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.