Stepping Forward

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11

Recently I wrote about a potential change that would be taking place in our lives. At the time I did not know what this change was, what it looked like or what any of the details would be. Well I still don't know what those details are, however I know for several months now God has placed a conviction in our hearts that is becoming so loud it is hard to bury.

3 years ago, we were called to follow some friends of ours to Perry, Oklahoma to partner in planting a church. Megan and I had no idea what this would lead to, shortly after the planting process was underway we felt a strong conviction to move our lives to Perry. We were living in Stillwater at the time. We could have easily stayed living there and still been active within our church. But we knew we were suppose to plant ourselves within the community. So we obeyed and moved into town.

Along with converting a 1932 Hotel into our place of worship, we were converting it into a coffee shop. We knew that some day we would be called to serve in this coffee shop full time, but no idea when this would be.

I am writing this very uneasy, nervous, and scared. I am feeling these things because I know it is time for us to make this step of faith, it is time for Megan and I to commit ourselves fulltime to the ministry that takes place at HeBrews and Church on the Square every single day. Do I know what this looks like? No. Do I know how it will happen? No. Do I know we are being called to make this step of obedience? YES!!

I write this today to tell you that I have never felt such a strong conviction outside of the day that Jesus Christ came into my life. I go every single day experiencing the conviction that has been placed in my heart. I recently heard a good message from a friend of ours here in town who spoke about obedience, he made the statement that it's not about the results, it's about the faith to be obedient.

To those of you who will read this, I am asking for support. I am more than serious about this. I am looking for people who will pray with us and over us. I don't mean to sound rude or ungrateful, but I am not looking for those who say they will be praying for us. I am looking for those who will call us and pray with us, who will grab us by the hand and pray over us. Who will write us prayers via message. This is real, God is real, our obedience is real.

We have no idea what will happen, will I be able to support my family financially or will I have to surrender that to God? Will we lose our house? Will we go with out? I don't know. But I know I will be successful as long as I am obedient. We may lose the world but we cannot lose God's Grace.

"Your obedience will give you a long life on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors and their children, a land flowing with milk and honey." Deuteronomy 11:9

Believe It!!

I am not sure if I have shared this before, but one of my passions along with my beautiful wife Megan's is to help people find their full potential whether that is in their spiritual life, finances, relationships, jobs, and certainly their fitness.

In my current job, I am in and out of convenient stores everyday. The thing that just floors me each and everyday is the choices I see people making when it comes to their nutrition. This has awaken a developing passion of mine which I hope to be exploring more in the future. A year ago I decided to pursue my personal training certification and succeeded.

Today I can say I don't have any paying customers but that is not my focus, I do however have a couple of people that I am dedicated to bringing out their full abilities. Janelle Keith is a DJ for The House FM, a christian radio station in Oklahoma. She has been running with Megan and I for a few weeks and completed a 5K this weekend with amazing success.

I have to admit one of my short comings has been me telling JK, as I call her, to not allow herself to think she can't do something. Well guess what? I have to preach to myself as well. I have to constantly remind myself that I was meaningfully, and specially designed by God. Yes it is hypocritical for me to utter those words to JK or anyone else I train with and sometimes not believe it for myself, but it is me, it is true. I too fall short.

I know I am here for a purpose and I know I can do all things through Christ. That doesn't only apply to me it applies to one and all. What is holding you back today? Take some chances, it is worth the risk.

Unquivering Faith

To say you have faith is one thing, to live life with faith is another. This week I have been reading from 1 Peter. I didn't really know much about this book of the bible but read through James and decided to keep going. Well Peter is basically writing to the Jewish Christians who were being persecuted at the time due to their faith in God. Peter eventually would fall as well.

I know many of us will never experience this kind of trial in life but we all will experience difficult decisions, rough relationships, tragic loss, and maybe huge leaps of faith. Reading in 1 Peter starting with verse 6 through 9; "So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold-and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."

I believe we have all been called to step out in faith, whether it is in your job, your relationships, your finances, etc....We are not called to a life of constant comfort. What is he calling you to be faithful in?

I will be filling you in on our steps of faith in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned.

Sunday Sunrise

For the last few weeks, Megan and I have been meeting with two other people at our local football field/track with the commitment of 35-40 minutes of good, intense, and trust me sweaty cardiovascular workouts.

With the permission of the other two participants and my bride I will be posting video updates of our workouts along with the full list of our workout that day with hope that maybe others who find this blog will be motivated to join along with our journey to encourage and educate the world that anyone can change their lifestyle and change their attitudes towards fitness.

I will go ahead and warn you that some of my content will be spiritual so if that bothers you don't say I didn't warn you. I hope that you will find this page to be an encouragement for you.

Todays workout:

Warm Up (All done in 30 sec intervals)
High Knees-Wide Knees-Jump rope-Butt Kicks-High Knee Skips-Arm Circles-Hugs

Circuit 1 (All done in 30 sec intervals)
Prayer Squats-Heisman Jumps-Squat Jacks-Mountain Climbers
repeat

Circuit 2 (All done in 30 sec intervals)
Burpees-Frog jumps-Butt Kicks-Planks
repeat

Mountain Runs (repeat twice)
-Using the stairs in the football stands, run up some side, run across the top, down the next aisle and repeat throughout entire set of stands. Repeat this 1 time, we did a victory lap today.

Abs
Bicycles-In & Outs-Hip Rock & Raise-Leg Climbers-Mason Twist

Today I would like to give a big Standing O for a friend, Peter Warden. I first met Pete when he was working for Billy Gillespie at Texas A&M Men's Basketball program. Pete then followed Gillespie out to Kentucky for his brief coaching stint at the basketball mecca.

Since then Pete has followed God into other industry but I believe with the full intent of one day getting back into Division I basketball.

Without further adue I am excited to say that Pete is headed back into college basketball with Coach Gillespie and will take the reigns as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. So for you Pete I will for a brief second throw my pistols in the air for your Red Raiders.

Congrats my friend!!!

Two Shoes & A Stroller

I realize the first rule of maintaining a blog is, maintain the blog. So I want to apologize for my absence and in the same words say hello again, it is good to be back.

Since starting this blog I wanted to dedicate these words to the motivation of positive change in my life, and certainly those who come across this page. Whether that is physical change, emotional change, spiritual change...etc.

Now I want to turn the spotlight not on my episodes of change, but showcase others who are experiences incredible change in their lives.

I start by throwing my fist in the air to celebrate with my beautiful bride. See just six weeks ago My Love fought and battled through 30 hrs of labor to welcome our amazing, little, blue-eyed pooper, Liv.

One day after receiving the all clear from her doctor Megan could not wait to lace up her shoes and head out the door for her first, post delivery run. This is something that has been on her mind for the last 4 weeks. It was driving her crazy that she could not step out that door and pound the pavement.

Well today is to you my Sweet Pea, I am so proud of you for unpacking the stroller on your own and introducing our baby girl to the beauty that is running. I am so excited for you and can't wait to run that 5K with you in September.

Hop on the Ride

So over the last few weeks I have learned that change can be quite an emotional roller coaster. One minute I am feel up the next I am crashing hard. It's funny how we are a consumer group of people who are constantly looking for new and fresh but it seems that once we get it, it is almost as if we wish we had the old one back.

I understand that I am probably not making a lot of sense right now but I think most of you will more than likely grasp what I am saying since you have experienced it as well. Over the last few weeks I have been training for a new job which will be a great opportunity for me as well as very challenging opportunity, so my emotional radar has been all over the board.

My faith is being challenged to grow and depend more on God and the strength that he has created in me. I encourage you if you are going through emotional change right now, take a moment try to eliminate all the dreadful thoughts and have a solid moment with God. He knows all that you are going through. Most of all listen to what he has to tell you.

Collecting Change

Merriam-Webster define "change" as this. The definition that hits me the most is "to make radically different". I believe so many people look at their lives and desire this. They see themselves in a normal life, much like those around us, however there is still a desire to make a change of some sort. A change for the better in most cases.

I have learned that in order to make a change I must start with prayer. All things can be revealed through faithful prayer. So I want to encourage you to start praying intently for areas in your life that you desire change. And let others pray for you as well. I would love to pray with you and for you. So please let me.

Areas I desire Change:

Faith

Health

Financial Peace

Relationships

Time Management

I read an article once that talked about the proper etiquete to blogging and when and why you should blog. The first rule it stated was you should blog at least once a week......let's stop right there, apparently I didn't understand rule number one. I want to apologize to all five of you who read this blog I am working on becoming more consistent.

My preggo, beautiful wife, Megan, has really taken to her site and is creating an incredible glimpse into our lives and what God is doing through her. Watching her create more of an online presence has really started making me look at why I blog, and more in depth...what am I looking to contribute through my blog?

I originally set this blog up under the title "Never stop seeking" not that long ago I changed it to "Be Change". My thought and desire at that time was to encourage those who might come across my site to step outside their comfortable, normal existence and dare to be great! I wanted to encompass everything that was important to me (Life, God, Family, Love, Running, Food). However I quickly found myself stumped at times wondering "how can I be profound in something I truly know little about?"

So over the next few post I want to start a journey, a journey to define change, not only literally but also to experience what true change in a persons life consist of. My church is currently doing a message series titled Masquerade. We are looking at areas of our lives where we live behind lies. Todays message was about changing your ways. It really struck me personally that I would like to look at change in my life. I am so hungry for spiritual knowledge, faith, understanding and strength right now that the only thing I can do is change. So over the next few post I want to look at change and hopefully be able to encourage you in areas of your life as well. Some of the information I will share will be from the message series I mentioned. I promise to be consistent with this as well.

For this you were created

As another year begins, it is natural to look at the next 12 months and ask ourselves "What will I accomplish this year?". Or maybe even "What is my resolution?" We might even dream up this huge, elaborate scheme for 2011, to create in us a happening so big and so lustrous that we really never even thought we could imagine something so great. I have one question for you. Does your plan for 2011 exist for you or for something greater than you?

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11

Happy 2011!!! Plan BIG!!!

Keep it Fresh

Some of you may remember but back in August I took a class to become a certified personal trainer, well it has been difficult to pursue any type of plan with that. However I will say it has opened my eyes to an area of my life that is very important to me. I plan to discuss that in the coming days.

Soon I will be starting a new job, a job that I am excited about. No I was not unhappy with my current job, I was just becoming comfortable and complacent and I am so happy that this opportunity came along. Having only been out of college for 3.5 years I was struggling to figure out where I was headed and trying to do so on my own. Fortunately I have a stronger, more educated, advisor making those decisions for me.

My thought today is do whatever you need to to do to keep things fresh. Does that mean you should take a new job every time you become complacent? NO. But stir things up in your life. We weren't designed to live as robots. Step out and mix up your life today!

"Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom" Ecclesiastes 9:10

New Sites

Trying to establish a running routine lately has been challenging, considering the move we just made and the Christmas travel it has been less than desirable to get back out on the road. Today I did just that, I stepped out the door and pounded the pavement. As I mentioned in previous post I enjoy my running in the early hours of the morning, I feel as though it helps me generate my day in a good direction.

However there is not always a lot to see along the dark miles of morning, although today was very nice. I came across a new dog...(he was interesting), ran by the city pool....(considered jumping the fence for a dip), and the coolest part of all I ran through the town square that was all lit up with Christmas lights. It was a great run to start the day!

Open your eyes and enjoy the view along your runs!!

New Steps

So I am trying to get back into a routine of running. After the marathon I was pretty disgusted and was looking forward to some time away from running. But for the last few days I have been staring at a new Runner's World magazine that my father-in-law past along to me to read a specific article.

But every time I look at that magazine it makes me feel like I am missing out. Missing out on good winter month miles. Megan is encouraging me to train for the Cow Town marathon this February in Fort Worth, TX. I need to seek some encouragement to get myself going again.

I almost feel as though I am learning how to take first steps again (as if I actually remember that the first time). Anyone have any advice?

Sudden Change

So the other day I was out on my first run since the marathon and I was trying to capture everything that has taken place over the last few weeks and suddenly I started thinking about hockey, now I am not really a hockey fan, but what I mean is I started thinking about how a hockey game can literally be in full action and a coach can decide to make a solid line up change as the puck is in play. So you could literally have 3-4 guys in the middle of play, climb over the wall to their bench as replacements are climbing onto the ice. A sudden change you might say.


Okay, that is a horrible explanation at an attempt to be clever as well. So let me just explain. About a month ago Megan and I decided it was time we start listen to God as he was calling us to move to Perry, OK. Yes I did say Perry, and yes I know it is a small town, just hang with me. So we started looking and found a couple of houses we sort of liked but not absolutely. Well one day while Megan was attending to her barista duties, Santa Clause told her that he had found a house that screamed "MEGS HOUSE" so we went to take a look and fell in love. Naturally I was convinced it would be well out of our meager budget, wrong......it was exactly in our budget.


Fast forward, we are on our way to our closing appointment, Megan and I both look at each other and say "are we sure this is what we want to do?" as if we really had an option at that point. But we both knew this was a road we needed to go down, why? we don't know. A week or so before the house closing I was contacted by a company about a job that I was interested in, which would be based in Perry, crazy how all this was coming together. That afternoon after closing on our house I was called by the company and offered the position.

Let's just say that Megan and I were quite overwhelmed with so much change at one time, it was hard for us to make a decision. Let's just say we both shed a few tears, mostly out of nervousness and anxiety. After a few days of emotion we were able to come down to reality and understand that this was a good step of faith for us. So I accepted the position and on January 5th will become a Sales Rep for Henderson Coffee Corp.

Life has happened so fast lately, things are changing, I can't believe Christmas is this Saturday and I can't believe I will have a child in April. To be honest I feel very blessed, life happens fast but thankfully we have a God who promises eternity. Hope you enjoy the life that happens around you.

Full of Emotion

207 days ago I signed up for the Williams Route 66 Marathon, 207 days ago I started my quest to qualify for the Boston Marathon, 207 days ago I set out on a mission to truly establish myself as a worthy long distance runner, 207 days ago I set out to make a statement to myself as to who I am, a runner.

The past several months I have been on a journey to try and define who I am, and what I do. It seems as though that is what I am suppose to do. I am suppose to establish goals in my life, make all the proper choices, align all of my experiences to reach said goal. We are encouraged to define our life, our purpose in this world, our reason for existence. We are influenced by money, by opportunity, and by status.

Yesterday I was reminded that my purpose is not defined by what I do or who I am. My purpose is not to be known as a good long distance runner. My purpose is not to bask in my glory. My purpose is to exude the glory of God. I think for the last several months I was making things about me, about what I can do, and about what I wanted to be known for doing.

Sadly I fell short of the goal I set for myself for the marathon. The conditions were tough, and I believe all runners experienced setback(funny because I talked about that in a previous post). My time suffered because of the weather and my body gave out on me. I was not able to reach my goal time of 3hrs 10mins to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Although frustrated, and full of emotion I still was able to put up a good race. I am not done with marathons, I have many goals in mind, but I desire more than anything to use this gift I have been given to bring Glory to God.

Thank you so much to all of you who supported me through my training and definitely who have been reading my posts. I am not done running, nor am I done writing.

Patience is a Virtue.....What?

So I have never really been a very patient person. Standing in lines at an amusement park drive me crazy, there is nothing amusing about that. Sitting at a red light when there is no one else at the intersection is painful. Standing 4 people deep at the grocery store check out line while someone digs through all their possessions for 5 cents just floors me. Okay so you get my point, here I am two days before my race and the minutes seem like hours, the hours like weeks. Come ON!!!

(Note to self.....become more patient).....which is very funny because a strong tactic for running a long distance race is patience, understanding your body and when to make your adjustments. Trying to establish your pace and your body mechanics is a very time demanding challenge which requires.....Patience.....so why am I so horrible at this minor challenge?

I think I am simply excited. I have been out of the sport for almost three years and I am eager to jump back in. Also I am attempting a new personal record, bottle that all together with fear and anxiousness and that is my situation as I write. It's okay to be impatient and excited at this point, considering all the work you put into training.

Are you an impatient person?

Thats a Wrap!!!

On August 2nd I began my 16 week training schedule that I had created during the summer months. First of all let me just throw in a quick word on the importance of developing a training schedule if you are planning to attempt any kind of long distance race. This is a great way to create a visual goal and allow yourself to see your progress along the way. I will be honest training can be fun if you make it fun.

Now I digress in saying that sticking to your training schedule is another issue. I designed my schedule to be pretty intense with some speed work being the consistency of my midweek workouts. I would be lying if I said that is exactly what i did. Again, by throwing in a spring tri, a 5k, and a 15K my training took many shapes and forms throughout it's duration. However I am happy to say it is complete, as of 6:42 this morning I logged my last training mile.

If you are just beginning to run or maybe your are still considering this sport, your training is something that can become another relationship in your life. In my case, I do my training in the early morning hours, so this tends to be the start of my days. For so long it because natural to wake up to a dark room, lace up and head out the door. For others it can be known as your lunch hour, or your free time after the kids go to bed. Training is very time demanding but can be an incredible time in your journey.

Training can also be frustrating and tiresome. 16 weeks is a long time, especially when you go through season/weather changes. Some days your are more than excited to pound the pavement, others you just force yourself to knock out some miles. I guarantee the whole way you will learn things about yourself and what you are capable of. I will be honest I am so happy today was my last training day. Now the I just get to have Fun on race day!!

Do you have a great Training Story?

Run for Fun?

For those of you who don't know, the best movie trilogy of all time ended with a salute to the old west. I am talking about Back to the Future. In the final of the three films, Marty (Michael J. Fox) has to go back to 1885 to save Doc Brown (Christopher Loyd) from being shot by Bufford "Maddog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson).

At a later point in the film, Doc is idled up to the bar at the saloon explaining the future to a table of gambling townies and he is describing the future form of transportation as being automobiles. The townies ask him, if everyone drives one of these automowhatsies then does anyone walk or run? Doc replies with "of course people walk or run but for recreation" towny replies "Run for Fun?"

I laugh at this scene because that is the reaction I receive from so many when I get excited about running. To those of you who have not experienced a foot race such as a marathon or smaller, I promise you there is nothing quite like it. The feeling of accomplishment, the welcoming into that elite group, the camaraderie of the sport, and the battle to succeed. I honestly get excited the more I write about it.

I am so giddy and excited about this weekend. Some people golf, some fish, others may even hunt. I RUN!!

GU,Bandaids,Peanut Butter, & Vaseline...

What do these have in common.....usually not much, unless you are a runner. This is the beginning of Race Week for me.

On April 29th was the day that I purchased my entry into the 2010 Williams Route 66 Marathon and in less than 6 days on Sunday the gun will sound. So this week I am going give you my thoughts on race preparations and also alot of random thoughts I have leading up to this weekend.

As I was out on an early morning jog last week, I reminded myself that it has been 2.5 yrs since I ran a marathon and I am trying to increase my speed? That is crazy considering I turned 26 last week as well. So I naturally got a little nervous.

More than anything I am excited, I am so ready to get back into the marathon. I honestly feel like a kid on Christmas morning (like the reference to this time of year). Call me sick, call me absurd but I love this sport and I can't wait for that gun to sound on Sunday morning.

Now remember today is just Monday!!! We will see how things are come Saturday.

What is something that gets you overly excited?

Losers say What......What?

So I will just blatantly admit it. I am a horrible blogger. Yes for those 5 of you who follow my blog it has been 44 days since I last published. I apologize.....to say that I feel like I always have something clever to say or even share would be absurd. But I do admit I enjoy trying to contribute something to these passions that I talk about in my life. So I will just progress as if no time has lapsed. Deal?

Well I am 9 days away from my marathon, my training has taken many different forms and surprises. I through a sprint triathlon in there as well as a 5K, and a 15K. So to say that I have been solely focused on 26.2 miles would be a lie. Although I do not recommend interrupting your training with multiple events, I would not have had it any other way. Preparing for the triathlon was one of the most exciting experiences of my life. Certainly running in some smaller events is always a blast as well.

To those who are considering running, my advice is to jump in. This sport will provide you with more joy, frustration, anger, fear, loyalty, success, and love than any other outdoor event I guarantee. I am always excited to hear about people who ran a 5K for the first time or those that are training for their first marathon and how they completed it.

Keep up the good work and I promise to not be such a stranger to those who are reading.

(Meg.....it's going to be a blue cake I promise!!!)