The Last Marathon- Day 30- June R&R

At the end of May, I was EXHAUSTED…. There were a lot of things. And in that desire to lay down and sleep for 6 weeks, I felt a Holy Spirit nudge to look back at a series I wrote in 2014 around the Os Guinness book, The Call.

It wasn’t easy, but I took the time everyday to get up early- get in a workout, and then sit down with the Lord. I would read the Call, read my devotion from 2014 and then pray through how it hit me both the same and differently… In some ways I miss that guy from years ago but I’m also better in so many ways due to the sands of time and God’s mercy and grace.

One of the themes that has quietly followed me throughout this re-reading of The Call is the question of finishing well.

Looking at me, it would be VERY hard to believe that I have actually run two marathons- the Music City (Nashville 2011) and the Magic City (Mercedes 2015)

You learn a LOT about yourself training and running those. And there is really no way to prepare for the battle that begins around mile 20- everything says stop, but you know that ain't going to happen!

The older I get, the more I think about endings.

I know it probably seems a little strange that I coach football, write poetry, and write song lyrics. I get it. Stranger still, many of my poems, blog posts, and songs have come after seasons of "spinning" emotionally.

Turning 20? No problem.
Turning 30? I was good.
Turning 40? No issue.
Turning 50? No sweat.

But when I turned 60...I had a full-fledged panic attack.

Looking back, I think it forced me to wrestle with questions I had managed to avoid for years. Thankfully, God met me there. He slowly walked me through some incredible passages of Scripture and eventually led me to write a Sunday School curriculum called Hang On...Hope Is on the Way.

The series is scattered between 2024 and 2025- here is the First one- A New Series on Hope

I'm not morbid about growing older anymore. In many ways, I'm actually grateful for what God taught me through that season.

I've now lived long enough to watch people I admired reach the latter chapters of life.

Some became gentler. Some became harder.
Some finished with remarkable grace and humility.
Others slowly drifted into bitterness, disappointment, or self-absorption.

Watching that has caused me to ask a different question.

Not simply,

"What do I want to accomplish?"

But rather,

"Who do I want to become?"

And perhaps other questions:

"What direction is my life actually moving?"

"What am I intentionally going to do in this last era of my life to leave behind Biblical faith, hope, and love?"

"If someone compared who I am today with who I was ten years ago, would they say I am becoming more like Christ...or less?"

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that many of the great heroes of the faith died without seeing the fulfillment of the promises they had been given. They finished well, not because they completed every task, but because they remained faithful to the One who had called them.

That changes the definition of success.

Paul understood this near the end of his life:

"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith."

That truth has become increasingly encouraging to me over the years.

Because many of the things I once hoped to accomplish will probably never happen.

And strangely enough... I've become okay with that.

These days my prayers sound more like this:

Lord, help me keep the faith.

Help me love my family well.

Help me finish with gratitude rather than regret.

Help me become more like Christ than I was yesterday.

That seems like enough.

One of the hymns that has stayed with me for years is Frederick William Faber's Workman of God. Every time I read the final stanza, I find myself wanting to keep going just a little longer. I've included it at the end of this post.

As I think about this June Tune-Up coming to an end, I realize it has never really been about writing better mission statements or setting better goals.

It has been about reorienting my heart.

The older I get, the less interested I become in leaving behind accomplishments.

I hope to leave behind faith.

If one day my grandchildren ask what their grandfather believed, I hope the answer isn't found primarily in these devotionals or in the music I've recorded.

I hope they discover it in the way I lived.

And if, by God's grace, I can keep walking faithfully until He calls me home, then I suspect the words Paul wrote will matter far more than anything anyone else could ever say about me:

"I have kept the faith."

Workman of God

Frederick William Faber (1814–1863)

Workman of God! O lose not heart,
But learn what God is like;
And in the darkest battlefield
Thou shalt know where to strike.

For God is other than we think;
His ways are far above
The heights of reason, and are reached
Only by childlike love.

He hides Himself so wondrously,
As though there were no God;
He is least seen when all the powers
Of ill are most abroad.

Thrice blest is he to whom is giv'n
The instinct that can tell
That God is on the field, when He
Is most invisible.

Blest too is he who can divine
Where real right doth lie,
And dares to take the side that seems
Wrong to man's blindfold eye.

Then learn to scorn the praise of men,
And learn to lose with God;
For Jesus won the world through shame,
And beckons thee His road.

God's glory is a wondrous thing,
Most strange in all its ways;
And, of all things on earth, least like
What men agree to praise.

Muse on His justice, downcast soul,
Muse, and take better heart;
Back with thine angel to the field,
And bravely do thy part.

For right is right, since God is God;
And right the day must win;
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin.

For Such a Time as This- Day 29- June R&R

One of the most quoted verses in the book of Esther is Mordecai's challenge to Esther:

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 ESV)

There is great energy created when a person comes to the realization that God's providence has delivered them to a moment where decades of preparation in isolation brings them to a pivotal moment where their character, skill set, courage, and endurance will deliver a significant victory for God's kingdom.

I have been there- there are three of four times in my life where I knew I had been placed at a time where, if I stood firm, God was going to use me. One of those times, a person actually told me- "There is no doubt God has brought you here for a time such as this."

Those moments are kind of Holy Spirit highs- scary, attention grabbing- and the power unlocked in those moments is unmistakable. Funny, I never feel 'worn out or burned out' during those times- I'm praying instead of sleeping... and never feel tired.

I'm so in the 'fight' so to speak that I don't eat- and don't feel hungry:

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” [32] But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” [33] So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” [34] Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:31–34 ESV)

the reality is that yes, for - three or four powerful seasons in my life, I have been there. and one more interesting thing, I KNOW good things were accomplished for Christ- but the opinions of those types of assignments can be 'mixed'.

But in that 'time such as this' assignment - it doesn't matter- I don't feel tired, I don't feel hungry, I don't care what others think, and i feel God's pleasure. In those moments, I have never felt so alive and life feels so meaningful.

Now the sad thing is- if I were REALLY attuned to building God's kingdom- there should be MORE of these moments, but the sad reality is that I drift into a corner similar to Elijah running from Queen Jezebel.

The Mount Carmel victory high doesn't usually last and sin and worries of life push us in the shadows. I think God understands us- we are weak creatures and both fear and pride sideline us way too often.

These thoughts come back to me as I re-read this chapter in The Call.

Guinness writes that calling gives us a sense of timing. I have thought about that sentence quite a bit over the last few days because timing has always fascinated me. I say to people all the time (as someone said this to ME long ago):

“God is NEVER late, but He is seldom early.”

Sometimes it seems that God spends far more time preparing people than He does using them publicly.

As a boy, I loved visiting my dad at Birmingham Fire Station No. 2. One of the things that impressed me was how normal life seemed inside the station. The men laughed, cleaned equipment, checked the trucks, cooked meals, read, rested, and carried on ordinary conversations.

But everything was preparation.

No one knew when the alarm would sound. They simply lived ready. And they weren’t stressed out about it- they just went on with the day- chess, dominoes, ping pong- cleaning- organizing. Rehearsing.

That picture has stayed with me for years because I think it captures something important about calling. Most of life is lived between alarms. We prepare, learn, study, live, pray, and grow.

We become the kind of people God can use when the opportunity arrives. One of the mistakes I made earlier in life was thinking that preparation was somehow separate from calling. Now I think preparation is part of the calling.

Yet they may be the very things God uses "for such a time as this."

One of the habits I have tried to develop over the years is what I would simply call mental rehearsal. I think through difficult situations before they happen. What would I do if a student came to me in crisis? How would I respond if someone asked me about my faith? What if I had to confront a difficult situation? I do not do that because I expect disaster around every corner. I do it because opportunities rarely announce themselves in advance.

When they come, they usually require a response in the moment.

These last 18 months are so I have been re-hearsing the challenge of 'growing old'- not in a morbid way, but as a game plan to endure the inevitable to the glory of God. It has been practical AND theoretical. I'm lifting weights, walking, and studying.

It is my next 'For such a time as this' and I plan on winning- the secfret is not looking back as much as knowing the best is still yet to come!

Perhaps that is why the Christian life is so often described as watchfulness.

Not anxiety… just readiness.

As I think about this June Tune-Up, I find myself asking a different question than I did years ago. Instead of wondering what great opportunity God may have waiting for me, I find myself wondering what He is preparing me for today.

The answer may be something very public.

More likely, it will be something wonderfully ordinary.

And to be honest- I need to be more attuned to the needs around me as well.

There are other moments like this - challenges will meet me... maybe even today.

Either way, I hope that when the alarm finally sounds, I will be ready.

And we need not fear them... in those moments we get to experience God's power and grace.

Fugitive Fear- Day 28- June R&R

This month is running out... I hope it has been a good one for you!

One of the things I have learned about myself over the years is that I really do not like being misunderstood.

That probably sounds obvious because I doubt anyone enjoys it, but I have noticed there is something about false assumptions or mistaken motives that gets under my skin much more than ordinary criticism.

It's kind of weird- but when I was a kid, TV shows or movies that dealt with an innocent person being 'framed' bothered me more than it should- something in me gets really upset when others conspire to take a good man down. Was this an early indication of how the story of Jesus would resonate with me at such a deep level?

If I make a mistake, I can usually own it. I have no problem apologizing when I have said something I should not have said or handled a situation poorly. Those moments are painful, but at least I know why they happened.

Being misunderstood is different.

There have been nights when I have replayed conversations in my mind, wishing I had explained myself better or wondering whether someone had completely misread my intentions. My natural instinct is to fix it. I want to clarify. I want people to understand what I meant. I want my reputation restored.

The older I get, however, the more I realize that this desire can quietly become another form of self-protection.

As I continued reading The Call, I was struck by Guinness' reminder that calling inevitably involves the cost of discipleship. If we identify ourselves with Christ, we should not be surprised when we occasionally share in His misunderstandings as well.

That is not an easy lesson.

And the reality is, until you learn to suffer that in patience and understanding- you are not trusting God as much as you think you are.

Os Guinness says it like this:

Calling entails the cost of discipleship. The deepest challenge is to renounce self and identify with Jesus in His sufferings and rejection.

Here is how Paul said it:

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. [11] To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, [12] and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; [13] when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.  

(1 Corinthians 4:10-13 ESV)

When I think about Joseph, one of the things that still bothers me is not simply that he was falsely accused. It is that, as far as we know, he never had an opportunity to clear his name. Potiphar's wife lied. Joseph went to prison. Scripture never records a public apology or a courtroom reversal.

There are too many examples of God’s people being misunderstood in the Bible to even list them. Even Jesus was accused of things that were completely false.

Looking back, I think I spent too much of my younger years assuming that if I simply lived faithfully, people would eventually understand. Life has not worked that way. Some do and some never will.

The difficult part is learning to trust God with a reputation that we cannot always control.

Guinness writes that calling requires us to identify with Christ not only in His service but also in His rejection.

That is sobering and the reality is everyone wants you  to know ‘my side of the story’.

I have learned to think of this as my 'fugitive fear'. Someone running as a fugitive (innocent and guilty) has no rest and the fear only intensifies.

My fear of being misunderstood becomes a 'fugitive fear' because I don't stay with it long enough to understand it. I immediately try to escape it by explaining or defending myself. The running makes the fear grow, while stopping allows me to sort out what's true, what's mine to own, and what I have to let go.

My fear of being misunderstood isn't just about people getting me wrong—it's the fear that they'll make judgments about my character or motives that I can't control or correct. It makes me feel like I have to constantly explain, defend, or prove myself so others will see the "real" me. Instead of feeling free to simply be honest, I end up trying to manage other people's perceptions, and that's exhausting.

We all live in a world where misunderstanding is inevitable. Jesus Himself experienced it. In Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34, people accused Him of being "a glutton and a drunkard" simply because He shared meals with sinners.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, [17] “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ [18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ [19] The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” (Matthew 11:16–19 ESV)

The problem wasn't that either man had failed to explain himself—it was that some people had already decided how they would interpret them. These passages remind us that even a perfectly truthful and loving life does not guarantee being understood. Part of living faithfully is accepting that we cannot control everyone else's perceptions. Our calling is not to eliminate misunderstanding but to remain rooted in truth, trusting that God knows us fully even when others do not.

Yet over the years I have also learned that not every misunderstanding needs my defense. Sometimes the wisest thing I can do is continue living faithfully and trust God with the outcome.

One of the strange freedoms that comes with growing older is slowly realizing that I do not have to win every argument, answer every accusation, or convince every critic.

You get OLD enough to feel the freedom to 'just be you'- that is a strange gift of growing older. The older you get, the less you care about it! I call it "the freedom to be me". I have lived long enough to finally meet the man inside of me, instead of running or hiding!

God knows all about this. That does not remove the sting, but it does reduce the panic.

As I think about this June Tune-Up, I wonder whether some of our exhaustion comes from carrying responsibilities that were never ours in the first place.

Faithfulness is our responsibility. Reputation ultimately belongs to God. There is a difference.

And perhaps part of growing in our calling is learning to live with that difference.

Song Links:

Long Enough to Be Me

Fugitive Fear

Let All Your Thinks Be Thanks- Day 27- June R&R

As I continue reading through The Call, I come to a chapter with one of the most memorable titles in the book: Let All Your Thinks Be Thanks.

Europe has been teaching us that during this 2026 FIFA World Cup. TikTok and other social media sites are filled with visitors extolling many of the things we have grown to take for granted.

Re-reading both The Call and my old devotional series from 2014 is a reminder that gratitude seems to show up everywhere. It appears in different forms and under different names, but it keeps resurfacing. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that gratitude may be one of the most important spiritual disciplines in the Christian life.

When I was growing up, we did not have a great deal, but we had enough. Every now and then my dad would take us out to eat, and my grandmother had a remarkable ability to stretch a coupon into what felt like a feast. I still remember those Sunday trips to Arby's. Looking back, the sandwich probably wasn't all that special, but that isn't what I remember. What I remember is being thankful for it.

Somewhere along the way I discovered that gratitude has very little to do with the size of the gift and a great deal to do with the condition of the heart receiving it.

Years later, when I was living in Nashville, I encountered students who had already seen far more of the world than I had at their age. They had traveled internationally, experienced luxury, and possessed opportunities that would have been unimaginable to me as a teenager. What struck me was not what they had. It was how unimpressed they seemed by everything.

That experience taught me something. The opposite of gratitude is not poverty.... it is entitlement.

A person can have very little and be deeply grateful. A person can have almost everything and still believe they deserve more.

That is why Guinness connects gratitude so closely to calling. He writes:

"Calling is a reminder for followers of Christ that nothing in life should be taken for granted; everything in life must be received in gratitude."

Even the ordinary things that we rarely stop to notice.

One of the observations Guinness makes is that people who lose gratitude eventually lose perspective. What began as wonder slowly becomes expectation. What was once received as a gift is now viewed as an entitlement.

That may be one of the oldest temptations in the human experience.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve stood in a garden overflowing with gifts, yet the serpent succeeded by directing their attention to the one thing they did not possess. Their eyes moved from abundance to absence.

Gratitude teaches us to pay attention to what is already present.

I think that is one reason gratitude brings peace. It slows the restless search for more and allows us to enjoy what God has already provided.

As I work through this June Tune-Up, I find myself wondering whether gratitude is less an emotion and more a way of seeing. Two people can look at the same life and arrive at entirely different conclusions. One sees limitations. The other sees blessings.

It is sad to me how many people will purposely choose to not celebrate the 250 anniversary of the American experiment. Is America perfect? NO Am I thankful to be here? YES I AM!

I'm grateful. Could it be that those who come from a perspective of shame for this great nation has a lot to do with anger that stems from what they don't have instead of the peace of contentment in God and the simple, meaningful things in life?

Perhaps that is why Paul repeatedly gives thanks, even while writing from prison. His gratitude was not dependent on circumstances. It was rooted in the goodness of God.

A way of remembering that every good and perfect gift ultimately comes from Him.

In a world where we have divided people into 'oppressors' and 'oppressed'- and the anger it engenders - a route out is disciplining ourselves to find gratitude - as well as recognizing all humans as made in the image of God.

And if Guinness is right, then perhaps one of the healthiest habits we can develop is learning to let all our thinks become thanks.

Song Link: Attitude of Gratitude

Patches of Godlight- Day 26- June R&R

As I continue reading The Call.....

I came to one of my favorite phrases in the entire book. Guinness describes Christians as "patches of Godlight," and the image has stayed with me ever since.

The older I get, the more I find myself thinking about ordinary days.

When I was younger, I was fascinated by big moments. Championships. Major decisions. Opportunities. Turning points. The events that seemed to define a life.

But most of life is not lived in those moments. Most of life is lived on ordinary Tuesdays.

You answer emails. You drive across town. You sit through meetings. More errands.

You solve small problems. I always laugh and say a big part of my job these last 15 years as a school administrator is defusing about 2 or 3 atomic bombs every day. Sometimes, I don't know if I should cut the green or red wire, but I just do it- and things die down... rinse, repeat.

And if we are not careful, we begin to think those moments do not matter. Especially things that are so easily forgotten.

That is where Guinness helped me.

One of the themes running throughout The Call is that calling transforms even the commonplace. The ordinary becomes significant because it is offered to God.

Paul captures this beautifully:

"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

I have always loved the comprehensiveness of that verse.

Years ago, I was asked to drive somewhere and pick up a person who needed a ride back to school. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the assignment. It was not a leadership opportunity. It was not a strategic initiative. Nobody was going to write an article about it.

It was just a ride.

As I drove, I found myself enjoying the day. I listened to part of a sermon. I prayed. I noticed the beauty around me. I even heard a good George Strait song on the radio.

When I picked up my passenger, I remembered something C. S. Lewis once wrote:

"You have never talked to a mere mortal."

That person was not an interruption, he was an image-bearer.

The ride back became one of those simple moments that quietly reminded me that life is full of opportunities to serve God that never feel particularly dramatic. The task itself had not changed- but my perspective had.

And perhaps that is what Guinness means by "patches of Godlight."

A Christian teacher becomes a patch of Godlight in a classroom. A parent becomes a patch of Godlight at home.

A coach becomes a patch of Godlight on a practice field. A businessperson becomes a patch of Godlight in the workplace.

Not because they are extraordinary, but because God shines through ordinary faithfulness.

Do you know the illustration of the three men working on a construction project? When asked what they were doing, the first said he was laying bricks. The second said he was earning a living. The third said he was building a cathedral. Even though all three were performing the same task.

What are you doing today? A seemingly mundane series of tasks? What about "spreading the light of Jesus Christ in a world choking in darkness"! Giving hope, being kind, modeling gratitude - being different enough that someone might ask you about the reason of the hope in you-

1 Peter 3:15- but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

"Calling" lifts our eyes beyond the immediate task and reminds us that even ordinary work can participate in something eternal.

Guinness also makes an observation that I found increasingly convicting as I grow older. He points out that drudgery is (unfortunately) part of discipleship. Yeah, I don't like that either.

We tend to think significance lives in extraordinary moments.

Oswald Chambers argued the opposite.

"We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus." 

The older I get, the less interested I become in writing a grand mission statement and the more interested I become in glorifying God in whatever He places in front of me today.

The extraordinary Christian life is usually lived through ordinary acts of faithfulness repeated over a very long period of time.

And when those moments are offered to God, they become patches of Godlight.

There are no ordinary days,
Not a single one we’re given.
Every breath, every face,
Is a thread of grace we’re living.
From the hard-earned laughs to the tears we save,
These moments don’t come again—
There are no ordinary days,
When they’re spent with the ones we love.

Song Link: No Ordinary Days