Thursday

Good morning! What do you think of the number 14? When I'm running marathons, I find 14 to be a little disheartening. You've barely passed the half way mark of the 26 mile course and you're feeling tired. Yet you know you've trained for this, so you push through it.

Yesterday marked the completion of my 14th year of my work in my present job. That's along time: 14 years. I think it's unusual for someone to be in one place that long doing what I do. I'm not sure what that says. I was discussing this with a friend last night. He asked, "Did you ever want to leave?" I told him, "I've left a few times, but I never quit."

Originally I had planned to devote a blog post to some of thoughts regarding the past 14 years, but I don't feel quite up to doing that right now. For now, I'll say I've started the 15th mile, and 15 is usually better than 14 for me. Recently I found a couple of Henri Nouwen quotes that somehow speak to me.

Jesus asks us to move from a leadership built on power to a leadership in which we critically discern where God is leading us and our people.

Jesus asks us to move from a concern for relevance to a life of prayer, from worries about popularity to communal and mutual ministry.

Interesting. As the old song says, "Where He leads, I will follow." That's the goal.

Yesterday was a day packed full of activity. People. Places. Things. All good. Today I've got to get started on a difficult sermon; probably not going to get done today. I need to see a couple of people in the hospital, and then I go to another hospital for an ethics committee meeting. I enjoy this meeting because it involves a free lunch! Who says hospital food is not good? I find it quite yummy.

Here in a little while it's time for hill repeats. I slept well last night, and I think I'm about to shake the over trained feeling. A hard workout today and then a bike ride outside tomorrow afternoon is my plan. Then Saturday I hope to complete my first 20 miler of this training cycle. Sounds like it could be raining. At least it's not supposed to be ice.

Oh, and speaking of getting wet, tonight I'm going to the pool again. Eight is late, but I'm committed. I hope to purchase some water wings today. Just kidding. Think like a fish. Be a fish. Ohmmm, ohmmm...