A Word From God

 

Heard from God this morning when asking for strength and guidance in this Ironman effort.  

You are doing really well...and I hope you keep it up.  But, the real tests are yet to come.  This is the easy part:  beginning.  My hope for you is that you will continue on with this training and  lifestyle after the newness is gone, after everyone has stopped saying, "way to go, you can do it," and after most people in your life take your training for granted, and it is no longer a big deal...Can you resist the temptations of the easier, more visible road and then to push through the training, break yourself down  regularly without applause except that applause from within, and from Me?  That is the test.  My wish for you is that you stay constantly in touch as you run this race I have set before you. 

love God

A COVID Compatible Dream - Phase II -IRONMAN TEXAS 2022

 OK, I am over the disappointment.  Today, my hope is rising from the ashes and though it is still dark I see glimmers of early dawn  along the blackened horizon.  

"A man is not defeated until he is defeated in spirit."  

And, God gave me a spirit akin to His.  I will not be defeated, no, not just yet.  I am going to go on and not huddle in fearful anticipation of some dread disease.  Huddling and fearing are dread diseases of their own already, and seem fatal to having a life well-lived.   

I am a really old guy and will be really, really old by the time this might happen, but I am going to train for Ironman Texas for next April.  I am going to "run the race that is set before me. In fact, I am 
 already signed up.  Yes, odds are I won't even make the training. Yes, odds are if somehow complete the training and  get to the event I won't be able to finish it.  Yes, odds are if by some miracle I do finish it, it won't be within the time cut offs.  

But, there is still that one far off dream,  not easily seen, and only distantly hoped for:  to finish Ironman Texas within the time limit.  That would be over the moon, other-worldly stuff for this then 78 year old.  And if I fail, I would have "failed daring greatly." Daring greatly in spite of the odds is one of the cornerstones of all breakthroughs. That is success in itself and that is my COVID compatible dream.

A COVID Compatible Dream

 

The COVID thing doesn't seem to ever want to go away.  Mask, don't mask, vaccinate, don't vaccinate and all the rest gets bantered back and forth and COVID moves on into folks lives like visitors who come and don't ever seem to leave.   Kona, the World Championship, the Golden Child of my sport is in jeopardy of not being held in October again this year.  Lots of other things are disheartening, but the feeling from that sort of sums up the attitude of the moment. 

What do I do with this journey; this journey that has staggered and fallen a lot lately:  an ironman deferred, a sprint triathlon I will miss next month  and a half ironman I will miss because of COVID.  And then there is my Ironman Texas in April. What are the chances? I live in the land of "who knows?"  

In this land there is not much motivation to have hope, to really go all in  for a "who knows" spring event.  After all these disappointments and setbacks over the last year and a half, right now, at this moment, I just want to stop worrying  about all of that and do something else; dream another more COVID compatible dream.  Of course, I can't quit training at least some.  I am addicted to it. And, I love it.  That is how I feel today and I am going to mine these moments to get all gold from this perspective and perhaps gain self revelation in the process and growth as an outcome.

An Angels Work

 It was a hot, humid, summer day in Texas much like today and I was set up for a long bike ride.  I had 7-8 bottles of water to get me through the long ride. It didn't go as planned.  Something broke on my bike that I couldn't fix out on the road and my ride was done.  I was angry as I had worked and planned for this long ride and needed to get this one in for my training schedule to stay on track.  But, there was nothing to do but get in the truck and take it home in a foul mood of frustration and disappointment.  That is where God showed up.

On a long stretch of road I saw a vehicle with the hood up on the side of the road.  I slowed to see what was going on to find an older black man looking  at his radiator hiss at him.  I stopped and walked over.  Other vehicles came along but none stopped.  The man was on his way to his daughter's house about 3-4 miles down the road and his old car couldn't stand the strain of Texas highway heat.  Those were before the days of cell phones and the old man had no money anyway.  

We talked a while - a really nice gentlemen- while his car cooled down a bit.  Then the idea came to me. I went to my truck and got all my bike bottles I had planned for my big, had to get done bike ride, and one by one poured the contents into his radiator.   The old man smiled when I told him I would follow him to his daughters house to see he made it without overheating his car again.   He made it just fine and I waved good bye to him and he thanked me over and over with a God bless you thrown in here and there.  

That day I did something for someone who couldn't do anything for me but make me feel really special for  being in place for God to use me to help the old man.  There was joy I felt in being obedient that is hard to describe. The well done I felt from God made me feel special like I done an angels work on that hot summer day.