It's 5 o'clock Somewhere

Actually it's 5 o'clock here, but I'm waiting in the office for Jina to call so that we can coordinate meeting up to take the kids trick or treating at the businesses in downtown Jeffersonville.



We'll be escorting Elmo, Cookie Monster, and a traditional ghost. I guess we could have cut a bunch of holes in the costume to make him the holey ghost. I know that was bad. Hopefully this isn't....



Matthew 7:12-14 (New International Version)

13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate
and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

While in Roanoke, I made it a priority to get in at least one run (a two miler on Sunday) so that I could add it to my "Places I've Run" list. As I left out of my hotel and merged onto a busy main thoroughfare, I quickly realized I wished I had more time to explore the side roads or the trails that run through the mountains surrounding the valley. (Check out Brian's blog http://baldpastorguy.blogspot.com/ to see what the mountains have to offer). But time was not on my side and Scotty had pushed me hard at the gym the day before. Ok, he didn't force me, but I knew he was waiting to see whether or not I had faltered in my conditioning without his guidance. Trust me, I know it. ;>)

Something tells me that while the air was clean, and the traffic light, I didn't get to experience everything Roanoke had to offer me as a runner. I stayed on the safe path, the paved road, the route that everyone else took. It left me wanting something more, knowing I had missed out on the best that was before me, wishing I had more time.

It can be scary to venture off the main roads, whether in life or when running. We equate safety with numbers, and going along with the crowd helps us feel secure. You know the feeling, "if everyone else is doing it, surely it's safe." But if we stay on the main roads we miss out on many of the joys life has to offer. Anyone ever get excited about the Walgreens they saw while out on a run? What will it be like if the only thing we ever experience in life are the things that everyone else experienced?

Walking with Christ isn't always the easiest route to take through this world, either in the 1st century or this one, but there are three things I know to be true. You never walk alone, you see a lot of interesting things along the way, and at the end you'll be glad you ventured off the main road.

Thanks to Scotty and Nancy for their friendship and hospitality. Scotty, whether intentional or not, thanks for sending us back home on the route you did, we would've never seen such beauty on the interstate. Brian, I can understand why you spend your time on the mountain trails instead of the city streets.