Running a Race

Running.
It involves moving your body.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Lets suppose there is a marathon happening where you live. If you saw someone walking around shopping and chilling on the streets would you point them out and say "Wow! They're running in the marathon!"
No. Unless maybe you have a sarcastic sense of humour.

What if you saw someone trailing behind a bunch of runners, and this runner was running really slow and breathing heavily. Even despite their slow pace would you be able to tell that they were in the race?
I would be able to tell that they were probably involved in some sort of running event, probably the marathon. The shopper? I would just assume they were shopping.

Likewise our lives with Christ are like a race. And we need to be running them with purpose, even if we go really slow, even if we are lagging behind. We just need to be putting one foot in front of the other. How else will anybody know we're in the race?
If we aren't striving to grow and draw closer to God every single day, how will people know that Jesus is who we are following. That God is the one we are running toward and living our lives for?

Living like Christ.
It involves moving spiritually.
We have to keep growing every single day. And the most important changes are the tiny little incremental changes that we barely notice, but are consistent.
Changes like praying every morning and thanking God for the day. It might seem like too small a habit to start. I mean if your going to start a thriving prayer life, you tell yourself, it has to be with big grandiose prayers that are hours long and require you to spend an hour a day in silent meditation. I mean if your going to do something you should do it right. Am I right?

No, just start small. It might not seem like a lot, and maybe you feel guilty for not doing more. But just give a little time every day consistently. Those little moments are more important than we dare realize.

God tells us we are running in a race, that the life we live for God is a race. And the goal and prize is Him.

1 Corinthians 9:26 (ESV)

"So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air."

Finals Week

Dry hands, sore neck, sour taste.

I crack and creak, and snap

but don't break

More words less thoughts

Nothing comes to mind, my memory has been swept clean

everything moved- to make room

Where did I put that word?

It was in the corner

but now all I see are equations, some dusty definitions

Half unpacked Oh dear

the cord is tangled up in my coat

lights flicker but stay a constant stale presence

is this what its like...to be old?

i drag my hand towards the water bottle

stale liquid, stale thoughts

Give to Lose

Give to lose
          All you have
And more besides

Your bitter darkness
           stark injustice
unfiltered mirthless laughter
         oozing infections from lies
harrowing sorrow
        and mind numbing doubt
every thing you regret, that you want to shout

Lose the darkness
Gain the light

Give to lose your white-knuckled grip
Give to see....what the world should be.

Rivers and Lights

Revelations 21: 5-6
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Apathy is an enemy to the soul

It saps the spirit and life out of one's existent until all there is left is a hollow shell.
It prevents any action or inspiration from hope because it is too afraid of being disappointed.
It doesn't try because it doesn't believe that there is a chance.
Fear of failure.
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even how faint of a glimmer, it can never be reached unless it is sought out.
The only way you can fail, is to stop trying.
My Grandma held onto hope, in fact she held it up high like a torch.
She had hope that God had better days in store.
And he did. And does.
She hoped through the gloom and heartache. And let God's light shine in her life.

"The secret to happiness is to not expect too much"

Is this true?

Well certainly expecting perfection is a recipe for disappointment. And expecting the world to run in such a way that you get everything you want and desire is also unrealistic.
People are both predictable and unpredictable.
You cannot depend on people to surprise you how you want or when you want.

Expecting a relationship to be perfect with no mess, or trials, or malfunctions is unrealistic and unhealthy even.

However it is also harmful to have too low of expectations. Because without a standard of some sort you are opening up yourself to being trod on, trampled, kicked aside and left at the side of the road.

Expectations are a filter. Let in the good, remove the bad.

Another way to think of it is swimming in a river. Its unrealistic and will wear you out if you swim directly against the current.
But, if you simply let yourself be carried along to wherever the current takes you, you'll end up being dashed against the rocks.
Instead you have to adopt compromise.
Swimming sideways, partly against the current, and partly with. Swimming with a purpose towards the shore, towards you goals, hopes and dreams, but using the current to aid you instead of going directly against it.
And this is the difference between being either unrealistically hopeful or dare I say, unrealistically UN-hopeful.

Reasons to hope exist all around us, but too often we are disappointed because we look for hope in the wrong places.

God put hope in our hearts for a reason. Not so that we could be disappointed by the brokenness of this world. But so that we can know that the world is in fact broken. That this is not how it is supposed to be.

And most importantly, that God has better things in store for us than what we know see.
The world is broken. But that doesn't mean it can't be fixed. That's why God sent a Savior. That's why he sent Jesus.
That's why the sun still shines. That's why he put this fire in my heart to write.
Because I see that all is not as it can be. That God's got better things in store.
And there will be a day when it is restored.
So keep that light flaring in your window.

Because in God, we shall never hope in vain.

Love takes strength, stamina and sacrifice.

We are never complete, until we let God remake us.

We can never know who we are.

Until we know him who made us.

So,

Grit your teeth and un-clench your fist

till your palm is open and ready

to be placed inside of HIS.

Hear Me Now

Hear Me Now
Hear Me Then
hear the things
I've never been

See Me Now
See Me Then
see the things
I've never said

What do I say?
What do I mean?
Are they ever really the same thing?

How rare to find words filled with meaning
with blinding blissful truth
How common to find words filled with silence
with absolutely nothing at all

Please,
Tell Me Now
Tell Me Then
tell the things
You've never been

Please,
Show Me Now
Show Me Then
Show the things
You've never said

Pithy

Pithy..

(of language or style) concise and forcefully expressive.

synonyms:

succinct, terse, concise, compact, short (and sweet), brief, condensed,to the point, epigrammatic, crisp, thumbnail;

To the point.
Clear, forceful.

May your apologies be pithy and your explanations even pithier.

Your friend doesn't want to hear an "explanation" aka justification of your actions.
They want to know, that you listened to them.
That if you could do it again you would do it differently.
That you understand you hurt them, broke their trust, and can't just glue your relationship back together.

That you understand it will take time and patience and perseverance to rebuild what was broken between you.
And as always,

                            this is easier said than done.

But nothing worthwhile comes easy eh?