ability in running long distances, was invited to be a part of a running club. I still blame him when I crawl out of bed at 5:00 in the morning to go on a run in the neighborhood, or when I am grinding out mile nine of eleven with the group.

There is a moral to this story. Vance invited me to be a part of something important in his life. He invited me three or four times and said, “Come just see what it is about with no obligation or pressure.” You too can invite others to be a part of something important in your lives. You might have to make that invitation more than once to be heard. What you share might change someone’s life.

Running?

OK, this spring I began something relatively insane. I began running. I started for several reasons. First, I knew I needed to loose some weight (don't we all). Second, I member of the church is the manager at a local running store and mentioned this 1/2 marathon in San Antonio and the running group at the store.

After almost four months of running, I am two months out from this 1/2 marathon. Running is still hard. Running still wears me out (I am tired all the time). Running has become something more than feet and pavement.

I wonder now, "To what am I running?" and "From what am I running?" We run from many things: problems, relationships, work, stress, the past. I don't feel that I am running from any of those things. But minus this 13.1 mile run in November, I am also not sure if there is a goal out there that I am running towards.

Right now, I am running in circles. I have not lost any weight (but I don't feel as guilty about a good hamburger, fries, and a coke). I don't have a goal in mind usually, minus finishing.

How much of life is just running circles with no goal, no accomplishment, just waiting for the next hill to climb or turn in the road?