The trip down the mountain (Final Marathon Updated)

Hello Friends and Family,
Thank you for coming to check out my first entry on this blog. It is my first time officially blogging, but I hope that is goes well and there are many more entries to come.

I found great joy and excitement in writing about Katie’s and my experience with training for a marathon. I never expected that running would be a tremendous source of spiritual fulfillment in my life. For the months that we were training I found God in new and eye opening ways. I leaned on Him for things that I had never even experienced before, and looked for Him to give me strength in times where my body was on the verge of breaking down. The physical necessity of His support led me to a better understanding of how to allow Him to support me emotionally as well. I truly believe that this time in my life was the closest I had ever been to God. I felt his arms wrapped around me, and squeezing me tight.


Often we call these times in our life mountain top experiences. It is the feeling you have when you work diligently for what seems like a lifetime to reach the summit and look out over the glory that God has created. These experiences show us the true nature of God first hand, and allow us to better understand who we are in relationship to Him. What we are not always prepared for is the trip back down the mountain.

If you have asked me recently why I have not written about finishing the marathon I may have told you that the holiday season is out of control at work, I have had tons of school work, and I have just needed to rest in my down time. However true these statements may have been, they are not the reason I have not written. I guess you could call it writers block, but I don’t think that describes where I have been. I think I have been more embarrassed to write about how unprepared I was for the decent down the mountain from the summit after crossing the finish line of the marathon. Training had become the place where I connected with God. It was my source of comfort, fulfillment and spiritual growth and stability. When the race ended I had this strange feeling that I would no longer know where to find God.


I am not a runner by nature, and although the marathon was one of the best experiences of my life, the concept of training for another was not the first thing that popped into my mind after I finished. However, I put so much of my spiritual identity into running that I finished the race thinking, “What now?” How would I have quiet times without having the trail beneath my feet and God’s beauty all around me? Where would I find God if I couldn’t find Him in His ability to calm my breathing and steady my pace for a double digit run? How else would I put myself in a place where I knew the only option was to depend on God for strength?

The questions are what have plagued me since running the marathon, and what have kept me from writing this final marathon update. Although I am writing it now, I still don’t have all of those answers. However, God has been drilling an idea into my head for the past couple of years that I know He knew would be what could carry me through this time of reflection. Jeremiah 29:11 is a very popular verse. It says: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I love that God wants to comfort us by giving us hope in knowing that our future is bright, but it is not the verse that God has been pounding into my heart. If you are like me, you are happy that God has a plan but you want to know what you can do now to get closer to God. A couple of verses later is where my inspiration lies. Jeremiah 29:13 says: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”God doesn’t say if you seek for me in the church, or in the Bible, or in taking communion, you will find me. These are all places He resides, but He is not specific for a very obvious reason. No matter where you search for God, when you seek Him with all your heart, He Will Be Found! Recently I have found Him in the passing of my father, and the biggest accomplishment of my life. These two experiences could not be more contradictory, but in both places I searched out God with all my heart and He showed up, took me into His arms, and squeezed me tightly in His embrace.


Now, the question is where will I find him next?

Many of you have given me compliments about my writing, and have said that it has been inspirational to your lives. I greatly appreciate your kind words, but I must tell you that the whole process of writing has only been a way for me to identify God’s presence in my life. I hope that this blog will be a place where I can identify His presence in the mundane or usual. I hope to point out His presence in my work, in my text books, in the music I hear, the movies I watch and the people that brush up against my life’s path. I hope that in my searching I only inspire you to search for God’s presence in your own life. I promise, with scriptural backing, that if you search for Him with all your heart you will find Him, and it will only make you want to search for Him more.