You know that time in life when you reach the point you had always anticipated to be the goal line only to find that it is simply marked the start of a marathon?

Yeah. I'm right there.

The difference is that this is more of a 100 yard dash drawn out over 5 months. This is necessary, methinks.

From running, priorities are crystalized. Breathing? Check. Water (but not in excess)? Check. Quality shoes? Check.

Conversation is limited to what is vital. What we bear is limited to what is needed to finish the race without violating propriety. In I Samuel 7, Israel had been beaten over and over and over by the Philistines, and they were threatened again. Samuel's response to the crises: Figure out what you actually need. Let me help you out - it's God. Get rid of anything in your heart or lives that is competing with Him.

I want both. Always my heart lingers on the luxury and addictions that give a temporary shot of joy at the end of the day.

It is fascinating how our hearts see this truth in the crises, yet so quickly deny it in the mundane.