Wild Goose Chase

Wild Goose Chase

/ The Pastor / 9 Comments

I DID IT!!!

Today (Saturday, Aug. 2) I ran a race called “The Wild Goose Chase”.  This is a 18.6 mile (30K) race that goes around Lac Qui Parle Lake near my hometown of Dawson.  Before this race my longest run was 12 miles so I knew this was going to be a huge test for me.  Up until the 15 mile mark I was doing fine, but at the 15 mile mark I hit what is called “the wall”.  Basically there was a lot of walking during the final 3.6 miles,  but I did finish hard.  But more importantly…I FINISHED.  My goal was to finish in under 3 hours.  My time was 3:00:21.  Missed by that much…21 seconds.  Oh well…I FINISHED.

The Twin Cities Marathon is two months away and I still have a lot of work to do, but I do feel encouraged.  I have an idea of what I am going to face in Oct.  Overcoming “the wall” is very much psychological so now I have some experience to draw from.  What got me through “the wall” today?  The mere fact that I would always regret not finishing.  I am hoping that motivation will get me through the Twin Cities Marathon in October.  And…there has to be a sermon illustration in here some place.

So now I sit here feeling very good about myself; nursing some sore muscles.  But when asked by my wife if I am glad I ran this race…my answer is “Yes”.  Sore muscles will heal and I will be back running on Monday morning looking forward to my next race (10K — 6.2 mile) in September.

With that I continue with my vacation so I will be back with you next week.  Take care and God bless.

-edh-

Mid-vacation update

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Greetings and salutations…

I am sitting here in the Holiday Inn in Willmar as my wife visits the fitness center here.  Since I am by myself for a little while, I thought I would take this opportunity to check in.

It has been a fun an exciting few days.  On Sunday I flew to Chicago for a meeting at ELCA headquarters.  It was called the Synod Mission Table Pilot Project.  Thirteen of the 65 synods from around the ELCA were invited to gather and talk about mission strategy.  I was invited to attend this meeting with three others from the synod office including our bishop, a synod minister and the synod council V.P.  We heard some amazing presenters and spent some quality time together discussing some mission strategy for the synod.  I was honored to be included in this meeting and discussion.  We have a tough road ahead of us as SW MN is a synod that is declining in population and worship attendance.  We definitely need to rethink how we do mission and have to do something to encourage our people to be who they were created to be:  evangelists.  I think we have a pretty good plan in place and I look forward to writing more about our efforts as things unfold.

On Tuesday I flew back home and headed up north to the St. Cloud area to join Connie and her family for some time at a resort.  We had some great weather and some fun times together.  Last night we packed up and head our separate directions.  On the way home to Dawson, Connie and I decided to stop in Willmar at a hotel and have some time together and do some shopping before we head to Dawson on Friday.  On Saturday I am running a 18.6 mile road race called the Wild Goose chase.  This will be a great tune up for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. 

Anyway…I probably should sign off and pack a little bit.  We have a fun day ahead of us.  I will be back next week for my regular posts.  In the mean time, God bless you and I look forward to our continued conversations.

Take care!

-edh-