I learned a very, very, important lesson yesterday…

…don’t run a 5K on 4 hours of sleep (or as my friend, David, over at “Here I Stand”, would say…don’t run a race unless someone is chasing you).

Friday night until 6am Saturday morning was our annual Relay for Life in Jackson.  This is a fund raising event for the fight against cancer.  I was asked to be on our church’s team to walk the paths lined with luminaries given in memory and honor of people who have died/survived cancer.  There were lots of festivities all night along (my wife and I only stayed until 12:30am but returned at 5:15am).  This is a great event that raised approximately $30,000 for cancer research.  In a small town of 3500, that’s not too bad.

But as for the 5K run…that WAS bad.  The race started at 8am on Saturday morning (did I mention I had about 4 hours of sleep).  My hip was feeling O.K. (still a little stiff, but not painful).  And I had a funny feeling that I was not going to run too well.  I started out fine; running a 7:30 for my first mile, but I had nothing left in the tank.  When I hit the 2 1/2 mark (0.6 miles to go) I decided to make my move on the guy just ahead of me…but I couldn’t.  I tried to shift gears but I had no energy.  Basically I just coasted to the finish line; finishing one minute slower than I did in the 5K I ran in January.  Next time I will get a better nights sleep.  And that next time will be July 26 when I run a 5 mile road race in Heron Lake, MN.

With my little lament now completed, let’s turn our attention to God and join together for a word of prayer.  Let us pray…Loving and merciful God, you have set us free from slavery to sin through your Son, Jesus Christ.  You have set us on the road to righteousness.  You have blazed the trail.  But in the end, Jesus is the one who carries us along this road and ultimately over the Great Divide; the bridge which is the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Thank you for abolishing slavery to sin and clearing the path to righteousness.  May the Law for us now be a way to serve you through serving our neighbor.  Though Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.

Also…please remember my friend, David, over at “Here I Stand”.  There is a congregation voting on whether to extend a call to him to be their pastor.  I remember this time to be an exciting AND nerve racking time.  Please remember his David and his family along with the congregation as they discern what God is up to.

Take care and God bless!

-edh-