13 Days Remaining

I ran about 3.5 miles in about 33-34 minutes. My goal this morning was to run the whole thing without getting that side ache from not breathing deeply enough - and I was able to do that.

I just noticed yesterday (thanks to Kurt) what some of you have been posting comments this whole time.  Haha. So I went back through my previous posts and read them all.  They were very encouraging and I'm happy for you all to join in on this journey.

Today's thought has more to do with real life than my running life, but lately they've been blending more and more together (total side note: running has so many metaphors to real life, it's ridiculous). Things have gotten financially tight for Kate and I this month. (It's funny - you always start to pray harder when life gets harder.) But at the end of my run, as I was doing my cool down walk around the block, listening to some music on Kate's iPod, the song "You are Mine" by Mute Math came on.

Here's the lyrics:

Everyone has their obsession

Consuming thoughts, consuming time

They hold high their prized posession

That defines the meaning of their lives

You are mine

You are mine

You are mine, oh mine

You are mine

There are objects of affection

That can mesmerize the soul

There is always one addiction

That just cannot be controlled

You are mine

You are mine

You are mine, oh mine

You are mine

Everyone has their obsession

Consuming thoughts, consuming time

They hold high their prized posession

They hold high their prized possession

Kate and I just talked about selling some of our "prized possessions" yesterday and about getting refocused on making a real effort to pay off our student loans.  The conversation was a little stressful for me - Kate had her Dave Ramsey kick good and strong, and I was fighting it.  But this song gave me a lot of peace this morning. I am His, I am God's child and these possessions don't matter. What matters most is that I am His possession.



So, Why this Ridiculous Goal?

Some of you probably don't know why I'm even trying to make this ridiculous goal of 3 miles in 18 minutes by September 10th. It started at a Klemmer's Champion Workshop. I volunteered to come up and share a goal I had. Then I was asked what meeting that goal would mean to me. He dug a little deeper and asked what would it mean to my family and friends.

Running has always been a part of my life: being the best runner in the 5th grade class; competing with and then becoming best friends with Lucas Brenaman who was the best runner in the 6th grade class; long morning runs in Jackson Hole, when I would pray for the whole 30-45 minute run; night time runs followed by deep, meaningful conversations with friends; other night time runs when I would try to outrun my high-flying emotions during difficult, searching times in college.  Running has always been there.

After I graduated college, I started focusing more on other things - like surviving the post-college life, trying to pay off massive student loans, and chasing this lovely woman down who now is my wife. There were so many changes, most of them good, but I had lost the motivation to run.

I realized that night at the Klemmer workshop, how much running was a part of me and how lost and in part, undirected I felt because I was no longer who I was or who I really wanted to be.  I want to be a runner - to the day I die.

Now if you've checked out the Klemmer workshop, you may come out thinking it's rather humanistic, in that "man must find his own purpose" sort of way, but that's not how I see it, nor do I believe they want you to see it. They are simply equipping people with new lenses to see the world and to look for our full potential in whatever our purpose may be.  If your purpose is spreading the Love of Christ - they help you realize just how much more potential you really have to fulfill your purpose in huge (mountain-moving) ways.

You see, before, I thought spending time away from Kate to run was selfish. Or I thought, running should not be this big of priority in my life. God should be my first priority. Being the best I can be for God should be my first priority - working hard, not being lazy, doing His work to my fullest potential - and then some.

This goal has helped me realize how much God can give you strength in weakness.  I'm constantly on the lookout for more experiences with God outside of reading the Bible, praying, and singing - not that those are important and/or critical to life. But actually working hand in hand with God, instead of reading stories of how God worked with others thousands of years ago, really changes your perspective on a lot of things.

I'm really excited. Kate, my younger brother Scott, and I (along with most, if not all, my coworkers at Classy Llama Studios) are going to a weekend seminar put on my Klemmer and Associates here in Springfield Missouri. I'm excited to see how God will begin to work in our lives once we start realizing how much more capable He is than we give Him credit.