This winter has been brutal.
There have been so many days I’ve wanted to go outside and run, but couldn’t because of the weather.
I know what some of you are thinking – suck it up and put on a coat. Well, I do that when the roads are not sheets of ice. I’ve fallen recently, and have no desire to put myself out of commission like that again.
So I’ve been on forced hiatus. (more…)
I am at my best physically when I am faithful in my running. I love the various aspects of being a runner – the health benefits, the gadgets and gear, the effect on my stamina and state of mind, getting outside. But my faithfulness wavered for a while when the weather turned cold.
Bottom line: I think I need a goal. (more…)
I like to listen to podcasts of sermons during my morning run. It is the only time where I can listen with enough focus, and also when I desperately want to tune out the sound of me breathing.
Yesterday morning, I listened to Francis Chan preaching from Revelation. Francis is one of my favorite preachers, but opportunities to hear him are rare since he left Cornerstone, the church he planted in Simi Valley, California. But Cornerstone recently put his Revelation series in their podcast archive.
He preached on what Heaven is like.
As believers, I don’t think we ponder Heaven enough. It is a very real place, and is important to talk about.
At about the 27 minute mark, he talked about going outside, and said something very thoughtful about it…
Satan wants us surrounded by drywall.
He said that, as we spend time indoors, we constantly see man-made things, and admire what man can do. People see a video game and marvel at how real it looks. They vacation in Vegas and marvel at the hotels that put images of the sky on their ceilings, when they could just as easily go outside and look at the actual sky.
Admittedly, I’m just as guilty as most. But I do enjoy running outside, so much so that I don’t think I could go back to running on a track or treadmill. In addition to the exercise, it gives me the opportunity to breathe unfiltered air and see with non-fluorescent light.
When I was a kid, our house had a retaining wall in the front yard, about three feet high. It was my favorite spot in the world. I would go out and lay on that wall for hours, looking up at the stars. I would pray. Think kid thoughts. And WONDER.
I think we are losing that. So much has been discovered. There is so much that is known. We forget just how big God is, and how amazing He is.
Not a Camouflaged Soul 