Running At Sea Level

A picture to paint for you:

As I write this, I am sitting in the wheelhouse on Next Wave next to the radar and helm (I really want to go sailing...), after having gone on a great run through one of the best parks I've ever been to, with the sounds of weather reports and other communications periodically coming over the radio looking out at the misty night in Birkenhead, England (sadly not much to look at...) with Peppermint Licorice Tea (the best tea I've ever had...ever) by my side in my awesome Colorado mug and the sound of popcorn being popped down in the Galley.

What a long and great sentence.

2 things with basically the same meaning:

THE FIRST:

I am fully convinced that if I can successfully make a bed on Next Wave, I can make a bed anywhere.

Really.

You try making a bed with sometimes less than 2 feet of head space to work with.  And then do that on a top bunk.  It's quite the challenge.  One becomes a bit more flexible and able to fit into tight spaces while attempting to crawl into the bed to put on a fitted sheet and duvet and make it nice and neat as you crawl out.  It takes some skill.  Skill which I am well on my way to acquiring.

Any bed after this is going to be a piece of cake.

THE SECOND:

Most of my summer days consisted of hiking, running, and rollerblading, all at a reasonably high altitude, Denver's not called the Mile High city for nothing.  The air is a bit thinner there.  But after a few days of needing to stop and catch my breath before I got to the point of passing out while doing something active (like walking up stairs...) I finally got more used to it and I could rollerblade for a solid hour without sucking up all the air.

I've gone on a few runs since being back at sea level and I definitely noticed a significant difference in my breathing in that I could actually breathe while running.  But it really hit me tonight as I began my run.  It was the fastest I've been able to run from the start and I just kept going.  It felt good.

I realized that a bit part of that probably has to do with the fact that I rollerbladed at least 3 times a week for 3 months so that definitely strengthened my legs a bit and I've been more consistent in my exercise.  But aside from that, and the point that I'm trying to make, is that I could breathe.  I could run better than I could before.

Because I trained at high altitude.

Being back on Next Wave has had it's ups and downs with delays, schedule changes, coming into a new role with new responsibilities and a new DTS beginning and everything in between.  It's been busy.  But there's a difference this time.

I know I can do it.  Whatever task or responsibility that is put on me, I trust in my abilities to accomplish those tasks.  That's a good feeling.  The things that were a challenge for me in the beginning, I can go about with confidence now that I can do it and I understand things and see things a lot better.  That's not to say there won't be things I don't know how to do and won't present me with new challenges.  But again, this time is different, my mindset is completely different.

And it's because I trained at high altitude.  (I don't mean that literally anymore, of course.  This boat has been and always will be a sea level.  That's just a fact of life.)  I've learned to make a bed well in a tight space.  I went about those challenges with barely being able to breathe trying to keep up and do what I was supposed to do.  Whether that be with staffing a new DTS (just 3 weeks after staffing another long DTS), coming to a brand new place with brand new people, living in such tight quarters, leading worship, leading outreach in Paris, leading out in other things, sailing and all that encompasses that and so much more.  It was hard.  I was tired.  I didn't often have time to catch my breath.

I can breathe now.

At first, I was a little worried about having that confidence because I thought it meant that I felt like I didn't need God to help me anymore and that He wasn't around as much because I could do it on my own.

But that's not true.  I felt His presence more today that I have in a very long time.  I know that He is with me in everything and He has prepared me (most times the hard way) for what He wants me to do and who He wants me to be.

Maybe that's where that confidence came from in the first place.

Probably.

It's the things that challenge your breathing that prepare you most for what's coming on the horizon.

I'm gonna keep running.