My JourKNEE Back

M ost Christians would have heard the phrase, "You're too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good." I know what that quote is implying at face value. I do think we can become too inwardly focused trying to improve ourselves to be more Christ-like that we end up being of little help to those around us. However, I venture to ask the question, "If our focus isn't on heaven, can we be of any good here on earth?" I think a lot of Christians have lost the proper reverence we should feel toward God, the Creator and Savior of this universe. I believe it trickles down from our church leaders who have tried to incorporate fun programs into the church to become a "church for the unchurched." Where messages of love are preached and the harder topics of sinfulness go unwilling to be addressed.  While God IS love and He " so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3...

My family enjoyed a lovely week away. We started north, spending the night in Springfield, Massachusetts then continued north to spend three days in Bar Harbor, Maine. As the week came to an end, we began to make our way south, toward home, stopping for two nights in Newport, Rhode Island. I had intentions of running at least twice throughout the course of the week and told "J" and "K" to check in with me for accountability. Even after all the thinking ahead, I returned home having done a lot of walking, but did not get a single run in.  This is why, after twelve years of running, I have a hard time thinking of myself as a runner. Committed runners would have gotten their runs in no matter what. They would have looked forward to running somewhere new. They, at least, would have made time to use the hotel treadmill. I didn't feel safe in certain neighborhoods, and I was not familiar with the roads and if there were shoulders or sidewalks to safely run on. Being i...

There is no greater freedom that any man can give to you that God hasn't already granted you through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Once you have freedom in Christ, there is no freedom that any man can take away from you.   Sometimes people think of Christianity as just a bunch of rules. If it is merely your religion, then that's what it becomes. We don't like to use the word "sin" because we don't want to feel like our actions are wrong or that we are "bad" people. However, Jesus Himself came to earth to do away with the law. When we learn who the Bible says He was (and is and forevermore will be) and believe it in our hearts and minds then we can begin to have a relationship with Him.  It is in that relationship where we will want to please Him just as we do our parents, spouse, children and those we love. We will realize, though, that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves "holy" or "good enough. We are...

I'm not feeling like I have anything inspirational to say today. I didn't last week either which is why a blog post was missed (if anyone noticed). However, I made a commitment to make a post each week and felt like I need to get something on "paper." What can be said that hasn't been said before? What can be said to encourage you when I feel like I am not personally making progress? As I roll these questions around in my own head, let's review the purpose for which this blog was originally started. "This blog is intended to track my progress from meniscus surgery back to my goal of being able to run again" (as stated in the blog description). Readers who have recently joined in following my posts should really go back to the beginning. My meniscus surgery was on August 17, 2023. It did not take me the expected 4-6 weeks to return to normal. Rather, it was a long, frustrating road to recovery for me. My daughter just asked me yesterday, "Do you ...

This post is coming out a day late. I wasn't going to write anything this week because nothing was coming to mind. However, as I went about the day, one sentence kept running through my thoughts. It was a sentence that was said to us yesterday at a church we were visiting for the third time in a row. I can't even remember who said it, but we were told, "Everyone will want you in their group. The groups will be fighting to have you."  That had me thinking back to just four weeks ago. We were talking with the Pastor of the church we had been attending for the past five and a half years, explaining to him that we were beginning to look around at different churches, weighing the pros and cons of switching congregations. One of the reasons we gave him is that we haven't felt a sense of connection at the current church. He encouraged us to join a small group. We informed him that we did check the small group listing and they all appeared to be full at the time to which ...

I hope this doesn't contradict last week's post, but here are my thoughts for today. Yesterday, I was in the shower, well into my Saturday routine. I really hesitated to wake up early to get some miles in but, as I lay there, I thought maybe I'd feel better if I did get up so I decided to do so. I was tired and thought a walk after the week's run efforts would be good enough. I also thought after I did my morning tasks, I would have enough time for a little rest before leaving the house. However, here I was, still taking a shower, feeling very hungry because I had not yet eaten breakfast, knowing there was laundry in the dryer that still needed to be folded, and I was down to an hour before I had to leave. Tiredness caught up with me, and I (literally) cried out to God, "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to live anymore. I'm tired!" Just like in a running routine, you need to make time for "rest days," however you define them;...