Doers of the Word, Sat. June 4, '22
So I am running my 16-mi. loop on the west side of Wichita this afternoon, and I'm on the "home stretch" at ~mi. 10 with ~6 to get me to the house, gimping along with a reeeeally sore hamstring, and BAM! I hit the concrete super-hard. I finally got up, and a lady coming out of Hobby Lobby rolls down her window and asks if I'm ok, and if I needed her to call anyone. I don't know anybody's number, so I thanked her and tried to hobble along; I'd busted my left kneecap so hard, I actually examined it to see if I could determine if it was broken. I keep trying to walk and keep experiencing super-sharp pains in the knee; so, I am sorta standing there, trying to figure out what to do and trying to walk, but it never gets better. All of a sudden, a guy a little younger than me comes up behind me, dismounted, and offers me a ride. At first, I was reluctant, but folks were stacking up behind his driverless car, and he assured me that any sweat or blood would wash off, so I struggled the 20 or so feet to his car, got in and we were off. I told him where I lived, but they were from a nearby town, so I gave directions.
I was sitting in the back with Donna, his wife, and his/her mother was riding shotgun. Within about 1 minute, we realized we all were believers, and they had run a half-/full-marathon, which was AWEsome! I told them about Runners' Church ministry, and they were super-stoked, and I felt like we all "encouraged one another to love and good deeds". And they promised they'd look up RunnersChurch.com; I pray I hear from them again so I can give them RC running singlets.
After they left, I decided to walk-test the knee and to my great joy, it worked, and I even ran a couple miles in the neighborhood before I came inside. When I did, tears of JOY just burst out, as I prayed for Donna & husband (whose name I forgot) and "mom". I better understood the Scripture, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials..." (Ja. 1:2) Had I not taken the hard spill (trial, suffering), they would not have had the opportunity to be "doers of the Word", to create a holy moment (as a recent read dubbed them). But, I would not have had the opportunity to share with and be encouraged by believing runners. Seeing at least a glimpse of the purpose of God in an accident that I could have viewed negatively was most amazing. And then, "doing the probability math" of me crashing there, at that specific point on the earth and that exact moment late in the afternoon, and them to be leaving Hobby Lobby at that exact moment. Doesn't that just blow you away on His AWEsomeness?!?! And still yet, my brother had to decide: Render aid, or not? Dude jumped out of his car and ran up to me to help! Need I point out that I'm wearing nothing but short-run shorts and sneakers and a bloody knee! He was Jesus' hands and feet, ministering to me where I was.
Be DOERS of the Word, my running brothers and sisters; love your neighbor. AMEN!!
Doers of the Word, Sat. June 4, '22
So I am running my 16-mi. loop on the west side of Wichita this afternoon, and I'm on the "home stretch" at ~mi. 10 with ~6 to get me to the house, gimping along with a reeeeally sore hamstring, and BAM! I hit the concrete super-hard. I finally got up, and a lady coming out of Hobby Lobby rolls down her window and asks if I'm ok, and if I needed her to call anyone. I don't know anybody's number, so I thanked her and tried to hobble along; I'd busted my left kneecap so hard, I actually examined it to see if I could determine if it was broken. I keep trying to walk and keep experiencing super-sharp pains in the knee; so, I am sorta standing there, trying to figure out what to do and trying to walk, but it never gets better. All of a sudden, a guy a little younger than me comes up behind me, dismounted, and offers me a ride. At first, I was reluctant, but folks were stacking up behind his driverless car, and he assured me that any sweat or blood would wash off, so I struggled the 20 or so feet to his car, got in and we were off. I told him where I lived, but they were from a nearby town, so I gave directions.
I was sitting in the back with Donna, his wife, and his/her mother was riding shotgun. Within about 1 minute, we realized we all were believers, and they had run a half-/full-marathon, which was AWEsome! I told them about Runners' Church ministry, and they were super-stoked, and I felt like we all "encouraged one another to love and good deeds". And they promised they'd look up RunnersChurch.com; I pray I hear from them again so I can give them RC running singlets.
After they left, I decided to walk-test the knee and to my great joy, it worked, and I even ran a couple miles in the neighborhood before I came inside. When I did, tears of JOY just burst out, as I prayed for Donna & husband (whose name I forgot) and "mom". I better understood the Scripture, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials..." (Ja. 1:2) Had I not taken the hard spill (trial, suffering), they would not have had the opportunity to be "doers of the Word", to create a holy moment (as a recent read dubbed them). But, I would not have had the opportunity to share with and be encouraged by believing runners. Seeing at least a glimpse of the purpose of God in an accident that I could have viewed negatively was most amazing. And then, "doing the probability math" of me crashing there, at that specific point on the earth and that exact moment late in the afternoon, and them to be leaving Hobby Lobby at that exact moment. Doesn't that just blow you away on His AWEsomeness?!?! And still yet, my brother had to decide: Render aid, or not? Dude jumped out of his car and ran up to me to help! Need I point out that I'm wearing nothing but short-run shorts and sneakers and a bloody knee! He was Jesus' hands and feet, ministering to me where I was.
Be DOERS of the Word, my running brothers and sisters; love your neighbor. AMEN!!
Doers of the Word, Sat. June 4, '22
So I am running my 16-mi. loop on the west side of Wichita this afternoon, and I'm on the "home stretch" at ~mi. 10 with ~6 to get me to the house, gimping along with a reeeeally sore hamstring, and BAM! I hit the concrete super-hard. I finally got up, and a lady coming out of Hobby Lobby rolls down her window and asks if I'm ok, and if I needed her to call anyone. I don't know anybody's number, so I thanked her and tried to hobble along; I'd busted my left kneecap so hard, I actually examined it to see if I could determine if it was broken. I keep trying to walk and keep experiencing super-sharp pains in the knee; so, I am sorta standing there, trying to figure out what to do and trying to walk, but it never gets better. All of a sudden, a guy a little younger than me comes up behind me, dismounted, and offers me a ride. At first, I was reluctant, but folks were stacking up behind his driverless car, and he assured me that any sweat or blood would wash off, so I struggled the 20 or so feet to his car, got in and we were off. I told him where I lived, but they were from a nearby town, so I gave directions.
I was sitting in the back with Donna, his wife, and his/her mother was riding shotgun. Within about 1 minute, we realized we all were believers, and they had run a half-/full-marathon, which was AWEsome! I told them about Runners' Church ministry, and they were super-stoked, and I felt like we all "encouraged one another to love and good deeds". And they promised they'd look up RunnersChurch.com; I pray I hear from them again so I can give them RC running singlets.
After they left, I decided to walk-test the knee and to my great joy, it worked, and I even ran a couple miles in the neighborhood before I came inside. When I did, tears of JOY just burst out, as I prayed for Donna & husband (whose name I forgot) and "mom". I better understood the Scripture, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials..." (Ja. 1:2) Had I not taken the hard spill (trial, suffering), they would not have had the opportunity to be "doers of the Word", to create a holy moment (as a recent read dubbed them). But, I would not have had the opportunity to share with and be encouraged by believing runners. Seeing at least a glimpse of the purpose of God in an accident that I could have viewed negatively was most amazing. And then, "doing the probability math" of me crashing there, at that specific point on the earth and that exact moment late in the afternoon, and them to be leaving Hobby Lobby at that exact moment. Doesn't that just blow you away on His AWEsomeness?!?! And still yet, my brother had to decide: Render aid, or not? Dude jumped out of his car and ran up to me to help! Need I point out that I'm wearing nothing but short-run shorts and sneakers and a bloody knee! He was Jesus' hands and feet, ministering to me where I was.
Be DOERS of the Word, my running brothers and sisters; love your neighbor. AMEN!!