"To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind."
 Jerome Drayton

I am off to Washington D.C. this weekend to run the Marine Corp Marathon. In reality, it’s more about surviving then running. At the pace I move, the majority of people in the race will be in front of me. My marathon is more like a jogging/walking tour of DC.

This is my second marathon. The last marathon was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I almost died at least three times (joking), and the last 8 miles were absolutely brutal. I hope that isn’t the story for this one. Hopefully, I beat my 4:54 marathon in Charlotte.

This week the most common question I got asked is, “Are you excited about the marathon?” The answer, “Not really.” So I asked the question, why in the world do I do this? The crazy thing is that’s an easy question to answer, “Because I love what it does for me.”

You see I have always struggled with my weight (since about 9^th grade) so I know what it means not to be able to run and play with your kids (or friends). I know what it feels like to be the one who is always referred to as “big guy.” Running marathons is something that gives me freedom from the constant struggle of my weight. I don’t know why, it just seems to motivate me to watch what I eat and exercise, which are two important things for weight management.

Now what happens after the marathon, you never know. I wish I could say, “Of course I will not gain any weight back.” But we all know that is foolish talk. Life is full of struggles. The crazy thing is one of my life struggles will be sitting there waiting for me on Monday.

This weekend, however, it’s a celebration of the accomplishment of making it to the starting line lighter than I have been in 20 years. Next week is a celebration of crossing the finish line.

How to Discover Your Core Values and Why it Matters

I had the privilege of teaching Luke 14 a few weeks ago and I can’t get the passage out of my head. The passage starts with a man who has a disease and he gets invited to a party with Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees are bringing him in as a prop in order to set up Jesus to heal on the Sabbath (which they don’t like). Jesus is happy to heal the guy and basically says, “wouldn’t you do the same?”(Knowing their answer is actually no.)

What stuck out to me more than anything is how the whole story of this dinner ends Basically, Jesus tells the people at the party that heaven is going to be full of people who are lame, broken, and sick; not the perfect people like the ones sitting with him at dinner. What strikes me is that we are called to be the ones who are “poor in spirit,” we are called to be the broken ones.

Until we understand that we are the broken and lame, we will never have a pure passion to help the poor, not just the poor financially but also the poor spiritually. God has a great passion for all of us to experience the fullness of life and He will do everything He can to help as many people as He can experience this abundant life. Our calling is to have the same passion as God and to be constantly reaching out to people and helping them experience God.

The final thing that strikes me about Luke 14 is that the one person who should not have been at the party was the one who actually got to experience a new life. The sick man, the man who was brought as a prop, is the only person at the party who leaves having been restored to new life. This is a great picture for us to understand. When we realize we should not be there (on our own accord) and despite that God restores us and gives us a new life, we will realize out of deep satisfaction that God want us all to help the poor of all kinds.

What if the Church became a place that was concerned for the poor? What if we were a place that was passionate about helping the needy, the sick, and the lame? What would happen if the church was a safe haven for people to have a life changing experience with God? What if the Church would decide to actually make a difference in the many social issues of the day? I wonder if then the Church would have the same reputation as Jesus.

I am always amazed how good I feel when I am running. I am not referring to the actual time of running because for a tortoise that is painful. I am referring to the time after the run and just the general feeling that I am active.

I am the classic on again off again health nut. Every day is a struggle, a battle, a many times a failure. Right now after having gone out and run 2 miles (slowly), I am amazed at how good it feels to have run 2 out of 3 days and eat well for those as well. It’s such an easier way to live. The stress is reduced and your spirit is up. It’s great.

In the book, Power of Full Engagement, it talks about that during the most stressful times of your life, your rituals are the must important. For them, the most basic of rituals is exercise and eating. They push that during stress, you need to be more dogmatic about how you are eating and exercising. Typically I am at my worst and in turn I gain 10 pounds per stress event.

What’s amazing is when you get those two things right, you are able to handle the stressful things of life much easier. Hopefully I can learn this, but I know I am a slow learner.

I just got off the phone with a friend, and our conversation made me realize how fortunate I am to have had a steady stream of men who took the time to invest in my life. It didn’t matter whether I was 9 or 29, I have been blessed with people constantly speaking truth to me. What a significant impact they have had on my life.

Steve Lundberg, Curt Ward, Don Overton, and Jack Warren: They have all made an investment in my life. The amazing thing is that they came into my life for a certain season and impacted me in their own unique manner. They were all willing to take the time to encourage me, give me direction or a chance to express myself as a teenager or a young man.

Right now, our kids are at that great stage of thinking that everything Jenn and I do is amazing. Their dreams are to be like dad and mom, as crazy as we all know that is. The day will come when these precious children begin to believe that their parents are idiots and their friends are brilliant. It’s in that moment when every parent is thankful that their child has someone of influence in their life that can speak truth to them. This person can have a tremendous impact when they have the trust of both the parent and the child. It’s important for every kid growing up to have another person of influence in their life, especially as they go through their teenage years.

Now as a 35 year old, I am thankful for these men as well. They offered guidance and impacted my life in significant ways. Thank you guys for your lives and your investment in me.

Today was a cool day for me. I got to see my mom and her mom with my boys there as well. Its so rare that you get to have 4 generations in one place.

My Mom Mom (grandmother) is one of the most active and positive ladies I know. Every moment you are with her, its a privilege. If I could be like her at 90, it would be awesome.

I love spring because makes me think about doing new things. Like last night, I signed up for the Marine Corp Marathon so now it is time to start training. I plan to play in the Charlotte Amateur Golf Tournament so I need to start practicing. As you know, Chris Payne and I have just started a church so plenty to do with that as well. The crazy thing is I know that I am falling for the temptation of the spring; of start a bunch of new stuff.

Seth Godin’s Book, “The Dip,” says that you only have so many resources to conquer the dip of mediocrity and if you don’t leverage your resources (time, money, and energy) you will not be able to accomplish your goals. He states that the temptation for all us is that when one goal gets hard, we decide to start a new goal. Which then means you are less likely to accomplish either goal because you have less resources.

All that to say, I hear Seth Godin in my head as I go after the new goals in my life, “there may need to be some spring cleaning in your life…” Meaning that if you start new things you probably need to get rid some others. I don’t like to do that. Starting new things is so much more fun.

I was convicted today listening to Erwin McManus talk about the consumption issues that face so many of us. How we live our lives for us and not for other people. In the Scriptures, Solomon talks about how meaningless life can be when it’s defined by consumption and our need for more. For a guy who loves his new iPhone, my life should become less focused on what I can get and more on what I can give to others. Instead of building a life for me, maybe it should be about building a life that impacts and influences people to Christ. It’s pretty easy to shift words a little and not realize how much I have shifted focus. Prayer can become self-serving, and not times of connecting to God or praying for others. God does tell us to make our requests known to Him, but praying only for yourself is where the problem can be. It seems so many of us are trying to see if Solomon was right, when he called our pursuit of wanting more and more, “meaningless.” I am certain I am not done learning this lesson.

As I’ve rocked my son Luke to sleep the last few nights, there has been a major thought going through my head - soon I will not be rocking him to sleep, and how much I will miss that. Every night for the last year and half I have rocked him to sleep. The crazy thing is that I contemplate life for hours as he sleeps in my arms. I have thought about the impact of his cerebral palsy, making the toughest ministry decision I have ever made, changing roles in my job, losing weight, doing a triathlon, running a marathon, and ultimately starting a church. The thought in the midst of all the changes in my life was just as I hold Luke in my arms and he rests, I should be resting in the presence of the Father even though I am terrified of what may happen. There were so many times that I would waiver in my faith, and it was during those moments of rocking him to sleep that I would be restored to continue to fight and believe that God still has His hand on me. The chair that I have rocked him to sleep in so many times will forever be a special place to me because it was a place that God gave me courage to change.

Probably like every new blogger out there, I never thought I would start to blog but I am. I am just a simple journeyman with Christ who is just trying to figure out what it looks like to be (somewhat of a decent) a follower of Him. This blog will be about that journey. It’s a journey of finding true life in God and trying to figure ways out to help others connect with Him as well. If these blogs are encouraging, thought provoking, or just entertaining, that is great with me. Thanks for being a part of the journey.