The Blessing of Running.

About 5 years ago I got into a machine that changed my life. It was called the Bod Pod. It measures your percent of body fat. I looked at the poster on the wall and it said above %30 is considered risky health. As my information printed I looked down in horror to see that I was at %36. I realized that I was not taking care of myself. I went home and did the only thing I knew to do. I laced up my tennis shoes and ran to the mail box a few houses down and back. I did that for a week and then ran to a mailbox a few more houses down. I repeated this process until I was adding miles instead of mailboxes. Before I knew it I was a runner. A year and a half later I did my first Marathon. I can tell you that next to my Savior, family, church, and friends running has been the most important thing in my life. Not only has my health improved drastically, it has helped me through some really stressful times. There is something about putting miles under your feet that makes a bad day better. One thing I love about it is that anybody can do it. As many of you know I am very uncoordinated but I can manage to put one foot in front of the other repeatedly. I am also a big guy. I just want to share a few things that I have learned as a runner that has helped me stick with it these years. I say these things not to brag, but to share something that has been a blessing. Anybody that knows me should not have a difficult time saying, "If Adam can do it, then I should be able to do it."

1) You can be a runner. Unless you are truly handicapped you can do it. You simply have to commit. You will hate it at first but soon you will not be able to live without it. Start small and keep adding miles. One thing I have learned from the races that I have been in is that running is not just for a certain body build. You would be amazed at the vast body types that cross the line at a 5k race.

2) Run With Friends. When I first started running I thought of myself as more of a lone runner. This is mainly because I looked embarrassing and was breathing way to hard to carry on a conversation. I have been running with the same two guys for 4 years and we have shared life together. It is also a lot easier to get up at 5AM when I know they will be waiting on me.

3) Run in the morning if Possible. I was not a morning person until I started running. The thing I realized is that there always seems to be something to get in the way of an evening run. However, if I trained myself to wake up early nothing ever interferes. The morning breeds consistency. It is also nice to start your day on a positive note.

4) Immerse yourself in Running culture. Stop by a running store and talk to the workers. Sign up for a race that is months away. Get yourself a good pair of running shoes (New pairs of Brooks running shoes are an obsession for me). Get a running magazine and read it.

5)Don’t believe the lies. Those that tell you that running destroys your knees are probably coach potatoes that want to pass their excuse on to you. There has been no evidence to back this claim up. Here is a video that reports on the benefits of running, which is done over a 25 year span. Their findings are amazing and very inspiring. Click Here for Video

Barack Obama: My New President!

I’m just about as conservative as they come politically. I did not vote for President Elect Obama and actually stood passionately opposed to him being elected. As much as the guy scares me I want to seek to be fair to him. The behavior of the left with their “Bush Derangement Syndrome” was sickening. Everything was Bush’s fault and he could do no right in their eyes. I don’t want to be “that guy” with Obama. I wish that he would change his views on the travesty of abortion. His liberal voting record is frightening. I also fear that his history in Black Liberation Theology has flawed his view of the gospel. Christ did not come to deliver us from oppressors; he came to deliver us from ourselves. But that is an issue for another day. I will pray about these issues and will passionately stand against him when I feel it is warranted. However, I also want to stand with him when I feel it is warranted as well. It is a truly special thing that a guy who could not share a water fountain with me fifty years ago is about to be my new President. I rejoice in that fact no matter our disagreement on the issues! He and his wife also seem to be good parents who highly value their two little girls. He has put together an economic team that is pretty far from socialistic ideas. I will probably stand opposed to him often in the years to come but I hope that just as often I will pray for him and be able to rush to his side and stand in support of my new president.

A Letter to Me (Not about the Brad Paisley Song)

I recently had dealings with someone who was absolutely incapable of accepting any wrong in themselves. It was a sad thing to see someone who had done so much wrong and hurt so many people absolutely convinced that they were as pure as the driven snow. As I looked into those empty eyes I could not help but see myself. I too have a blindness when I turn my eyes towards my own sin. The lesson I am learning is that the most important trait a person can have is an ability to honestly perceive ones own sin. I wrote a letter to myself this morning. Not just a letter to myself, but my darker self. It was addressed to the person that the bible calls my flesh. I wrote to myself of my sinful failings in every area of my life. It was difficult but it was good. As weird as it sounds it was a letter of acceptance to my sinful self, because the reality is that my sinful self is ME. Until I accept him as reality I cannot confront him. Now that I have accepted him I will introduce him to Christ and hopefully watch him shrink.

(In full disclosure the letter idea came from this 3 Minute Brennan Manning Clip I am not sure I can recommend all of Mannings work, but I think he is on to something with this quote.