Grace

Life has been kind of crazy since the holidays, but all in a good way with travel the last two weeks to Austin & Tuscon. Ran the 3M Half Marathon in Austin posting a 1:09 in some rather windy conditions with gusts up to 40mph. The start of the race was delayed an hour as police barricades were blowing onto the course. Never seen that before.

This past weekend I had the privilege to help coach at the annual ICTN/FCA-Endurance training camp in Tuscon. It was a fantastic weekend filled with faith, fellowship, fun and of course fitness! While I certainly enjoyed the opportunities for training alongside the other athletes from across the states and Canada, I benefitted most by the spiritual shot in my arm. Each night of the camp we gathered as a group for a message from one of the pastors. These guys have an incredible gift of motivating & inspiring through faith and are true examples for me of what manhood is all about. One of the themes that seemed to be on my mind & heart as I took in their words was grace.

I recognize this word might be unfamiliar to some and has different meanings for each of us. For me it simply refers to the sense of warmth/peace I feel when God is present in my life, or at least when I recognize His presence. Triathlon is not about me, but rather using the gift of good health God has privided me to share His love with others. This can come in various forms like racing for a cause, encouraging & pushing my training partners, motivating others to embrace a healthy lifestyle through exercise and coaching/challenging my athletes to be their best.

Grace is God's gift to us which allows us to good by other people. Whether you are a believer or not, I'm pretty certain you have experienced this at certain times in your life. Perhaps it was a time when you reached out to a friend in need or put your spouse & family before your training. Grace flows through the simple, everyday things in our lives. It is not really about lightning bolts falling from the sky. It is my prayer you may feel/see God's grace working in your life today.

Above are a few pics from the climb up Mt. Lemmon. It was a bit surreal along the way as a snow storm had dumped several feet of snow towards the top and Tusconians were taking full advantage of it with sledding, picnics and bar-b-ques. The atmosphere was close to circus-like. One unlucky person was involved in a sledding accident and air-lifted off the mountain as seen.

Keep it smooth...

Brad