What really matters...

Sidelined.  So I have been meaning to write posts for a couple days now and I haven't actually even turned my computer on until today - I've just been checking stuff on my Kindle.  But between Wednesday (4) Thursday (5), and Saturday(6), I ran 15 miles, and I now have 13 miles to go.  And I had this great plan - I was going to run another 6 today and then 4 in the morning tomorrow, and 3 in the evening to arrive at Bethlehem right at midnight.  It was a great plan, until I spent most of last night dealing with a stomach bug, which led to spending most of today in bed.  So I am going to be a little late arriving in Bethlehem.  But it's still pretty impressive that I was able to run 67 miles in 19 days.

Goals.  We all have them, but this running to Bethlehem has reminded me how much easy they are when specific and clearly defined.  Yesterday I finished the book Not a Fan  by Kyle Idleman.  I know I have talked about this study several times in my blog, and there is another blog post processing, but the basic premise is that many people who call themselves Christian are not actually following Jesus.  They are more like fans cheering for Jesus from the sidelines. So yesterday as I was running, I was thinking about how having a specific goal of running 80 miles has spurred me to be more consistent in my running and to run longer distances.  Through all of September, October, and November, I ran about once a week, occasionally twice, and there were 2 weeks in there I didn't run at all. I also never ran more than 4 miles, and I only ran 4 a handful of times.  Most of the times I ran it was around a 5k distance (3.1 miles).  In contrast,  I ha...

Sorry I didn't manage a post the past couple of days.  I wish I could say I was busy running and didn't have time or energy to do both, but the truth was I didn't do either on Saturday or Sunday.   Saturday was a crazy day and Sunday I was exhausted.  But today (I consider it the same day until I go to bed for the night unless I'm at a lock-in), I am finally back to both. I ran 4 miles today (that brings me up to 46.5, 33.5 to go - yikes!), and as I ran I was reminded of the importance of water.  I did not hydrate well today, or over the weekend, and I definitely felt that as I ran tonight. And I was reminded that there is more to running than the running itself.  Sleep, nutrition, and hydration all play important roles.  And I haven't been doing a super great job on any of those, so when I ran tonight, I felt tired and draggy and had a dehydration cramp that I had to push through.  I managed to still do 4 miles, but it wasn't pretty. As we run thr...

Today was kind of a crazy day for me, so this morning as I was trying to figure out my schedule for the rest of the day and the best way to fit everything in, I decided that my best option was to run to the church, do the work I needed to do, and then finish my run with whatever time I still had after that.   I usually can't run to the church because I have things to take with me or people to meet, but today I had a very specific list of things that I needed to do which required nothing I had at home and were all about getting organized for tomorrow and finishing up a couple tasks I started yesterday. So that's what I did.  And as I decided to interweave my work and running schedules, and I thought about my post from yesterday, I started thinking about how sometimes we think we need to set aside time for God.  I'm not saying that's a bad thing - in fact, I do think setting aside time to pray and read the Bible is important, even though I freely admit I struggle with t...

I really did run this morning.  It wasn't early morning because, well, I avoid those as much as possible, but I did run before noon.  However, I was busy the rest of the day, and am just now getting around to writing this blog post.  I needed to clarify that because my thought this morning as I was running was how much better I felt running this morning than I felt running in the evening earlier in the week because earlier in the week I was running at the end of crazy busy days. As I considered that, I realized that is why God wants our first and best.  God doesn't just want what's left over after we finish with everything else on our schedule.  Which is what I tend to do - it's pretty clear just from how late I'm writing this post.  I've been home more than 2 hours and am just now getting around to the writing of it. But God wants all of us - our best and even what's left after we have given our best.

I have a quote somewhere that says, "I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several of them attack me at once."  That is how I have felt the last 2 days.   There is far too much to do, and far too little time to do it all.  So I remind myself to do what I can, focusing on what absolutely needs done and prioritizing the rest, remembering that tomorrow is a new day and the world will not end if that one thing does not get accomplished.   Yesterday, I prioritized my run at the end of my day because I needed a stress relief, but decided not to take the time for the blog.  Today I am prioritizing cleaning, then attempting to get to bed early so I can run in the morning.  So this holiday season, when the craziness hits you, remember that things don't have to be perfect. Don't hold yourself to impossible standards.  Do what you can, and let go of what you can't.  And don't forget to take some time to just breathe and appreciate the miracle tha...

Today was another day with a lack of motivation.   I had a busy afternoon at the office, followed by finishing up some things at home, heading to the middle school band concert, and grocery shopping.  By the time I got home, it was almost 10pm, and I was exhausted.  But I was already 2 miles behind since I didn't run yesterday, and I didn't want to be 6 miles behind tomorrow, so I got my butt in gear and went to the treadmill. Unlike other nights, I didn't have something in mind to watch on tv while I ran, so I spent the first bit of my run flipping through channels.  And by the time I found something to watch, I had gone a half mile, and I found myself thinking about focus.  See I rarely actually enjoy running.  I enjoy the after effects of running - my body feels better, I feel better about myself, and I look better when I run on a regular basis.  But the actual running is only occasionally enjoyable, and with the level of exhaustion, tonight was...