Sweet Video!

This video is why ultra runners run! Taken THIS morning during The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc race, which I posted about earlier. Can't find views and terrain like this in East Central Illinois!

Fun Run

Two of my running partners today. Saw way more than I could count. What a team effort, although these guys look like their loafing it a bit!

Just a little river I got to run along for awhile.

A little obstruction in the trail never hurt nobody. Had to crouch down to make it under this.

Beautiful sunrise. Nuff said.

Picture taken of huge spiderweb I thankfully did not run into. One of the few I missed.

About 2/3 way up a pretty steep climb. One year during the Siberian Express, people were sliding down this on my right and left. Had to grab roots and anything else could get your hands on to make it up this snow covered hill.

Looking down same hill.

Only about 1/3 way up hill.

River crossing. Thankfully very little water so I didn't have to get wet.

This fog is like clockwork. Get to see it every morning over this prairie! Love it!

I decided to write up a little post while keeping my eyes glued to the computer for UTMB (The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc) updates. A couple of key runner have dropped, some early on, and some within the past 2 hours, all surprises. No matter what kind of success someone achieves at 100 mile races in the mountains, finishing is still never a given, let alone winning. There's one runner in particular, Kilian Jornet who continues to amaze. He's only 21 or 22 and keeps winning everything in sight. The kid is amazing. Honestly, it excites me to read up on all the exploits of some of the top ultrarunners in the game (Krupicka, Roes, Jurek, Clark, Jornet, Jones, Grant).

This has been one of those sports that I've grown to love the more I throw myself into the world of ultrarunning. Tipping the scales at 200+ means I'll never be competitive in the ultra world, but I do love the thrill of covering distances that provide that shock factor. I suppose it's provided me with some sense of pride, that I can push myself to the limit, take a lot of abuse and pain, and still move forward. This has really translated to all areas of my life.

Training can sometimes prove to be difficult. With a wife and 2 children, plus at one point 2 jobs (thankfully now down to one), it's extremely difficult to find the time necessary to train, and the energy to eat the right types of food. Food must be viewed as fuel when training for an ultra. And quick foods rarely provide the right type of fuel. Usually, I end up training while everyone else in the world is asleep, meaning my body lacks the sleep necessary to fully recover from punishing training runs. So, sometimes I can begin to get stressed out by it all.

I've got a 50k trail race coming up in three weeks, and my long runs haven't gone quite like I've wanted them to. This morning, I decided that more than anything, I need to go out and just have fun on my run. So I scaled back the distance a bit (only did 12.52 miles on the trails) and took my time to enjoy the scenery. I didn't push my pace all that hard; just wanted to have fun. And I did. I saw more deer than I could count, a beautiful sunrise, a fog covered prairie, and some wild turkeys within 10 feet. I even stopped for a few pictures, as you can see from above. The point is, sometimes we need to recognize that we need to give ourselves a break. There's a rhythm to live. God created it that way (He worked 6 days and rested on the 7th).

I see that Kilian Jornet has just won the 2011 UTMB!

But seriously, we need regular rest in our lives. We were not created to work 24/7, never enjoying anything that life and God have to offer. Jesus did not die for us so that we could waste it all away by working and being stressed. So, today, I decided not to stress about my race. I decided not to stress about life. I decided, it was high time for some relaxation. And I got that by trail running.

So, while I do hope you enjoyed the pictures, and my little spiel about running, how do you relax and rest? When was the last time you did this? What better time to start than today!

Overwhelmed

Feeling overwhelmed can be exhausting. Many times along with it comes feelings of paralysis, not knowing where to begin. The key to overcoming feelings of being overwhelmed is to step back for a moment and turn to God. Sounds cliche', I know.

But I was feeling this way earlier today. Then, I decided to take a step back from everything, figuring it wouldn't hurt for me to spend 15 minutes reading my Bible and praying about this. My attention turned to 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.

This reminded me that many times, all God wants is my attention. Especially when I'm feeling overwhelmed, I think he wants me to stop and hang with Him for a little bit. God is with us all of the time. The next time I'm feeling overwhelmed, I want it to serve as a reminder to turn my attention to Jesus, to give Him every thought, every anxiety, every responsibility, every task, every stress, and remember that He is here with me. I want to allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity to speak to me through those times. I want to receive His comfort.

So, the next time you feel overwhelmed, stressed, defeated, what will you do? Will you wallow in self-pity? Or will you turn to God, allowing that to serve as a reminder of how much He wants to speak to you, minister to you, love you? He does you know. He wants to show you His love. All you need to do, is turn your attention to Him.

Just watched this 60 Minutes report on Homeless kids in America. SOBERING! Now, more than ever, people NEED to see the LOVE of Jesus! We can no longer talk about it in our safe little "Christian" circles. We MUST become a people of action! Thanks @AdamWaters for your timely message this past weekend! I loved hearing the girl at the end talk about once their life takes a turn for the better, they'll be able to help others in similar situations because now they know what it's like. With that being said, what we think is rough here in America, many times pales in comparison to the rest of the world. It doesn't take much to be a life changer in other countries. Utilize orgs like World Vision, and partner with them TODAY!

Waiting on God

These days our lives seem to be defined by how busy we are. We wear it like a badge of honor. There are few things people pridefully acknowledge more than how insanely packed their daily schedules are. Let's face it; we LOVE being in a hurry.

And yet, I think most of us despise it at the same time.

We long for an easier life, simpler schedules, a chance just to catch our breath. It's quite humorous, because most of the time when I get a break, I get so stir crazy I end up finding stuff to do. Doesn't matter what it is. I struggle to sit still. I struggle with waiting.

I'm in a mini discipleship group on Wednesday mornings with a group of guys from church. We are going through a book on leadership and talked about a chapter yesterday that dealt with this very topic. In all honesty, it was about waiting on God.

How many of us have learned the art of waiting, let alone waiting on God? We will rush into any situation, rush any decision just to check it off our to do list before moving onto the next item. There's something that feels so satisfying about crossing items off a to do list. But in our haste, we end up treating God much the same way. And then we wonder why we are stressed, why we feel burdened, frustrated, burnt out, down in the dumps, etc.

I came across Isaiah 40:31 just a moment ago. I've heard this many times over the years, especially in regards to running. And yet, another part of this totally captured my attention just now.

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." --Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

That first phrase is what caught me. The rest ONLY happens if we wait on the Lord. WOW! I mean, we are talking epiphany here folks! I knew this, but I didn't really know it, know what I mean?

When was the last time I simply waited on God? Truly sat at His feet, and just waited on Him, fully engulfed in His presence, no rush to move on, nothing else on my mind, just captivated by Christ?

This sounds pretty good to me. Think I'll put this into practice right now. And while I'm waiting, maybe while you wait, ponder what Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV) has to say....

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Go, and wait...........

Spiritual Birthday

Today is my Spiritual Birthday.

That's right, my SPIRITUAL Birthday. One of the things I love the most about my parents, and how they raised me, is that we celebrated my spiritual birthday every year. July 19, 1983 was the day that I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart, with what little understanding I had at the time. Of course, I was only 6 years old, but ever since then I've been on a life long journey of getting to know Jesus more and more every day. Sure, I've had some ups and downs during that time, but I'm proud to say that I've never really strayed from that purpose. I never went through a time of rebellion. I've always had a deep love for God, and a deep desire to know Him more.

If anything, I'd say my main fault was regularly allowing God to transform me. That's where I've struggled the most. While I strove to know God more, I didn't always allow His presence to truly impact me. Many times in my life I've kept God at a distance, at arms length so to speak. There have definitely been times of growth as well, especially over the past few years. But I wish I could have been a little less stubborn, and a little more trusting.

In years past I've done different things to celebrate. But recently I've tried to simply take some time to reflect. This morning I ran a few miles of trails with a friend, and now am home the rest of the morning with my daughters. This afternoon and tonight I get to work. This weekend I get to steal away with my beautiful wife for a weekend with just the two of us. So, my goal today is simply to live in the moment, and be grateful for all God has given me. I got time on the trails, time with my family, time spent working, and time soon with my better half. What a gift!

I leave you with something I've shared numerous times in the past. A wonderful gift God gave me years ago. It's my favorite passsage of Scripture from The Message Bible found in Isaiah 42:16......

"But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them--sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."

What wonderful promises! God's given me so many good insights over the years through this passage. Today, on my spiritual birthday, I want to celebrate and thank God for the wonderful life He's blessed me with, relationship with Him, family, friends, His word, nature, trail running, an amazing church family, and for always being my "personal guide".

Father, I love you! Thanks for welcoming me into your family!

Book Quotes

I've read a couple of shorter books lately that really had some refreshing thoughts that caught my attention. I thought I'd share a few of these with you here. This is what I've been thinking and chewing on as of late.......

From the book Out Of Solitude by Henri Nouwen

"Every human being has a great, yet often unknown, gift to care, to be compassionate, to become present to the other, to listen, to hear and to receive. If that gift would be set free and made available, miracles could take place." -pg. 40

"A man or a woman without hope in the future cannot live creatively in the present." -pg.59

From the book Believing Prayer by Andrew Murray

"We naturally seek God's gifts, but God wants to give us himself first." -pg.18

"Let me see you as the fountain of life, working with your mighty strength to accomplish your will in the world and in me. Let me see your love that is longing to meet and fulfill all my desires. Let your love so take possession of my heart and life that through faith I will know you dwelling in me." -pg.19

"In nothing is man more closely connected with the world of sense than in his need for food and his enjoyment of it." -pg.26

"...fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything-even ourselves-to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God." -pgs.27-28

"Ordinary Christians imagine that all that is not positively forbidden and sinful is lawful to them, and they seek to retain as much as possible of this world, with its goods, entertainment, and creature comforts. But the truly consecrated soul is a soldier who carries only what he needs for warfare. Laying aside every weight, as well as the sin that comes easily to him, afraid of entangling himself with the affairs of this life, he seeks to lead a life of one who is specially set apart for the Lord and His service. Without such voluntary separation, even from what is lawful, no one will attain real power in prayer." -pg.28

"Is the prize not worth the price?" -pg.29

"Just as a tree's root is hidden in the ground and its stem and leaf grow toward the sunlight, so prayer needs for its full development the secrecy in which the soul meets God alone as well as the public fellowship with those who in the name of Jesus find a common meeting place." -pg.42

"Leran to give God time: time in your daily fellowship with Him, time to exercise the influence of His presence; time to prove its reality. He will lead us from faith to vision; we shall see the glory of God." -pg.54

Out of all of these, what really struck a chord with me the most was "Is the prize not worth the price?". So often I get caught up in the moment, especially when struggles, trials, etc come into play. Running has been on my mind so much lately that my mind immediately went to drawing conclusions regarding this phrase as it pertains to running. But, as I let the phrase linger in my mind, God began to open my eyes to more important things, and how this applies to them. I think I'll keep this phrase around for a little while and see what God wants to do with it in my life.