#5kMay2020 Blog (Day 13)

This morning I was blessed to head out on my daily 5k with my bride and another one of our daughters, Abigail. Yesterday morning Piper ran her first full 5k of the month. Today Abigail ran her first 5k of the month. Taylor is scheduled to run her first 5k of the month tomorrow.

Way to go, Abigail!

I was feeling so much better this morning, not nearly as sluggish as yesterday. Abigail was running really well, so Jodi and I were just doing our best to keep up with her.

There is some crazy construction happening in our home town, so we nearly died running our “Arrowhead Route”, but thankfully we lived to see another day. We may have to change up our route so as to avoid the construction zone in the future. It is a one-lane mess.

Early this evening we ventured in to Vertical Runner of Wooster to pick up a new pair of shoes for Taylor. Then we met the Wooster Running Group at Oak Hill Park for a Wednesday evening group run up and over Flickinger Hill. Yummy.

Daily Run: My first run of the day, with Jodi and Abigail, was 3.1 miles. We ran it in 28 minutes and 55 seconds, which is an average pace of 9:33 per mile.

For the second run, I decided to just connect with a group of runners and run whatever pace they were rocking. It was fun to run in a larger cluster. The distance was 6.55 miles, and we ran it in 55 minutes and 51 seconds, which is an overall average pace of 8:31 per mile. The real win for this run was the elevation gain, though. Up and over Flickinger Hill twice ended up yielding an elevation gain of 669 feet. That’s the kind of run that sets your calves on fire.

Daily Bible Reading: The gospel of Mark moves so quickly. Especially when we are reading three chapters per day, it seems to just fly by.

It seems like we just started the gospel of Mark (which we did) and by the time that we get to Mark 10, we are only about 10 days out from the cross. As Jesus is moving through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem where He will be crucified, there is a crowd all around Him, yet He is able to hear a blind man calling out to Him.

And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Mark 10:46-47, ESV

Though people are trying to keep him quiet, the blind man will not be deterred. He desperately wants to be heard by Jesus. It works! He is heard, and he is called forward. 

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Mark 10:48-52, ESV

I love the words that define this man’s actions. When Jesus called him, he threw off his cloak and sprang up (can you sense the urgency in these phrases?) and came to Jesus. 

This man may have been blind, but somehow he was able to see better than I can at times! He was able to see his deep need for Jesus. He was able to see that Jesus alone is worth calling out to even when others tell you to be quiet. He was able to see that quick obedience is best.

Oh that I may see as well as Blind Bartimaeus!