the water tower...

yesterday...my friend and i decided to get up early and run...now please understand...it has been a LONG time since i have done any type of running...and yes...i probably would have been better off doing a nice walk or hike instead...but sometimes...well i don't think it through completely...

we decided to head to the beach...for a change of scenery...brisk air...and...oh yeah...lets add running on the sand for that extra obstacle...why?? because we are crazy...at least that is the only explanation i can come up with...

since we were in an unfamiliar setting...we needed to plot out our course...we set our sites on a water tower in the distance and decided to make that our goal...the plan was that we wouldn't stop running until we were standing beside the water tower...

it wasn't long before my legs and lungs started protesting...actually screaming for me to stop...it was as if they were sending lightening bolt pleas to my brain to stop and stop now...
do not pass go...do not collect $200...just stop!

i wanted to stop...but much to the dismay of my sweating body...more than stopping...i wanted to reach my goal...we pressed on though the water tower seemed SO far away...there were no short cuts or easier routes...there was only one way...it would require a step by step determination...putting one foot in front of the other...and most importantly...making the decision to refuse to quit...

never has a water tower come so slowly...but it did eventually...we were soon in its shadow...then we were right beside it...and then we ran by it...

reaching our goal was so invigorating...even my legs and lungs gave the thumbs up to keep
going...we ran all the way to the end of the road and turned and looked back...

no one step had been more important than another...each step served a purpose...each one was necessary to get us to the goal and beyond...

we turned and headed back...and i realized that there was a lesson in my morning run...

i realized how much yesterday's morning run mimicked my life's journey toward my dreams...there were (and still sometimes are) insecurities...or my feelings of inadequacy scream out for me to stop...at times my goals of seeing my dreams come to fruition seem so far away...so illusive...there have been times that it was not easy and there were no short cuts...just the decision to embrace each step as necessary and refusing to quit...

some of my dreams have come true...and as sweet as the shadow of the dream was...i just couldn't stay there...i kept running...and smiling..and dreaming some more...

i am a big proponent of encouraging my friends to follow their dreams...and to build new dreams...when those have been fulfilled...it is a part of living...

do you have a dream tucked in your heart?

i suspect you do...i say...bring your dream...whatever it is...back out into the light of day and press on...

i remember all the obstacles i faced in many of my dreams...some of them changed my course...some i had to walk through to get to the other side...

what i know for sure...is that it wasn't one thing that got me to my dreams...well...there was one thing...and that was the Lord's guidance...but each part of the journey was essential...all the rejection...all the prayers...all the soul searching to check my motives...all the input from family and friends...all the studying and reading and researching...all the discouragement...and all the encouragement...it was all part of it...step by step...

and looking back...i wouldn't have had it any other way...after all...it was never really about getting my dream ...it was about gaining a deeper relationship with God along the way...

and even now as new dreams are dreamed...new goals are set...my prayer is that the Lord helps me to discern which dreams in my heart are from Him and which are not...

may my pursuit be more about growing closer to Him than anything else...may He give me wisdom to know how to follow my dreams and the courage to take the next steps...

and the rest...well it's just icing on the cake...