I started this website years ago, planning for it to be a launchpad to bring dynamic updates of all the wonderful things God has been doing in my life and ministry. It’s worked well a lot of the time, and not so much at other times. This summer has been one of those “not so much” times.
God has done some incredibly amazing things so far this summer, and I’ve done a bad job of letting you all know, so here’s my best effort at briefly testifying of the miracles and triumphs.
Slowly, I’ve been struggling to push this body into the best shape it’s ever been. By God’s grace, and a lot of sweat, it’s getting there. At the end of May, I had a chance to enter my first 5K race. I didn’t get to do too much training or preparation. Just running about 2-3 times a week and lifting weights in between. When the race day came, the sun was shining, and I was feeling good. Midway through the race, I was feeling unusually fatigued, still I pushed on, keeping my eyes on the heels of the runner in front of me. As I came around the final turn with 100 meters to go, I was empty. From the corner of my eye, I saw someone making a move to pass me, and I was too tired to fight him off. Then I felt something in my chest rise up and say, “NOOOOO!” I put my head down and pushed into a gear I didn’t even know I had, passed him, and surged across the finish line. When I finally checked my race time, it made sense why I’d been so fatigued. Final time 23:55 – a new personal record. It got me thinking about running and about life. A year earlier, I’d never run that far in my life. My first attempt took a full 30 minutes. If by just making a habit of running, I could cut 6 minutes off my time, how much more could I do with diligent training?
The following weeks involved even more incredible moments and realizations. In the span of 4 days, God brought me into contact with two young ladies. In both cases, He brought us together in those precise moments when they planning and preparing to commit suicide. By God’s grace, to this day, both of them are still alive, and I’ve had opportunities to share God’s love with them. Every day that we speak, God reminds me that I’m still around for a reason. It may surprise you just how much I question and doubt, but He has seen to it that there be no room for questioning in my mind.
Two weeks after that happened, I was leading a group of city kids on a backpacking trip, about 35 miles along the coast of Lake Superior. Through those tough days, we saw God doing something amazing. Most of these kids had never had any kind of personal experience with God, but every single day, something would be going poorly, and they boys would pray, and God would answer their prayers in the most remarkable and visible ways, whether it was stopping rain or obliterating mosquito swarms. Nothing can compare to those moments of seeing their lives revolutionized by prayer. In these experiences, God has taught me that we must always endeavor to see and reach people where they are. So many, especially young men and women, are living without hope. He has also taught me to never underestimate the power of reaching out, even if it’s just a message for must a moment. It can be the difference between life and death.
