Running

So, I’ve started running again after having to take about a month off after rolling my ankle playing basketball.  Having never rolled my ankle before, I was very cautious about starting back up again, but it has been nice.  I ran just about 3 miles on Tuesday and another 3 today.  My stamina is not where it needs to be and I will need to work very hard over the next 10 weeks to increase it in order to be ready to run the St. Jude half marathon in December.  Wish me luck!

One quick note about running…I love the comraderie of runners that I see when I’m out there.  Almost every time I run past someone going the other direction, they smile and offer a “good morning” or a wave of their hand to me.  It doesn’t matter who I am, what size I am, what I look like, what my job is, what I believe in…when we are out there, we are just people enjoying a jog and I love that we are all “friends” out there.  I wish more of us were like that in other aspects of our life, whether we are work, driving around, at the grocery store, whatever.  There is so much angst in the world that shouldn’t be there.  Relax everyone.  Enjoy God’s wonderful world and enjoy the people He has created.  He loves each and every one of us!

Put your “yes” on the table

Several years ago, a good friend of mine told me something that has become one of my life sayings.  It involves telling God that we will go anywhere, do anything…for Him.  Many times we say those words, but we really don’t mean it.  We usually have a pre-condition in place.  “God, I’ll do whatever you want, but you don’t really want me to…..do you?” or “God wouldn’t send me there!”  Personally, I think God laughs at our pre-conditions.  He must know how silly we sound.  The phrase I referred to earlier is “putting your yes on the table”.  It’s a scary thing really.  It’s a simple way of saying, God, my life is yours.  It is not mine.  You have plans for me that are bigger than I can even imagine and I will go anywhere or do anything you ask me to. 

I think it’s very rare when we really, truly put our complete self out there without these pre-conditions.  I was finally able to do this several years ago, after spending some time with a great friend, a true man of God.  I learned that God wanted what was best for me, more than I wanted what was best for me.  This doesn’t mean that I believe in the message that says that God will only allow wonderful things to happen for me.  I don’t.  I believe that God knows how best to shape me and mold me for what His purposes truly are.  I see things with such a small view, a human view.  He sees eternity.  How can I possibly see things the way He sees them?  Or do I want to?  I think we can ask God to give us His eyes for the hurting & broken of this world, but as far as getting his view of the world & eternity, I don’t think we can do that.  That’s why He is God.

My “yes on the table” was put to the test a few years ago when I asked to travel to Central Asia (for security purposes I won’t say exactly where) on a vision trip.  I had literally just told God “yes” a few weeks before when I got this call.  I laughed.  A war zone God?  Really?  You must be kidding, right?  You’re just testing me to see if I really meant it?  Ok, then, yes God, I really mean it.  If this is where you want me to go, then let’s go.  You and me.  So…I said yes and what has followed has been an amazing journey with Him.  I have now been twice to this place.  I have met some AMAZING people (and I don’t use that word lightly).   I have seen some incredible things and been to some truly awesome places. 

And the best part of it all.  I didn’t go there alone.  I’m not speaking of my travel companions, who were incredible themselves, but I’m talking about going with God.  It was very apparent to me that He was with me.  There is no way I could have gone on my own.  I’m fairly certain I would have flipped out in some way, but there is a peace that He brings to you when you are walking hand in hand with the Father.  I still remember landing at the airport in Central Asia and looking at the sign that said where we were.  I bowed my head very slightly and said “Ok, God, I need you because I’m scared to death.”  He showed up and gave me peace instantly.

I want to challenge you to put your yes on the table.  Just say yes.  Go ahead and do it.  And if you’re feeling really adventurous, go ahead and put a condition with it.  Tell Him where you won’t go.  Then drop me a postcard when you end up there.

What can I offer?

I think many times, we all struggle to find our place in this world, whether that is with your job, with your friends, within your church or to find where God would have you serving others.  This is a struggle that I have certainly dealt with during my 37 years on this earth.  Many times, I believe, God puts us in places & situations that we would never choose to be in as He wants to teach us something.  We certainly saw this in many instances in the Old Testament. 

One of my favorite people in the Old Testament is a man named Benaiah.  Benaiah was one of David’s bodyguards; in fact, he was put in charge of all of the bodyguards.  But, it didn’t start that way.  We don’t know much about Benaiah, but we do know a few things.  “…on a snowy day, he climbed down into a pit and killed a lion.  Another time he killed a formidable Egyptian.  The Egyptian was armed with a spear and Benaiah went against him with nothing but a walking stick; he seized the spear from his grip and killed him with his own spear.” (2 Samuel 23:20, The Message).  Now, it is definitely easy to overlook these passages of the Old Testament, but I’ve not been able to.  I’m fairly certain that Benaiah never thought that he would find himself climbing down into a pit to slay a lion, nor going up against an Egyptian who probably had him outmatched both in size and weaponry.  However, God put Benaiah in those situations in order to help prepare him for the place He really wanted him to be.  (I would love to get more into Benaiah’s life right here, but I’ll save much of that for another blog posting.)

Why did I tell you about Benaiah?  Not because he’s one of my favorite people in the Old Testament (although he is).  Not to give you a history lesson (thought it’s a good one).  Not to encourage you to pick up your Bible and read through 2 Samuel 23 (although it’s a great chapter).  I told you about Benaiah to encourage you to see where God has placed you now and to encourage you to take advantage of that.  Could that be working with our refugee friends?  Perhaps it is.  Could it be in a position to travel overseas to work with people of a different culture and to be a light to them?  Perhaps.  Could it be ministering to your next door neighbor who is struggling with some sort of problem?  Maybe. 

God has you where He has you.  That doesn’t mean you have to stay there, as God is always molding & shaping you for more.  Don’t make things bigger than that.  Open your eyes to where you are today, see the gifts & talents that God has given you and utilize them.  We all have something.  It could be something as small as teaching English or even just talking to someone and being their friend.  It could be that you could take one of our refugee friends shopping and helping them understand the ins and outs of an American grocery store.  Everyone can offer something.  We all can.  I’ll pray that God opens the doors wider so that we all can see where we can serve.  But, don’t wait on the big thing when there are so many small opportunities to help right where you are.

Hello world…

This will be my third attempt at a regular blog.  I’ve had my own for years, but was never good at updating it.  Who knows if I will be good at this one either, but I’m going to give it another try.  I will also be occasionally blogging at the website of the non-profit that I’ve helped get set up, Asha’s Refuge.  That website is www.ashasrefuge.org.  I am going to try and blog there specifcally about the refugee community of Memphis and other issues that are more directly related to our work there. 

Here, I will blog about my other thoughts.  If I post something on Asha’s Refuges blog, I will also put it on here, in case I have different readers that visit different sites.  My first blog will be one that I posted on that blog a few days ago.  I hope you enjoy.  Please read and comment.  It is definitely encouraging to the blogger to know that people are reading it and would love to hear your thoughts on the topics I blog about. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Daron