Wednesday, November 30, 2011

2.00 miles in 22:16

connect.garmin.com/activity/131953344

my plan called for an easy run. my wife's called for two miles. perfect! we ran together. the plan was to run to main street and back and then out and back again, but when we got to main, we changed plans and went for a bit more looping route. we had a great time. my wife ran the whole time even up the hills that would until recently have made her stop to walk. she's going to do great at saturday's race. can't wait!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

God will finish what he started...

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:3-11, NIV)

I love the good news Paul starts his letter with. If you are a believer, God is working to make you more and more like Jesus. It may seem like things go well for a while and then everything falls apart. You stumble carelessly into some stupid trap of the devil and feel miserable. “Ugh! Not again!”

Fear not! God has not given up on you. Not by a long shot. He sees the end and he’s not frustrated in the least. He’s still at work and he won’t quit!

Let me remind you of God’s promise to his children. These words apply to you if you’ve put your faith in Jesus. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

That’s awesome news, right? What God started in you, he’ll finish! Keep entrusting yourself to him! When you fall down, get back up!

-Sign up for my regular email list by sending a blank email to knowthetruth-join@freegroups.net.

4.01 miles in 33:53

connect.garmin.com/activity/131675909

no lazing around today. i got up before my alarm went off at 5:00, got dressed and headed out the door...after checking dailymile and snooping around facebook a bit. (confession is good for the soul.)

i walked a block and then started my warm up. i ran a little over a mile to the track at pratt high and then started in immediately on my 6 x 200m workout. the "sprints" were supposed to be at 800m pace, so i didn't kill myself and was able to run between each of them.

i did all six of them and then ran right out the gate and home by a slightly different route. the mile or so i did on the streets was a great cool down.

Monday, November 28, 2011

3.10 miles in 35:56

connect.garmin.com/activity/131615605

i was a lazy bum this morning. i woke up before my alarm went off at 5:00, got up, reset it for 6:00 and went back to bed. don't be hatin' me now. you'd have done the same thing if you were faced with a 6 x 200m workout.

instead of this hard workout, i ran a 5K with my wife tonight. we dropped our daughter off at piano lessons, walked a bit and then ran the entire rudolph run route without a single break! i was (and am) so proud of my wife for gutting it out. this is the first time i can remember her not taking at least one short walk. she's ready for this saturday's race. hope she does even better!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

10.38 miles in 1:29:41

connect.garmin.com/activity/130997373

i didn't set an alarm last night. i figured i'd run with the gorun group at 6:30 if i woke up on time. if not, i'd get a few hours of extra sleep and run on my own later. i woke up at 5:00, so i made the group run.

the parking lot at health strategies was empty when i got there, but a few seconds later winston pulled in followed quickly by patrick. a minute or so later, kevin showed up and then lacy and a few others. the group was probably 10 to 12 strong when we left. i didn't count.

the wind was insane, but didn't bother us much in among the houses. here and there we felt its nasty, biting teeth, but it wasn't as bad as i thought it might be.

i kept up with the group for the first few miles, then dropped back a bit. my plan was to keep them in sight so i wouldn't get lost and i pretty much succeeded at that. when they turned around, i did the same. they caught up with me and ran on by, but i somehow hung on long enough to get back to familiar territory.

i ran the route religiously until i hit central, then left it to take the shortest route back to the parking lot. it didn't cut off much. when the rest of the crew ran into the lot, i heard them say they'd run 11 miles. my shortcuts took off a half mile or so.

after stretching a bit and talking, i loaded myself up and headed back to the in-law's.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

3.10 miles in 22:49

connect.garmin.com/activity/130649898

happy thanksgiving, everyone! i rolled out of bed this morning around 9:00 and hit the streets of wichita near my in-law's house. i walked a half mile or so south and then turned around and ran for all i was worth in an attempt to be a bit more competitive in this year's "feed the turkey" 5K. i had to do better in order to beat Ray J. and Brian A.

i ran up seneca for half a block and then turned into the parking lot at the baseball diamond. i ran across the lot and then along the sidewalks to the south high parking lot. i turned north and ran up to 33rd.
turning west on 33rd, i ran back and forth for a mile or so, circled around the block and then, toward the end of my 5K, turned north to finish near "home".

i hit stop at 3.1 miles with a time of 22:49. not 100% sure, but this may be a PR. i'll have to go look. i know it's only the second time i've been under 23 minutes. i guess we'll see in a while whether that's good enough to beat ray and brian!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

3.10 miles in 35:17

connect.garmin.com/activity/130550262

enjoyed a little outing with my wife this morning. we drove to o.j. watson park and jumped onto the the river walk on the north side to run. we ran north until we ran into a construction zone that closed the sidewalk. we turned around and finished 5K just as we were getting back to the parking lot. we walked a bit to cool down and then drove back to her parents' house to clean up for the day.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

the long way to work

connect.garmin.com/activity/130328950

i took the long way to work in the lunch room today. i rode out past the school and on to cullison via old highway 54. it was pretty windy, but i was somehow able to maintain a decent speed. i would've been faster with dan's help, but he wasn't with me.

in cullison i took main street north to highway 54 and took it back toward the school. the change in scenery was nice. i picked up some speed with the wind mostly at my back from the northwest. i climbed up hills with ease. the only trouble i encountered was the blast of wind coming off of trucks in the westbound lane.

i made it to the school with time to spare. i changed into the dry clothes i'd brought with me in a backpack and assumed my position watching the kids. the first hour was easy because the fifth and sixth graders ate in their rooms. the second hour was fun since the basketball teams from cowley college were there for most of the time and the seventh and eighth graders watched them. a couple guys put on a dunking exhibition for them. with five minutes to go, the college teams cleared the court and the junior highers took over.

when i'd dismissed the middle schoolers, i changed again and rode back into town. it was considerably warmer by this time, so i was glad i'd decided not to put both jerseys back on. my gloves were a bit too warm, but the rest of my gear was just right. i rolled to a stop before 1:00 and took the newspapers in to get them ready for delivery. (21.04 miles @ 16.8mph)

Monday, November 21, 2011

freezing to death with dan

connect.garmin.com/activity/130185127

it was 34 degrees when i called dan to see if he'd like to go for a little ride. he said, "yeah, i think i could do that." so we did.

we rode up and around the cemetery on the north edge of town and out to highway 61 where, after a brief encounter with our warmup dog, we headed north toward preston. for the twelve miles or so on highway 61, we shared pulling duties. dan probably took the lion's share, but i did my part here and there.

when we hit preston, we turned south toward cairo (pronounced kay-row around here). we eased up a bit and rode side by side most of the way. the wind had switched around a bit so it was ever so slightly against us. mostly from the east, but a little southerly. we had to pedal downhill to hit 18-19mph. grrrrr!

when we hit highway 54, the ride finally got superfun. (i hope that's a word!) the wind was at our back and we could cruise along at 20mph or so even on most of the uphills. we were going to "ride the temperature", but when we got to town, i decided i needed to stop and get ready for my nephew's basketball game. i don't want to be late and i have to walk. which means, of course, that i'd better get off here and get going! (30.74 miles @ 18.3mph)

Sunday, November 20, 2011

big commuter miles

what a week! i got in several visits to people in need and ran a number of extra errands. i rode out and back to the school every day (except friday) and took new routes home collecting cans to recycle. the seven bags of cans i picked up this week will help kids go to camp next summer. i would have been over 70 miles, but on friday i had to drive out to the school to take my daughter's friend there to spend the rest of the day with her. this week i'll be on vacation, so my mileage will be down. that's okay with me. family time will more than make up for the "loss" of ride time. can't wait to see my little newborn nephew again! (66.89 miles @ 11.2mph)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Devoted to God's Word...

Here’s what Luke reported as he observed the activity of the church in Jerusalem just days after the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

A pretty impressive list! One worth studying. One worth adopting!

The church spent time listening to these closest of Jesus’ followers. They took their words to heart as if they were direct messages from God. They believed the truths. They obeyed the commands. The Holy Spirit, working through the first leaders, brought hundreds, even thousands into the church. People’s lives were changed! The church thrived! The whole known world was changed!

If the church today is to succeed as that church did, we too must be devoted to the apostles’ teaching! Understand! That means the Old and New Testaments! In fact, the words the apostles referenced when they shared the good news were all from the Old Testament! They proved that Jesus was the Savior by pointing to the words of the prophets. They said over and over, “He fulfilled the prophecies! He is the one! Don’t miss him!”

Today, we have an advantage the first believers didn’t have. We each can have a written – or should I say printed? – copy of the content of the apostles’ message. We can study the Bible for ourselves. We can hear God speak through it anytime, anywhere.

We in America have the freedom to own copies of the Bible, to read it and -think about it, to assemble and talk about it together. Don’t take these things for granted. Be devoted to the apostles’ teaching. Spend time reading it. Listen to God as you do so. Obey what he says!

-Sign up for my regular email list by sending a blank email to knowthetruth-join@freegroups.net.

injury avoidance

connect.garmin.com/activity/129032013

i was supposed to do a 40-minute tempo run this morning. i was excited about it because i'd finally figured out what i was supposed to do on one. i'd evidently misread the directions before, because the description i read yesterday was complete different.

alas, this new found knowledge was not to be used this morning. on my run yesterday, i developed a sharp pain in my toes toward the end of my 5-miler. i ran for less than a minute today and it came back with a vengeance. i debated with myself for another minute or so on the virtues of fighting through the pain and then stopped. no sense in aggravating an injury.

i walked back to the house, changed into cycling gear and hit the road. i decided to check the distance on a loop i'd like to run some time, so i headed north on champa and then down maple.

at maple and main, i almost had to wait for a train, but the last car cleared the tracks just as i got there. i whizzed past the cars sitting at the intersection and turned north onto highway 281.

i rode north on 281 until i hit the first road headed east. turning east gave me a bit of a reprieve from the blustery winds that had been in my face. i rode across 20th and then turned south on 61.

riding past the pratt community college campus, i prayed for the students. they need some blessing around finals time, i'm sure. i continued on to the hotels and then turned west onto maple at the southern baptist church.

i rode down the hill around and then rocketed up the hill to terrace. turning south on terrace, i enjoyed the slow curves and then made the final 90-degree turn onto school. i buzzed some walkers at school and howard and then pulled quickly to a stop in my driveway.

so now i know the north 20th loop (i just named it today) is a little over 10K and i can run it with confidence on a day when my time allows it. i think i'll go in the opposite direction when i'm running. that way i don't have to cross traffic as many times. (6.59 miles @ 15.8mph)

Monday, November 14, 2011

2.98 miles in 35:50

my wife wanted to try out the rudolph run 5k course, so we dropped our daughter off at piano lessons and walked to the starting line. we ran down main street to lemon park and looped around the park's sidewalks. just before we left the park, we stopped to walk a bit so my wife could catch her breath. she was not happy about the rest of the course which is mostly uphill. we walked a few times more and then turned off before the finish to get our daughter.

Give God the glory...

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:21-26)

Don’t you love this church?! They’ve got messed up people who think they’re so good they don’t need anyone else. A touch of arrogance, pride, conceit. Yuck!

Who do you think it was that got to strutting around like a peacock full of themselves? It was the folks just like you and me. It was the guys who forgot who gave them their gifts. It was the gals who thought their gift was the best or most important. It was the men who believed they were able to do it all. It was the women who looked down their noses at those who only encouraged or only helped or only served.

I hate to say this, but I suspect it might have been a few of those in the church gifted with the ability to teach. There are certainly plenty of otherwise godly men and women in the church today who begin teaching, draw a huge crowd and sadly become full of themselves. They become self-confident instead of God-confident. They rely on their speaking skills rather than on the Spirit of God. They quickly cease to be useful to God or his church. They do not bring glory to God nor do they benefit anyone else with what they say.

Let me say this plainly: I am no different than you. I am and you are single members of the church God has put together. I happen to be gifted by God to teach. If anything I say is helpful to you, it’s not because I’m smart or witty or engaging. If you are helped, it’s because God has chosen to speak to your heart. It’s because your heart is set on hearing him.

You are gifted by God to do what you do. You are called to encourage and speak wisely. He has called you to pray faithfully and lead diligently. He has enabled you to give generously and share Jesus with others.

When you see God work through you, don’t get all excited about yourself. Get excited about God! He invited you to join him in his work. You obeyed and God worked through you. Give him the glory!

-Sign up for my regular email list by sending a blank email to knowthetruth-join@freegroups.net.

5.50 miles in 45:54

i did not want to run today. not at all. hal said, "run eight 400m sprints." i rebelled. i decided i'd just run a mile and call it good. "hal isn't my boss!" i thought.

i ran my mile. it felt awful. my intestines began actively pushing for relief. i made it back to the house. enough said.

i went back out and suddenly the desire to run was back. i decided to do my speedwork on the streets instead of at the track. who likes running around in circles? not me! so i ran a quarter mile and jogged a quarter mile, repeating the sprints eight times, just like hal said. i guess i'm not as much of a rebel as i thought.

when i'd done my last sprint, i jogged three quarters of a mile and called it good. really good compared to what i wanted to do. glad i got out there instead of going back to bed.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

8.20 miles in 1:16:22

it was beautiful out this morning. cool, crisp, windless! perfect for running a long, lazy run. thankfully, that's what hal told me to do today. run 75 minutes! i ran down to the rudolph run route and did a two full loops around it with a couple of slight variations in the second loop. a few of the christmas light displays were up and lit so i got a small taste of what the race will be like on december 3. it's going to be great! soon after i entered the park the second time around, i spotted a young buck running through the park. he stopped to stare at me a couple of times and then ran off. couldn't help but wonder if it was rudolph himself, though i didn't ever see the red glow. maybe it was a cousin.

Friday, November 11, 2011

5.37 miles in 43:01

connect.garmin.com/activity/127881900

hal insisted i run a fast five miles today. i really wanted to run longer. we compromised. i ran fast for more than five miles.

i chose a rather silly route. i decided to run a zigzag pattern from my house out to ninnescah and back, making sort of a chain looking route. this gave me some interesting uphills and downhills here and there and kept me from getting tired of the same old route. (i wonder how many sentences i can end with route.)

never felt really tired. felt nauseous for only a moment or two on the return trip. a good morning run. not sure how it's going to work out to get a 75-minute run in tomorrow. i guess time will tell.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

5.03 miles in 39:57

connect.garmin.com/activity/127527848

hal's advanced 5K training plan called for a 40-minute tempo run this morning, so that's what i gave him. the last time i ran the same workout, i ran 5 miles in 40:04. my goal for today was to blow that away!

i started running around 5:40. my legs were a bit stiff at first in the cold, but they warmed up fairly quickly. after the first couple of blocks i decided to keep my mind off the pain of my tempo run by never taking more than one block in any direction. if you look at my map, you'll see that i succeeded at making a path only a drunken sailor could follow.

my first two miles were sub-8:00 pace, coming in at 7:41.5 and 7:52.9. a few of those seconds ahead of pace were taken away in the next three miles, but not all of them! i hit 5 miles at 39:46!

i could've stopped there, i suppose, but i kept running until my garmin read 40:00. i stopped it and walked a block or two for cool down. i happened to walk past the neighbor's house just as he was letting his dogs out to do their duty. his boxer doesn't like people and she charged me. she nipped at my heels a couple of times, so i kicked her in the snout. that and her master's "bad dog!" yells took care of the problem and i made it the rest of the way home without mishap.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

ugh!

connect.garmin.com/activity/127329165

what can i say? i wasn't feelin' it this morning. my 5K training plan called for rest or an easy run, so i decided to bike. i got all geared up for the cold and headed out. it was windy and a bit wet, though nothing was actually falling from the sky. i rode into the wind for a bit, went east, rode awhile longer into the wind, circled back around, rode over to the highway, took as much headwind as i could stand, turned around and my headlight battery went dead. sure glad i wasn't miles out in the country when that happened. i rode around town a bit with the low beams on, then rode back home. not very exciting, but all i really wanted today.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

8.00 miles in 1:17:23

connect.garmin.com/activity/126655266

i decided to check out hal's advanced training plan for the 5K and jump in where i need to be to compete on december 3. the plan called for a 75-minute run, so i set out to do that. time was all that mattered, not speed, so i ran down to lemon park and ran for awhile in the woods on leaf-covered trails. it was fun to get lost in the moment and not really think about time or speed at all.

after awhile, i got tired of ducking under and jumping over downed trees across my path, so i left the trails and ran out and around the sidewalks the park offers. i left the park and a half mile or so later, met up with another runner. don was just out doing his regular 3.5-mile run, so i ran along with him for a quarter mile or more before turning off on new street to head back home.

i passed the 10K-mark at 59:37 and kept running. when i reached 1:15, i kept going since i was close to 8 miles. i just felt like running more. when i hit 8 miles, i stopped and walked a block before heading inside.

insane wind posse

connect.garmin.com/activity/126608934

i called Dan M. this morning and asked him if he'd like to go for a ride. he asked what the weather was like. i said, "it's 43 with winds in the 25mph range." he still agreed to go. we're both a little off kilter.

the first few blocks south on howard should've told me this was an ill-fated journey. i could hardly move against the south wind. there were several times that i felt like i was going to fall over. when we turned east, it wasn't much better and we were still in town.

riding south on country club road, we got our first real taste of the fury. it was awful. i wanted to wave at a couple of runner friends, but i didn't dare take a hand off the hoods. i was fighting to stay upright!

heading east on lake road was crazy! we were leaned way over trying to stay in our lane so as not to be hit by passing vehicles. we made it past the fish hatcheries emptied ponds and the lake without anything terrible happening. then we hit the hill climbing up from the lake. uphill against this kind of wind is NOT fun. i tried to stay on dan's wheel, but i just couldn't do it. i had no strength in my legs, no "want to" in my mind. my "want to" was back under the covers in bed.

i somehow made it up and over the second hill and endured the eastbound trek to glendale umc without falling over or being eaten by the new dog at the bottom of the second hill. dan lost part of the coating on his helmet about halfway there. the wind just took it and ripped it off. did i mention it was windy?

the trip back was a little better, but the westbound portions were still a bit arduous. still had to fight to stay upright. southbound sections were awesome though. i hit 41mph going down the same hill i'd only done 8-9mph going up. that was fun until my bike started wobbling. scared me a bit.

we made it back into town and, dodging traffic, reached home. i'm sitting here indoors wondering whose bright idea it was to go for a ride. must've been dan. he's crazy! (16.83 miles @ 14.1mph)

library materials return

connect.garmin.com/activity/126608945

cato normally isn't involved in "around town" errands, but i was planning to ride with dan right after i got back from the library, so he took me to the library and back with some materials i needed to return. the wind was crazy, but didn't slow me down too much in town. i'm used to going slow on errands anyway. (2.48 miles @ 12.6mph)

Thursday, November 3, 2011

3.10 miles in 27:18

connect.garmin.com/activity/126174876

you know you've had a good "winter" run with a friend when your post workout conversation sounds a bit slurred. numb lips and facial muscles don't work perfectly and some words just don't come out right.
i had one of those runs this morning. my friend, mike, agreed on monday to join me this morning for a second test run of the rudolph run 5k route. we knew on monday that it might be a little cold, but rain was predicted wednesday so, rather than get wet, we chose thursday. not sure how mike feels about that decision now.

we started right at the corner of third and main and ran the same route i ran last tuesday. it was really nice at first with the wind at our backs. we warmed up nicely as we ran down main street. there was hardly a hint of the cold that was to come. we turned on santa fe, ran past the old pratt train depot and on into lemon park where we did a single loop on the sidewalk.

coming out of lemon park, we ran a block north and turned right (not left as i told mike) into sixth street park. we took it's winding road up to sixth street and turned right again to run over to haskell. if you remember my report from last week, you'll remember haskell as the street with the nasty hill. it didn't seem as bad today. a little steeper at one point, but not bad. we made it to third street and took a one block jog to the west before taking rochester up to second and heading for "home." that's when things got cold. the northwest wind froze everything. i didn't regret my decision to wear tights at all.

running along second, mike developed a stitch in his side that only went away after we finished. i felt bad for him, but there wasn't much i could do to help. we just ran through it. i asked mike if we should ring amy's doorbell when we ran past and ask her why she didn't get up to join us. he didn't think that wise, so i just yell, "good morning!" as we sped by.

when we turned onto main, my garmin read 3.03 miles. we ran the block south and the readout rolled over to 3.10 right when i hit the crosswalk we'd started from. perfect! we've got our route!

following the run, we enjoyed a little numb-faced conversation as we walked around the block.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

back in the saddle

connect.garmin.com/activity/125975243

how long did my sad and forlorn road bike hang in the garage longing to hit the open road? how long was he neglected for the dream of a sub-2 hour half marathon? poor cato. don't you feel sorry for him?

when i took him out this morning, he seemed happy to see me again. he was eager to eat up the miles, to show me some speed. unfortunately for him and for me, the wind had another idea. it was blustery to say the least at 5:30 when i left the house. i fought to maintain 13-14mph on the way out. i had to rise out of the saddle to climb hills with the gale fighting me at every stroke.

on the way back, with a little assistance from the same wind, i gained some speed. at every "no passing zone" sign, i sprinted. on a few of the hills, i made it up and over the top, but on most of them i only made it near the summit before my heart exploded. weeks off the bike will lead to such things.

i made it back to town and had one last power burst up the evil hill up to pizza hut. i banked hard onto howard and then let up, my work done. i rolled up and over the incline and around the corner to home. cato was happy. i was too. life is good! (17.40 miles @ 15.6mph)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Thanks for the gifrts!

"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." (1 Corinthians 12:14-20, NIV)

This church in Corinth has problems. There are people in the church, evidently, who believe they aren’t worth much. It could be there was a pitiful lowliness infecting some of the members of the body or maybe it was just plain jealousy. Instead of rejoicing in their gifts and calling, these poor souls looked at the gifts of others and cried, "Woe is me! I’m not worth much. Look at the great things that guy who’s performing miracles is doing."

How ridiculous! They have the same Spirit of God working in them. Their gifts are just as God-given. God chose the gifts they had so that the body wouldn’t be lacking in any good thing, so that it would be healthy.

A healthy church has a good mix of the gifts. A healthy church is full of people showing God to the world in a wide variety of ways! Any church that has only one or two gifted people doing what God’s called them to is going to be weak and ineffective. The body is sick when only a few are using their gifts. So rejoice in the gifts God’s given you. Don’t look around and covet the abilities God’s given your sister! You are a part of the body. You are becoming, through the Holy Spirit’s work in you, exactly what God wants you to be. Thank God for what he’s given you to do.

"God, thank you that you’ve made me to encourage others."

"Lord, thank you for allowing me to give generously to meet the needs of others."

"Father, thank you for the opportunities you’ve given me to use the gift of wisdom."

"Jesus, thank you for the gift of faith you’ve given me to help your church."

God has arranged all the parts of the body just as he wants them to be. He has gifted you in a special way. He chose your gift mix and put you here so that his church would be whole and healthy. He’s done the same for every believer who walks through the doors of your local church. Your neighbor has the gifts God chose for him. That person sitting across the aisle has other gifts that, when she uses them, benefit you.

Can you pray this? "God, thank you for giving me spiritual gifts. Thank you for giving my brothers and sisters gifts, too."

Now, go encourage another believer. Thank them for using their gifts. Tell them why you are thankful to God for them.

-Sign up for my regular email list by sending a blank email to knowthetruth-join@freegroups.net.