Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A Spiritual Journey - An Iron Man Event

An Iron Man Event

Our younger son Michael just completed his first 70.3 Iron Man, an athletic event which includes a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run. This particular Iron Man event was the second largest one in the world, with over 3,500 athletes participating. After making the decision to enter, he told many of his friends. Many competitive athletes know if they verbalize their goals they will be more accountable. They are definitely locked in. With his commitment in place, he began training. Serious physical training was essential, but with this being his first Iron Man, he knew he would need to glean knowledge from seasoned veterans. A dear friend of the family gave Michael informative books and magazines to read. But more importantly, he gave him words of wisdom and a promise that he would be praying over the entire Iron Man journey.

Michael didn’t jump right in and tackle the full 70.3 miles. He gradually started to take on more distance while decreasing his time. He was careful to feed his body proper nutrition and to rest in order to recuperate physically and mentally. He set goals for himself. He achieved those and moved forward after hitting each benchmark. He realized the importance of pacing himself. He knew daily and weekly schedules would be vital. His sweet wife, Renee, was there to offer encouragement and research proper nutrition for this type of event. As husband and wife, they discussed the importance of sacrifices that each of them would have to make over the next few months. Competition would be within himself, not so much against others. He decided not to compare himself to others and become frenzied, but to focus on his goals.

It has been great to talk with Michael over the past four months of preparation. He knew he had strong support system from family and friends. On the day of the event we got up very early and traveled to Augusta, GA. to see him compete. Although we couldn’t see every mile of the race, we were there at benchmark spots to yell words of encouragement, display signs, hand him bottles of water and take lots of pictures to capture those memories. Folks that could not attend pledged that they would be praying for him throughout the day. Countless spectators offered words of encouragement and shouts of praise to thousands of participants they had never seen before.

Michael’s main goal was to finish the race.
He would indeed give it his personal best.

How did he do?

He finished the 1.2 mile swim in record time. He decreased his time from 45 minutes to 31 minutes. He came out of the water with a smile on his face ready for the 56 mile bike trek. All was going well, until the last 12 miles of the bike run. His rear tire went flat. Unfortunately, no one was there to help him repair it, so he biked the last 12 miles with a flat tire, which meant he had to put all of his weight on the front tire. Needless to say, his legs took a beating on those 12 miles. Once he completed the bike trek, he had to face 13.1 miles of running. Obviously cramping set in, but he persevered. While he had set a personal best of finishing in 6 hours, he knew he would have to settle for a much longer time. He refocused and ran across the finish line in 7 hours and 20 minutes. We were so proud of him. He had finished the race, differently than he had planned, but with a sense of accomplishment. He didn’t quit, he didn’t look back, but pressed ahead toward the prize… the finish line.

A Spiritual Journey

As I looked back over the Iron Man event I realized how many things parallel our spiritual lives.

We must make our decision to follow Christ. No one else can make that decision for us. Many of you can remember that decisive moment. You ran to tell others and they rejoiced with you and surrounded you with lots of prayer support and words of encouragement. If you were wise you found an accountability partner. I still call on accountability partners for many areas of my life. They help keep me in line. While Michael trained four months for this event, our training will take a lifetime. We must spend time in His word and seek His wisdom. We need to feed our bodies daily, always being sure to rest in order to more fully develop our relationship with Him.

There will be moments of great sacrifice. You will have “flat tire” situations in your life with no one around to rescue you. Will you press on? Will you persevere? We must be like the dying seed, that sheds the outer skin and blossoms a new from within. Count on others to offer words of encouragement. Seek out faithful prayer warriors and offer to stand in the gap for others in need. And remember, sometimes we finish parts of our lives differently than we had planned. Sometimes we will feel beaten down.
How will you refocus? How will you finish your race?

If you want to finish the race…give Him your personal best.

Phil 3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Michael and Renee


Saturday, September 19, 2009

I AM always on His mind!

Do you believe this statement? Have you had personal experiences that bear witness to His attention to every detail of your life? God is 100% faithful. He will never leave us or forsake us. He CHOOSES to be in relationship with us. That truth is ever so humbling. I am living it in a new way, and I want to share my most recent encounter with the One and Only.

In mid-August I developed vertigo. If you have ever been seasick or dizzy-sick after a ride at Six Flags, you KNOW what I mean! Vertigo is like being seasick 24/7. There is not one second of fun associated with it. This illness turned my life upside down for FIVE weeks. Medication did not help and physical therapy brought only temporary relief.

During this time I was humbled on several levels, but one of the toughest aspects of having vertigo was being incredibly dependent on others. I could not drive, I could not read (and I was in the middle of final exams for summer classes during this time), I couldn’t stand or walk without holding on to someone, could not exercise (that was NOT a bonus!), and I wasn’t able to lead in worship at my church … that was heartbreaking. We don’t stop and think about how many daily functions depend on our ability to stand up! And what I mentioned only represents a few of the daily living activities that were impacted by having vertigo.

As miserable as I felt during those five weeks, I was encouraged daily by God’s presence. He gave me the courage to ask for help when I needed it. I was reminded of what an awesome husband He has given me. God has also given me the best friends anyone could ask for. They did for me what I could not do. My ever-present Father brought encouragement through His Word and gave me prayer warriors in great numbers.

One of those prayer warriors represents the most incredible blessing I’ve ever received. Because I am always on His mind, He put me on the heart of someone I did not know. She heard about my illness through a friend. God continued to put me on her heart for a couple of weeks, and then He gave her a plan. What seemed like “out of the blue” to me came the offer to give me a therapeutic massage to see if it would help. I was hesitant because of not being able to lie down, roll over, drive, etc., etc.!! But I sensed the offer was God-ordained, and whether or not it brought healing, I was to allow my new friend to be obedient to what God had instructed her to do.

PRAISE GOD! He instantly brought healing to my broken body and my troubled heart during that massage session. I am still in awe of what God did that day. I’m stunned over His ways. Only a God like Him could orchestrate such a miracle. And because my new friend LISTENED to Him and took a bold step to offer help using her giftedness I can give GLORY TO MY FATHER. I love to give and do for others, but I am not very good at receiving. God used this trial in my life to open my heart to receive and allow me to have a tangible experience to receive His love. When I could not stand I could lean on Him. He stood up for me!

I am ALWAYS on His mind, and I’ll never forget what He did for me through His Son Jesus Christ and what He did to bring healing to me through this trial. PRAY, BELIEVE, REST, and RECEIVE!!!

Debbie lives in Dacula with her awesome husband of 17 years (it's our anniversary!) and their 4-legged wonder, Bandit.