Running With My Dad

Well, I didn't actually run run with my dad. I was running with him figuratively as I thought about him and prayed for him. Lately, I have had a sensitive heart to the things to which I feel I'm not being faithful. Besides my poor efforts to witness for Jesus, I have also been lacking the caring and watchful eye a daughter should have for her elderly father. So, I called him today and made plans to get together with him for dinner.

Since I knew I was going to be seeing him, I thought about the things we could discuss over our dinner as I ran my 4 mile course. This kept my mind quite occupied and before I realized it I had already ran up one of the more difficult hills. That worked out nicely!

My running route takes me by a home for the elderly and on occasion I will see what I am guessing to be an adult child pushing their elderly parent in a wheeled chair along the sidewalk. Often I think that the day will come when my father is no longer here and thus need to redeem the time with him before that day comes. There are a couple of verses in 1 Timothy Chapter 5 that God has brought to my attention on many occasions. Verse 4 says, "if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them (the children or grandchildren) first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family, and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God." And verse 16 says, "If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, let her assist them, and let not the church be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed."

At this point, my dad is far from being dependent, but he is in his 70's and I must be sensitive to that fact, plus the fact that he lives by himself and could use the company. So, my run with my dad was good. I truly looked forward to spending the evening with him.

Our dinner was lots of fun and to all of our surprise, a carnival just happened to be near the restaurant. So my dad, three of my children and I were off to the carnival. As we walked toward the ticket booth, my dad reached into his pockets and gave me some money to pay for a couple of rides for each kid. I didn't want to take it, but I could tell it pleased him so to be able to do this. He said, "I just don't get to do this kind of thing that often." I took the money, bought the tickets and watched my dad watch his grandkids ride the rides at the carnival. You should have seen how he smiled as he watched them. It was indeed a grand ol' time!

When I went running with him earlier, I had no idea we'd be spending our time together at a carnival. You just never know what one day will bring! Maybe, when I am old and sitting at home by myself a lot, one of my kids will call me up and we'll find ourselves at the end of the day watching children ride the rides at a carnival. And if that day ever comes, my wallet will be out of my purse in no time at all, following the example of my own dad. And I'm sure I'll be smiling just has largely as he was.

Catching Up on Runs and Reflections

It is almost a week since I've logged miles and blogged thoughts. So, quickly here are the miles on logging - Thursday, August 24th I ran 4, Saturday, August 26th I ran only 3. Last week's total came to 11 miles. Still haven't got in that 5 mile run I've been hoping to do.

Today, I ran 4 miles in cool and glorious weather. How much more enjoyable it is to run in cooler weather as opposed to running in hot and humid weather. I had a good run. I was able to think more clearly about things. I also ran part of my run without holding a water bottle. It was nice to have free hands for at least half of the course.

It's late now and I am a bit tired and both of my hips feel a mite achy. As far as any deep reflections go, I have been thinking a lot about Hurricane Katrina. Today marked the one year anniversary of this horrible catastrophe. Last October I was part of a team from my Church to go help with disaster relief. The Lord spoke to me in a powerful way when I was there about the love and compassion He has for people. I will never forget shoveling out muck and sludge from these folk's house when He clearly told me to put my shovel down and go tell these people why I was there and how much He loved them. It became a sacred place - and remains a sacred place.

I am busy with so much life. There are children to care for, train and raise; there is a husband who needs my time, attention and help as well; there is a house that needs maintenance; home schooling duties; outside commitments with church and school; extracurricular activities for us all; friendships to keep and correspondences too; and so many other things. With all this life swirling about me, I shamefully find myself omitting Christ's call on my life to be a "fisher of men." I believe my life is filled with the good things of God! But I am saddened that it takes things like Katrina disasters to wake me up to the stench of men living and dying without Jesus in their life. I must find more balance in my life - a rejuvinating new balance. Like the brand name of my running shoes - New Balance! "New Balance" to keep lost souls more consistently on my heart. This is what I've been thinking about lately.

One of my recent Bible readings was Ezekiel 37. It is one of my favorite chapters in the Word and gives an account of a vision Ezekiel had about a valley full of dry bones and how the breath of God blew upon them and they came alive and became an exceedingly great army.

Out of the dust, God made man. Out of the muck, God saves man. And in the muck, one day in the aftermath of Katrina, I dropped my shovel and shared Jesus with some dry bones. I have since tried to contact those two folks but to no avail. I pray for them and hope I see them in heaven. Only this could top that unexpected sacred moment. Until then, I pray that this "new balance" to be a bold and contagious witness in word and deed will come alive like the dry bones Ezekiel saw in the valley of his vision.

Running and Noisy Katydids

I am behind in my blogging. And even now, I'm pressed for time. This will be short and sweet.

Unfortunately,I did not get in 5 miles on Saturday as I had hoped. But it wasn't because I wimped out, I just didn't have the time. I was working on a policy handbook for school and had computer issues. It just took me longer to get the project done. But 4 miles is still good and as I ran I couldn't believe how noisy those katydid creatures are! They were breaking my concentration and efforts at prayer, but I kept trying to focus. I was trying to pray a lot for our church service for that evening. I did feel really good on my run. I picked up the pace due to the time crunch and decided that those katydids were either joining me in prayer with their "Amens!" or they were cheering me on as I ran!

They were there again yesterday as I ran another 4 miles. For whatever reason, I had a slow start. Just couldn't seem to get going until almost half way through the course. I felt sluggish and my legs just felt heavy. I pressed through it as those katydids once again cheered me on. I had to laugh at my silliness to think that these tree insects were actually watching this poor pathetic runner huffing and puffing with lead for legs plod through the heat. Oh well, whatever works! At least I found myself finally getting into my runninng rhythm!

Maybe, tomorrow I will try for 5.

Running Peace

I can't believe it is already Thursday! My week has been crazy. And I only have time to log in my miles. So, on Tuesday I ran 4. It was a great run! The humidity was very mild to say the least. I felt really good. Then today, all I had time for was a quick 3 miles. Again, I felt really good. So I was able to quicken my pace. I actually was pressd for time so I didn't have a choice. I am hoping to run 5 miles on Saturday. My schedule looks like I'll have time for it. That way if I do I will get in another total of 12 miles for the week.

I have lots on my mind - the new school year, trying to finish up some summer projects around my house, juggling schedule changes, and church things. As I've ran these past two times I've been reminded that "peace comes to him whose mind is stayed on Thee." So in running motion I've been meditating on having my mind quietly fixed or motionless to think of Jesus.

Running Week Total = 12

Well, I haven't done this in a while, but yesterday I squeezed in a 4 mile run which made my week total come to 12 miles! However, I did not get in the 5 mile run this past week I was hoping to do. Rats! I know if I hadn't been crunched for time yesterday, I could have ran 5. I had a good run yesterday. The weather was fairly cooperative. But I just didn't have the time I needed. Maybe this week.

I did get a return of my "runner's gut" issue this past week. This does not make me very happy. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. Just when I want to increase my distance! I need to watch my diet better, which I've not been doing and get back on some herbs and minerals I was taking but ran out of.

I am happy though to have put in 12 miles this week. I remember when I was easily putting in 20 miles a week. How I would love to return to that! I am also happy to say that I have not battled any sore throats for the longest time! What a blessing that has been.

Last night at church we focused on one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. It was Psalm 119! I'll end this entry with one of my favorite verses from that chapter. Psalm 119:32 says, "I shall run the way of Thy commandments, for Thou wilt enlarge my heart." Running a week's total of 12 miles does good to the heart. But running the way of God's commandments does even better for the heart!

Pre-rain Run

Wow, today I made my run just in the nick of time! It couldn't have been better timing. I almost ran at about 8 am. Then I decided to wait until I got back from taking my daughter to horse camp. I returned, stretched out and took off. As I began to run, the clouds rolled in and it was perfectly overcast and breezy! But still hot, just not as bad as having the sun beat down on you.

I ran 4 miles and probably wouldv'e gone for 5 except the A/C man was coming to fix a leak in our unit. I had to get back in time. But it was a good run and I was able to pray with pretty decent focus. I was probably inside about 10 minutes when the rain came pouring down. Though that hasn't always been the case, I managed to outrun the rain today.

What else can I outrun today? Tomorrow? and the next day? Sin - I hope! Foolish decisions - I pray! Satan's flaming arrows - by God's Grace!

Running With My Daughter

Today was another hot day. I was really wanting to run with someone to help my motivation. I talked my daughter into running with me. She's been running, but not the distance I usually go, so I told her she could walk at times where I'd go on ahead and eventually turn around to meet back up with her. It worked and I had someone to run with!

It was a very nice change. I usually don't mind running alone, but on occasion have a strong urge just to have someone there along for the company. Someone who will be going through similar "torture" to make it through a hot run. My daughter went about halfway then ran on home while I continued to finish my 4 mile course. She hit it hard the last stretch before she stopped. Way to go! Finishing well, finishing strong, finishing hard! There's no other way to finish! My body has been well-trained to finish likewise. It is now just a habit or almost an involuntary reflex. I near the end of my course and at this one point, I kick it in to high gear, or should I say, my legs and arms just start pumping away!

I ran 4 on Saturday too. I would like to do 5 miles this week, but it looks like it's going to be another hot, hot week! We'll see.

My dad recently gave me 3 copies of Runner's World magazine and I've been enjoying them a lot. I'll probably start subscribing soon. There are so many helpful articles and stories of inspiration! I'm getting hooked!

Just Running

For some reason, I haven't been doing much reflecting during my runs. I suppose it's because I've just been trying to get through the heat. My focus has been interrupted and most of my concentration is on getting through the run. Yesterday I did 4 miles. I felt pretty good. Any thought not given to the goal of accomplishing the course was given to some prayer request needs.

I've been doing some reading in Runner's World magazine. It sure helps to keep the running motivation going in these day of extreme heat. Today is an off day. Tomorrow I'll shoot for 4 miles again. I'd like to bump up the mileage to 5 soon. Maybe next week.

Running Ablaze

Today is Tuesday and I haven't even blogged my Saturday run. Really all I can say about Saturday's run and today's run is that it's been really, really, hot. Like you're just on fire hot. Ablaze with heat, hot! And because of this blazen heat, I have only ran 3 miles on both of these HOT days! Better than nothing, though.

I almost ran inside on my treadmill today, but I saw a breeze going and decided to run outside. I believe it's suppose to cool down by the end of this week. That will be a very good thing. It's just not pleasant running in temperatures in the upper 90's to 100 with heat advisory warnings in the air. I did survive, but it sure seems that the rest of the day I struggle to really cool off. By the time I cool off, it's time to run again, in the heat!