JRMITCH85 Ramblings

A Good Run

I just got home from a 14.3 mile run. This is the beginning of the ramp up in training as I prepare for running in the LA Marathon. This will be my first marathon, although I did run a half-marathon in Las Vegas in early December.

I enjoy running, although I haven’t been a big runner until recently, when I felt that I needed to push myself to accomplishing something athletically as I was entering my thirties. Then came running. I remember watching my sister complete her first marathon, and when the announcer kept yelling out the percentage of people who have completed a marathon, it really put the tic into my head that I may want to do something like that.

It may be a good thing that sometimes our motivation drives us to be greater, or better than we are, but with the power of the Holy Spirit we are driven to be more like Christ. Now I know that Jesus probably was never a competitive runner, but we were created to enjoy our bodies. Therefore, I seek to make my running a worship experience. I pray that I show this outwardly, and that the Kingdom of God is blessed through the joy of the Holy Spirit found in me when I run.

What things do you do that can be transformed when you think of them from the context of a worship experience?

JRMITCH85 Ramblings

Ugh, Violence

With the instant access to news, you hear more about the violence in our world with great regularity, but this week it has been particularly frightening because the violence has been in and around area schools. Three shootings, and three different circumstances, but sadly the consequence was that in each instance people were shot. This saddens me deeply, and I call on each of us to add these schools and those directly affected by the shootings to our prayers.

At the same time I wonder what causes people to turn to such extreme levels of violence. A lot of this happens in the midst of fear and a lack of control. This is not to remove the personal accountability, but we should also understand that life’s circumstances force people to make some very hard choices. I am thankful that I have been blessed and not pushed to that edge, but I know that we must get together and fight the power of darkness that pulls and tugs at so many young people.

The natural response to this violence is fear and  the feeling that somebody has to pay for what has been done, because somehow this will make us safer, and thus alleviate our fears. But I really am just brought to tears for the fact that people die everyday because of acts of violence, not only in our community, but throughout the world. When is our outrage going to get us off of our collective backside, and move us toward working against the violence that plagues our world.

I want to respond with an active call for peace, a call to respond with love.

How are you and I going to be active in pursuit of peace?

JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Hope, Ramblings

No, You Can’t

My son has repeated to me numerous times the phrase, “I can do it myself, Daddy.” It is one of the most annoying phrases, even though it comes from the a person that I love so dearly. I can guess that it is certainly not unique to my family, and that there are parents out there who feel the same way I do. My own parents probably fall into that category.

No matter his true independence level on a number of tasks, there are many things he does need help doing, for instance, he needed help turning on the faucet at a sink because the handles were just outside his reach. He kept telling me he didn’t need my help, and insisted that I turn the water off, until finally he stood on top of my feet which gave him the necessary boost to reach the faucet handles. In his mind, he probably thinks he did it himself.

Another incident tonight was as he was trying to fall asleep, and he kept whining, indicating he was uncomfortable. I was worried that he might be sick, I asked him whether there was anything I could do to make him more comfortable. In true form, he told me that he was taking care of it himself, and didn’t need my help. However, after another ten minutes of struggling he let me know that he needed another blanket because he was too cold. Oddly enough, he would have had the issue resolved earlier had he just let me know when I first asked him.

These two examples are similar to how we often think we can do everything ourselves, we think we are completely self-reliant. However, we aren’t! We don’t want to hear, “No, you can’t do it all on your own.” However, we often walk along in our lives struggling to do it on our own, when we really just need to learn to ask for help.

The Almighty God desires us in relationship to lay EVERYTHING at the foot of the throne, for nothing is too much or too heavy.

When are we going to wake up and allow others to help us?

 

JRMITCH85 Character, Faith, Ramblings

On the Path

Over the past several weeks I have been struggling to recover from an ankle injury. This has seriously hampered my ability to go out and run. I really enjoy running, and have tried to go out and push through the pain, however sometimes I just can’t go on and run the pain off. My desire is that the hurt just go away, and that I can still go out tomorrow and start running, but I know that may not necessarily be the best thing for my ankle, and for the healing that needs to take place. I probably just need to rest it in order to let it heal, but sometimes the rest is harder than simply running through the pain.

This is one of my major struggles. I do not want to sit on the sidelines and watch, I want to run, I want to control everything about my training. However, this is one of those things that I have to relinquish control and allow the healing to begin. Until then the healing process may never begin, or at the very best be a longer process.

There are many things in our life that we try to control. Sometimes that grasp of control really complicates our life and creates problems, and all we really need to do is give up control and allow our bodies, minds, and spirit to heal. Too often we think we know what is best for our lives, and we know the road that we are supposed to travel down in our lives.

However, we need to learn that God desires us to lay these presuppositions down and follow the Almighty on the path that has been laid for us. Sometimes that path is rosy, but often the path is full of bumps and potholes. Many times these potholes are the character forming parts of our life, and these are the times that we are most tempted to stray from the path. This is an act of faith, this is the path that Abraham took, even if he made a few detours along the way. Are we going to trail blaze our own path? Or are we going to allow the Almighty and Loving God to guide us?

 

JRMITCH85 Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Even Greater Gifts

Now that the holiday season is past and the gift giving has ended for a while, I looked back at one of my deepest joys was getting the opportunity to look at the face of my son as he opened his birthday gifts earlier in the season, and Christmas gifts. For his birthday I decided to give him a skateboard (with a helmet and pads), and I was filled with so much glee that he wanted to go out and immediately put on the pads and go ride his skateboard. That feeling was only to be topped by “Christmas” morning, and he woke me up to tell me, “I got a kitchen daddy, I got a kitchen!”, when the night before I was up until 2 AM putting it together, but his excitement made the sleep deprivation worth it.

Although I am not always the most astute person when it comes to getting people gifts, I knew what it was that would bring him a great deal of joy. Certainly, the excitement of getting gifts is enough to bring joy, no matter what the gift might be, but there is a certain gleam in his eye when he gets some particular gifts. I was overjoyed that the gifts I picked out for him were those special gifts. Even when “Santa” gets the credit for bringing the gifts.

However, no matter how good I was at picking out gifts, God is better at getting us just what we need at the right time. At the same time, God is pleased to give us what we need, and sometimes we also get those wants. We are blessed, we are bestowed with gifts, and God expresses love to us in diverse ways. God wants a relationship with us no matter what, and has gone to the cross to show us the extent of that love.

Jesus teaches us about God’s gift giving in Luke’s Gospel,

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks fore a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

One of those great gifts God blessed me with after Christmas was snow. On Sunday after church the snow started coming down, and it kept going until the next morning. I was just in awe of the beauty with which God has blessed us. Although I never would have thought to ask God for snow, I hope that the worship filled response I had toward the snow, allowed God the same joy I had when I saw the excitement in my son’s face.

 

JRMITCH85 Decisions, Ramblings

Dear Starbucks

Dear Starbucks,

Christmas is not over, so why have you taken down all of your festive decorations and your “holiday” menu already? I thought that I could walk in and still see your red colors, but the brown and green of “ordinary time” has already returned.  The gift of Christmas is 12 days long beginning on the 25th. Therefore, I wished that you would keep up your decorations up until at least the first of January, if not the full Christmas until January 6th on Epiphany, or maybe even until the Sunday after the 6th.

I fully recognize that you, Starbucks, are not interested in maintaining the church traditions about Christmas, and that it is true most people are not going to buy that extra pound of “Christmas Blend” after the 25th of December, I don’t fully understand the need to revert so quickly. I walked into your friend, Target, the other day and they were already trying to get me to buy into the Valentine’s Day hype. I understand this is the commercial aspect of our Western holiday structure, but I don’t go into Target for the experience, I do go into Starbucks for the experience.

If we let the 25th of December be the end of the “Commercial” Christmas, and spent the rest of Christmas resting in the fact that it is Christmas, maybe we would all have a better perspective on what it is we should all be focusing upon during Christmas. Maybe we should all take a lesson from “A Miracle on 34th Street”, when we begin to understand that we all benefit when we work together and strive for a common goal of meeting the “needs” of the world.

Oh well, I guess I will have to settle for leaving my tree up until Christmas is over.

Wishing you a warm and merry Christmas,

ELPISANDSHALOM.COM

JRMITCH85 Decisions, Hope, Ramblings

So Many Things To Do, So Little Time (Christmas Eve Edition)

It is here.

It has come like the kid playing hide-and-seek who has just finished counting, and has begun the search for those hiding, proclaiming, “ready or not, here I come!”

“Oh no, I never finished putting the decorations up!”

“I’ve got to get to the mall and finish my Christmas shopping.”

“This house is a mess, I have to get it clean!”

“Those presents aren’t going to wrap themselves.”

“There is so much to do, and I have so little time to accomplish it!”

These thoughts are the thoughts of a frantic person that has probably procrastinated on getting their Christmas tasks completed, and is now stressing out over their inability to complete the task list. This person is me. Maybe I am continuing the procrastination by taking time to write this blog, since I have not written any since the month began. (Another thing on the list that got pushed to the side.)

This stress level is proof positive that I have failed to keep perspective on the season. A season that started so promising, as we got the tree up the week after Thanksgiving. My son’s help was fantastic, as he made sure the candy canes were placed perfectly, and all of his favorite ornaments were in the same place. This was fun and helped me focus on the fact that I have been blessed with a marvelous 3-year-old, and watching the Christmas excitement in his eyes has been marvelous.

However, that was where the peace and time to just be in the season started to fade, as one thing led to another, and stress and to do lists began to take over. I don’t think it is unique to the time around Christmas, but it seems to be amplified by the fact that there is one day where everything happens, and judging by the way stores look the week after x-mas, the season ends, off to the next holiday.

Well here I am, trying to gain more perspective. This season is about the eager anticipation of the coming of the savior of the world: A savior who has come to us first as a vulnerable baby, a savior that remains with us to guide us through the Holy Spirit, and a savior who promised to come again! It isn’t about lists or calendars, it is about breathing in deep the breath of God, and allowing our hearts to let go of hustle and bustle, and rest in the fact that the Creator of the Universe loves you, and provides more joys, more presents, and more love than any man in a Red Suit.

So I wish you all a Merry Christmas, let us celebrate, and I encourage you to take a deep breath today!

JRMITCH85 Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Thankfulness

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!

Many people like to refer to this day as “Black Friday”, because of all the shopping that goes on, and stores go into “the black” for the year, but I really wish we would just focus on the things that we have to be thankful for this year.

I am thankful for my family, for the friends that are so close that they are family, and for the people that have impacted my life in special ways. I am thankful for a job, and a roof over my head. I am thankful for all sorts of provision that has guided and guarded me in the past year. I am thankful that I live in this country, and I am free to speak my mind, and free to move, and free from many of the world’s vulnerabilities. Most of all, I am thankful that I have a relationship with a loving God that loves me more than I will ever know.

I appreciate Advent as we enter after thanksgiving. Let us prepare for the arrival of the King of Kings, by being thankful that the Lord of Lords has given us so much for which to be thankful. Let us think about those things as we enter into this season.

JRMITCH85 Ramblings

Big Game Friday!

The overcast weather reminds me of living in Berkeley, chilly, but not cold. It’s shorts and sweatshirt weather! I love it! It couldn’t happen on a better day either, it is Big Game Friday! (Is he talking about sports?) Yes it is a football game, but on the UC Berkeley and stanfurd campuses, this is more than just a game. This game embodies the rivalry between the two prestigious institutions of higher learning. Every year the two teams compete for “The Axe”.

I can’t speak about the mood on “the farm”, but the Berkeley campus is buzzing during the week, as many of the Fall Athletic teams schedule their games with stanfurd during Big Game week and they have their own nicknames, Big Spike, Big Splash, Big (fill-in-the-blank). With so many of the teams they measure the success or failure of their season based on the results from these games.

Similarly, as academic institutions, the programs care about where they are ranked overall, but they especially care about where they are ranked with respect to one another. The competition drives each other to achieve more and become better than they were. The competition helps each side from falling into complacent behaviors. Thus in that way, rivalry helps make each other than we might have been.

There  are unhealthy aspects to rivalry as well. I admit I have been involved in a few situations where property damage occurred, and I have not always been the greatest witness to the transforming power of Christ during times when the Bears were facing off against the cardinal. In such instances, rivalry brings us down to our lowest level and we spew the ugliest parts of ourselves to bring the other down.

Hopefully, we can accentuate the best parts of rivalry, and minimize the effects of worst parts.

I am excited that I get to go up to Berkeley this weekend and watch the Big Game this year. I will root on the Mighty Golden Bears to pull off an upset. Go Bears!

JRMITCH85 Ramblings

Picture Day

Today was picture day. My son went in very dashing with his hair styled, thanks to mom. This is a moment that gets captured in time,  a moment that we can look back and see him forever just as he was a week before he turns three. It is a time of excitement, because it is another picture, which serves as a reminder that God is blessing my life. As I walk down the hall, this new picture will serve as an important reminder that God is good!

My earliest memory of picture day was sometime in elementary school, probably 3rd or 4th Grade, and I was simply excited to get the comb they handed out to everyone to make sure our hair was alright. Other than the comb, there wasn’t really any excitement behind the day. However, now as I look back at the pictures on my parents’ wall I am reminded that I am important, I am loved, and I come from somewhere. This is a reminder that God’s provision for me is not only in the immediate past and future, but I have a history that I can look back upon to see that God has loved me through my family.

Similarly, in the Old Testament, we hear of the building of altars. These were their pictures, reminders that God watched over them, helped them out, and/or saved them from trouble. They could go back and look at these sites and recall how God helped them out. No matter what, GOD loved them! God loves you too!