Consider this

  Earlier this month, Jessica McClain was well on her way to winning the United States Half Marathon title and earning the right to represent her country at the World Championships. However, with less than three kilometres to go, Jessica took a wrong turn. The police officer assigned to direct competitors to a footbridge left his post to help with a serious incident nearby. Jessica and a handful of other runners missed the turn and ran more than a kilometre off course. By the time they turned around, it was too late. Jessica finished in ninth place. As you can imagine, this incident has sparked a series of protests and created a lot of confusion about what to do next.   To be clear, Jessica’s effort was not the issue. She trained hard, ate properly, qualified for the race and showed up on the appointed day. Jessica McClain was, by far, the fastest runner in the field. She just ran the wrong way.   That story reminds me of various people I have known over the year...

 Do you ever feel like everything is against you and nothing works out?  Do you ever feel like running and hiding?  Have you ever asked, "What is going on, Lord?"  If so, this will help.  https://youtu.be/J1FRMBOtTyc  

  Asleep. That is the word that Jesus used to describe the condition of a twelve-year-old girl who had passed away. “She is not dead but asleep” (Luke 8:52). Then he went into her room, took her hand, spoke to her, “her spirit returned” (verse 55), and she rose from the dead. Asleep is also the word he used when he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up” (John 11:11). He brought him back to life, too. In Acts 7, when Stephen is stoned to death for the things he was teaching, it is noted that he asked God to forgive his attackers and then “he fell asleep” (verse 60). Asleep is the word that is used to describe King David’s death (Acts 13:36), as well as the death of some of the believers in the city of Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6, 15:18). Paul used the word three times in three verses when he wrote, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to ...

 When we do not intentionally slow down, important things get left behind.  https://youtu.be/cc9wNZnfFho    

                 The Bible begins by stating that, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).   As you may already know, things go downhill quite quickly after that.                After God created day and night, land and sea, plants and animals, Adam and Eve, things were good.   Adam and Eve lived in the garden for an unspecified period, and God walked with them as a friend.   God told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Satan convinced Eve that she did not need to follow that command.   Then she convinced Adam (Genesis 1-3:7).                When God came to meet them that day, they were afraid and hid from him.   Eventually, they confessed to what they had done, which caused ...

Our society tends to ignore or run away from death. It is treated as an anomaly, or an interruption. What if we had a different approach? One that does not minimize the loss but helps us see it in a better way.  https://youtu.be/mGHIiluWQbs