It hurts so good.

So I decided about two weeks ago that I was really going to get serious about exercising. I created my own little routine and everything. There is a basketball court down the street from my house, so I walk 5 laps around it, run 5 laps, and then do 20 sit ups. I repeat this process 2-4 times, depending on how I feel.

I really hate running. It hurts every part of my body. My lungs want to collapse and it feels like someone is chipping away at my shin bones with an ice pick. It's always been this way, since I was a wee child. I can walk briskly, do cart wheels, lift weights, swim for hours, roller blade up a steep hill, bike from eureka to the intersection of ludlam and bird and back..... but running. it sucks.

So why, you ask, am I choosing to partake in such an activity as running, if I don't enjoy it?

Well, because I know it's good for me. I know that it will better my health and overall well being. It may not feel good at the time and at moments be outright painful, but the results are so rewarding. At the end of that fifth lap, I am breathless and in pathetic pain but at the same time joyful because I am experiencing a glimpse of the end result.

Which brings me to the life lesson. God has a paradise waiting for us, but we choose to play in the puddle ( illustration often used by Jesse Carbo). The decision to go after Paradise is so often unattractive, and we feel the work we must do to get there will be too hard, so we settle. The puddle may not necessarily be bad; in fact it could be good. But it's not great. It's not best. I'ts not paradise.

So what is the solution for this situation, this lack of motivation? (I think that's a John Reuben lyric- ha)

Well the best answer I have come up with is to ask God for the motivation.

Perhaps the most obvious of answers. But then, if so obvious, why don't we partake in such a beautiful action as entering into conversation with the creator of motivation itself who loves us and delights in doing us good? He wants more than anything for us to fully experience the Paradise, so why wouldn't He do everything in His power to help us get there?

Oh it is so simple. But we have to want it. We have to love Him with a wholeness that is not afraid of the sweat and tears that may result from the hard work. the pain.


So this is for you Mary. And for me. This is for all of my friends and everyone I love. It's for everyone who I am working on loving. It's for anyone who reads.

You can do it. For the Bible tells us so.



I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:!3

I have no creative title for this post.

First, I must get one singular frustrating thought off my mind: apparently in west palm beach, its permissible for senior citizens to roll through stop signs. 

Ok. Now that i have gotten that off of my chest, on to more lovely things. I just enjoyed a nice trip to the intercoastal with Jess. She rode her bike (which is a smashing shade of baby blue) and I kicked it old school and skateboarded barefoot. 

We'll call it a bike-n-skate. 

We did some bible reading (James chapter 2), mulled over a few "what-if's" and had a thought provoking conversation. It was good. It reminded me of our freshmen year in college when we were passionate about everything and the thought of being radical wasn't so far off. One time in particular, we read this book called "Red Moon Rising." It's excellent, and I highly recommend it. Anyways, it moved us so deeply that we felt we must start a 24/7 prayer room at our church. Countless hours of prayers, conversations and vision casting went into it (Yes Jesse- I look back now and realize that I was a vision caster 24/7). Looking back, I really cant believe how passionate we became and how in our minds, nothing was going to stop us. Needless to say, our church wasn't really into it.

Prayer? Non-stop? 

Who needs that when we have an invigorating prayer meeting every wednesday from 6 to 7?

(I hope you detect the sarcasm-emphasis on the adjective)

Today we were discussing the difficulties of being a radical back in Biblical Days and in todays context. Was it harder back then than it is now? Was it easier? How can you compare the struggles of persecution back then and the plague of comfort today? What CAN we compare and contrast, and in the end does it really mean giving up our lives entirely to see change take place, both then and now? What examples can we look at, both biblical and non-biblical that give us these answers?

We still want to be radicals, and in some ways we already are. But what is the journey going to look like and how far can we/are willing to go to live love?

This is where I would like to open it up for discussion. We came up with some answers, but I would love to hear yours. A collaboration of ideas, thoughts, scriptures, revelations and dreams are welcomed.