For Someone Out There......

For some reason, Psalm 32:7 came to mind yesterday while driving into work. Just the reference. So when I got to church I looked it up, but still didn't make much sense to me at that moment. Many times, I might get some sense of a passage I might need to check out, and then it provides me with exactly what I needed at that moment.

This was different.

It almost felt like this was for someone else.

But I never really felt moved to share it with anyone yesterday. It did, however, open my eyes to possibilities while I was out doing some last minute shopping for my trip this weekend. Because of this awareness, I was able to invite someone to church this weekend, a worker in one of the stores. We had a great little conversation that didn't last long, but ended with us exchanging names and hand shakes, and well wishes.

This is not something I'd normally have done in the past. Not because it's not important, but because I wouldn't have thought to do so. That's why I love the church I attend and work at. People there challenge me all the time. Challenge me to let my faith be something that blesses others, and is not just held tightly to make my life better.

So, the highlight of my day yesterday was my conversation with that woman in the store, and inviting her to church. And yet, I still had not shared this verse. So I post it here today, in the hopes that someone in the vast scope of the internet universe may find this and receive something.

Psalm 32:7

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."

In a few hours I leave for Wisconsin, to fulfill a dream I've long held of running The North Face Endurance Challenge up there. I'm so excited to spend a couple of days with some great friends, whom I don't see nearly as often as I should anymore. What could be better than camping, friends, and trail running long distances with a newly cut foot that's bleeding through my bandaids as I speak?

Wait,

WHAT?????????

Yeah, last night I was moving the dishwasher, and cut my foot. I was/am pissed, but the show must go on. I've got 2 days for it to heal, plus multiple bandages, wraps, duct tape, and grit. This will not slow me down nor keep me from this dream.

But if you think of it, throw up a prayer for some quick healing please! Ha ha, in reality, I have to laugh at this situation. Gotta love it.

Gonna be an amazing weekend. Only thing missing is my family. But hey, at least I have them to come home to!

I Should Have Done More

All day, I've been thinking on and off about a situation that happened at church this morning. This video kind of brought some things to light to me tonight.

I was getting ready to leave church this morning, and apparently a gentleman had wandered in off the street in search of some food. Another staff person had spoken to him and wasn't sure what exactly to tell him, so they approached me to see what I thought. My first thought was maybe I'd get him a donut or something from our cafe area. The line had to be 30 people deep.

I fought back thoughts of "This isn't my problem. I've got groceries to get. I haven't eaten yet today. I want to get home." Then I remember our church was hosting an event for people new to the church where we offer them free pizza as they get the chance to meet some of our staff and learn more about the church. So I suggested to our staff person that they could mention to the gentleman he could have some pizza if he sat through the session.

As I drove away from the church I felt ashamed. I wanted to drive back to the church, just walk in and grab a few slices of pizza, and sit down with the man. But I didn't. I wanted to find him and take him somewhere else for some food, and just spend time with him. But I didn't.

Deep down, honestly, I didn't want to be bothered with other people's problems. I didn't want to be inconvenienced with his situation. I didn't want to deal with helping the staff person figuring this out. I didn't want to deal with anyone.

I had my own issues going on, and I wanted to wallow in self-pity without having to focus on someone else for once. And then I felt shame. Deep shame. I almost felt Jesus' heart sink just a little.

I call myself a Christian, and serve on the staff of a church. I claim to love people, and care about the poor. I talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.

I'm a hypocrite. Holy Spirit, please give me another chance. Please forgive me. Help me to be better. Help me to care.

Part Insanity, Part Genius!

The title is the quote from the end of the video you just watched. I've watched this a couple of times now, and every time I was left with this sense of "that's how I want to live my life for Christ". I want to live with recklous abandon for Him.

I want to go for it all, knowing that you never really achieve great things without taking great risk. My heart wants to go after something with absolutely EVERYTHING I've got, holding nothing back, no excuses left!

And yet, to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever attacked anything in my life in this manner.

Most things I go about doing with a sense of hesitation, holding back something. I suppose the fear is that nothing I do will ever quite be good enough, so the thinking is why pour 100% into something if it's not going to be good enough. This has proven to be a difficult challenge to overcome throughout the years.

Yet, there is something deep inside of me that longs for more. Almost that longs to fail in such an incredible way because I absolutely went for it all. Have I done some incredible things in my life? Yeah, I think so. Raising over 30 child sponsorships for my race in South Africa last year certainly ranks up there. Raising my two daughters to love Jesus and the 2 children we sponsor is pretty good as well. Loving my wife and still being married after 8+ years is definitely something to feel good about.

And yet, if I'm honest, I've held back in each area. Why? Simple.

Fear.

Fear that my efforts won't be good enough.

Fear that I won't be good enough.

And that's why I hold back from God. Fear that He will find me to not be good enough.

Ladies and gentleman, this is what we call a LIE.

Because of what Jesus has done for me, God the Father WILL find me to be enough. I will bring Him pleasure. He will find delight in my, and in a relationship with me! So how do I combat that; how do we combat this together?

We fight back.

WE FIGHT BACK! We try something that we would never think we could pull off. Now, I'm not talking about being reckless or foolish. But I think we all have something that we'd love to be able to pull off, and yet fear holds us back. I might be talking about something personal yet meaningless like bungee jumping. I might be talking about something like offering to pray for my best friend who's going through a divorce right now. I might be talking about giving up cable to sponsor another child in another part of the world. I might be talking about putting down the computer and playing with my children. I might be talking about planning a romantic date night for my wife without the kids. I might be talking about walking up to a person in Walmart who I don't know but sense God asking me to pray for.

It doesn't really matter what I'm talking about. What matters is stepping out. Here's your permission, GO AHEAD AND TAKE A RISK! I journaled the other day that I want to be rich in life experiences, not material possessions. Boy, that one sure hurt. There's nothing more I'd like than to have an unlimited budget for toys. And yet, at the end of the day, what I remember most are experiences I've had, not things I've wasted money on.

So, today I challenge you. TAKE A RISK! Don't settle for a life of meaningless pursuits. You've only got one life to live, so GIVE IT YOUR ALL! Don't hold back, as I've done! No regrets! Sure, you'll make some mistakes along the way. But you'll learn and adapt; God will mold you, and you be the better for it.

So go ahead, take the first step, jump off that cliff, step out of that airplane, be rich in life experiences! Make a difference in someone else's life.

Love this video!

I love so many of the thoughts of the different professional runners on this video. Kind of sums up most of what I love about running.

Family Fun-Labor Day 2011

We began our door by enjoying the festivities of a little kung fu fighting with a praying mantis! (that song always pops into my head when I see one of these) I think I was more enthralled than Zoey, but I enjoyed a few moments with our new found friend anyways. We were excstatic when he happily olbiged at having his picture taken!

So, we attempted to take the girls camping last night. Well, sort of.

All the spots during this weekend around the country are probably full every year. So, we decided to just do a little campout in our backyard. I put up the tent (two actually), got a fire going, and we were on a roll. It's never quite this simple when doing anything involved with children. They actually did well. The fire was the tricky part since it had rained on and off the last two days, making the wood a little wet. My first go around was unsuccessful, so I resorted to what all non-outdoorsy types resort to, GASOLINE! (much to my wife's disapproval). Thankfully, I'm blessed to have Emily around to keep me under control, so I dripped a few drops of gasoline on the wood, nowhere near enough, and it did nothing. So I dumped some more on, and nearly knocked myself over as I lit the instantaneous inferno, and all was right with the universe.

WE HAD FIRE!

We feasted on perfectly roasted hot dogs, chips, cheese puffs, pop, and eventually moved on to the GRAND FINALE, s'mores!

This s'more was amazing, to say the least! I did in fact, only eat one of these bohemoths, but it got the ball rolling. My next s'more adventure may include pop tarts, peanut butter cups, and who knows what else I can come up with. THIS one included:

graham cracker
peanut butter
1/2 Hershey chocolate bar
marshmellow
chocolate brownie
marshmellow
1/2 Hershey chocolate bar
peanut butter
graham cracker

Oh yes, it was the SHOWSTOPPER! Once we finished with the s'mores, we attempted to put the children to bed. It's quite possible that Zoey finally fell asleep after about an hour, but no one can stand up to the best sabotage attempts of our youngest, our dear little Hadley. She just likes to mess with people. She's the ultimate prankster, even at the young age of 3. Finally, I think it was about 10:30 or so, we decided it would be best for Emily and Zoey to head inside so that they could at least get some sleep. I cuddled with Hadley and eventually we dozed off for a few hours. We finally awoke to the cool, crisp morning air, and the first words out of her mouth.........."You're the best daddy in the world!"

Music to my ears! Totally worth every second! What more could a dad ask for? We sat in the tent for a few moments before coming inside, only to find Zoey already awake. Hmmmmmm, I'm thinking the girls will definitely be put to bed early today for naps. Hopefully they behave for Emily today while I'm trail running, attempting to run off that 10 pound gigantic s'more.

So, for now, strong coffee is the order of the day. And thinking back on some great memories.

Hebrews 13:5-6

"Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, 'I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,' we can boldly quote,

'God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?" -The Message

A good word for today, especially for Americans. How often am I consumed with getting the next big thing, especially when it comes to running? How easily I forget all I NEED to run is road. Technically, I don't even need shoes! But yet, I want the latest in technology, the latest fad in footwear and clothing, the latest GPS watch, etc. It gets out of control very quickly.

Why is it that I'm very good at being obsessed with getting material things, but rarely obsessed with God? Why am I not more obsessed with showing God's love to others? Why doesn't that control the majority of my thoughts?

What a sad state I live my life in all too often. My life is a living testament to the truth that we need daily renewing of our minds. I love Romans 12:2 in the King James Version.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." I love the word "renewing" here because it indicates to me a constant action. This is something that must happen regularly.

And that makes complete sense! Of course we must continually renew our minds because Satan is continually attacking us! This is no accident. Of course he wants to distract me with materialism, he wants to distract us with anything that works! Sometimes he makes life so difficult, and we begin to really focus on Jesus, then all of a sudden life takes a turn for the better, and we loose our focus. Just had a conversation today about that. WE MUST CONSISTENTLY RENEW OUR MINDS, AND KEEP OUR FOCUS ON JESUS, REGARDLESS OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES!

So, where do you stand today? Maybe, like me, you need to do a little renewing of your mind. Work with me to stop focusing on ourselves, and focus on Jesus and others.

New Insights Keep Coming

This was an excerpt from something I journaled yesterday morning, and I thought I'd share part of with you today.

"I had some interesting new thoughts last night in regards to Isaiah 42:16, which I spent a good hour or so blogging about. I still want to continue memorizing that passage, but this morning I'm finding my attention being drawn to another favorite passage, Isaiah 43:1-4.

"But now, God's Message,

the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,

the One who got you started, Israel:

'Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.

I've called your name. You're mine.

When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.

When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.

When you're between a rock and a hard place,

it won't be a dead end---

Because I am God, your personal God,

The Holy of Israel, your Savior.

I paid a huge price for you:

all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!

That's how much you mean to me!

That's how much I love you!

I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,

trade the creation just for you."

I love the sentiment of what it appears God is trying to convey. For a long time I took it as a comfort when times were really rough. And it surely does work for that. But this morning, as I look at it and read it over and over, my eyes are opened to a slightly different perspective. God is reminding the Israelites how much He loves them. He is being proactive in expressing His love to them and for them. How powerful it is to feel that in those in between moments of life. Those times when things aren't good and they aren't bad, they just are. Those moments where life almost seems to be in a lull, or stall pattern. Those are usually the moments when I begin to make small decisions that lead me astray and into trouble. It's really in those times that I need reminders of how God thinks of me, with the hope that it will cause me to re-evaluate choices I'm about to make. I love how God gives some specific examples of His feelings, and then in case we still aren't getting it, He makes it plain as day like at the end of the passage above. We mean everything to God. What a powerful thought. Simple........yet profound. GOD LOVES ME."

I needed this reminder again this morning. God does indeed love me. He paid a dear price for me! He gave everything for ME! What greater love is there. Thank you Jesus, for your love for me. There is no greater gift.