September 9, 2014 - ......and here is the rest of the story (background on Chicago)......now that I know that my friend is dead serious about this more than generous offer, it really created a sense of urgency about seeking God about this situation. To shorten this long story a bit, I will simply say that over the next couple of weeks after this offer was made, the city of Chicago came up in conversations on at least 4 or 5 occasions. In fact, the first time was the DAY after the offer was made. I asked God to confirm it several times (my lack of faith), and He was Faithful, confirming it every single time. Never in my life did I have so many conversations where the city of Chicago came up....whether it was someone's relative living there; some kind of navy base being located there; seeing a commercial on TV; or something pop up on-line. It was pretty crazy. I could sense God saying, "Chicago!"
With the confirmation and peace I received from God about Chicago, I passed this information along to my friend from church. He told me to just let him know how much everything would be. I said ok, but felt a little funny about it. In fact, several weeks went by, and I did not say anything to him about it (as far as finances go). Finally, one Sunday morning, he walks up to me, and hands me a card with a check in it. He tells me if I need more, then just let him know. After receiving this check, the sense of urgency hit again....I needed to book hotel, plane tickets, pay my entry fee, etc. Even though I shouldn't be surprised about this, it still amazed me that the check he wrote almost exactly covered the expenses of hotel, plane ticket, and race entry fee. In fact, there was around $50 left over. Again, God in His Faithfulness, put an amount of money on my friends heart, my friend obediently wrote the check, and it was all covered. I had already made up my mind that if it wasn't enough, there was NO way I was asking for more money. In fact, God must of known how awkward I felt about actually walking up to my friend and saying, "Ok, it's going to cost 'x' amount of money." This led to procrastination (again), which God, in His mercy, stepped in and took the situation over by telling my friend the amount of money needed. Thank you Jesus! :-)
With this hard to fathom blessing, I became extremely excited, while also feeling a great sense of responsibility. With God laying a blessing on me such as this along with confirming the race He wanted me to run, it's hard not to get excited about the possibility of fulfilling God's purpose in all of this. I know His purpose is pure, true, and perfect. I believe it's so much more than me running a race. I believe that is an important part, but possibly not the most important. Sometimes I wonder if He has set up some divine appointment to meet someone, and possibly share Christ with them in some way. I am not sure, but I want to be attentive and sensitive to His Spirit in all of this. Although doing well in the race is important to me, fulfilling God's purpose is absolutely most important. If I fail to do that, then the rest of it is in vain...........to be continued...........
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