Thursday, October 16, 2008

Work is an addiction! Would you like to break that addiction? What's the alternative?


As I barefoot run the 8-10 miles each day back and forth to work I go past a homeless shelter called "Gods Kitchen" I find myself pondering why I can't I have cash flow on the scale of the health God has blessed me with? I so wish I could donate loads of cash to that homeless shelter.

I've complete 51 laps around the sun so far and since about lap 5 I've felt that life was not designed to accommodate those of us that would prefer to be help the less fortunate, be out running, spending time with family and and growing friendships both locally and afar and that life should provide us with a nice home, food, and plenty to share with others to lift their loads.

Do you ever think and feel like that?

When I talk with people especially if they are at work they always agree spending 1/2 to 2/3's of their waking day hitched to a job is not their idea of an ideal use of their lives.

And with the economy in the toilet the way it is most know their jobs could disappear in the handing of a lay off slip, text message or phone call!

No love in all that I've described so far, eh?

There is hope.... Matter of fact, there is more than hope!

Just as I was a running fool as a kid and "lost the loving feeling" for being a biped when my parents gave me that first shiney tricycle for Christmas. I once thought "bicycles were cooler" than running!

Then I woke up one day after having ridden over 750,000 miles on bicycles and the zillionth case of road rash mind you!) and heard the Lord whispering to me to "WALK AWAY FROM THE BIKE! I REPEAT WALK AWAY FROM THE BIKE! IF YOU DON'T YOUR GOING TO DIE A VIOLENT DEATH!" I did... As I had to! My $10,000 carbon fiber wonder bike broke in half one day with no warning!

As I pondered what the heck I was to do from here as I have always been into high level aerobic fitness the Lord whispered again... "Run Erskien, Run!" I asked, "Is that your Forest?" "He said no you fool... It's me! (just kidding there with the extra dialgogue! Sounds good though doesn't it?) Any how I got it I was being invited to go back to my very first activity of worship.... Running!

Never mind that by now I had some arthritic toe joints, really unstable ankles, clicking knees and a right hips that felt like it was on fire with just a few miles of running, scoliosis of the back, a dropped shoulder and a neck that was chronically kinked and in need of cracking!

I asked him if he was kidding? He said, "Nope, Just Do it!" I thought that meant go buy some running shoes and I did that. 10 pairs of $130 a piece running shoes later I realized the very design of running shoes was all wrong! I tried getting in touch with shoe designers in the industry and expressing my frustration about lost toe nails, blisters, heals that wore out in just a few weeks of running, heels, shins, feet and knees that ached. No one had a clue. Nothing! Get a different shoe...let's see they all have padding, they all have tops, they all are made of the same or similar materials, they all wear out at the heal in the same spot...Yada Yada Yada...

Get Orthotics! Got some! Same story...Different Days...Just adding more weight to my feet to lug over the miles. All the same symptoms!

One night God said... "Lose the shoes!" I said, "Your kidding me?" He said, "Nope, slip em off!" I said, "OK! But this has got to be a sign I am losing my mind!"

I went for my first (short) but truly barefoot run since I was probably 3-4 yrs old. For the first time in months of running my toes, ankles, knees, hips didn't hurt! The soles of my feet felt kind of raw 1 mile later but that seemed inconsequential. I knew the skin would grow back! I also realized I had been running all wrong most, if not all of my running life!

I asked God to coach me on improving my form and gait so I could run all day like that mile... He said, "I'd love too!" Get a shower and some sleep... Next lesson is tomorrow. I'll even work on tuning you you up in your sleep (assimilating the changes I'd awakened back into on just that one mile run).

Why is any of this important in regard to jobs, income production, provision stability?

Because my longest runs barefoot now are up in the 10 hr. range and go far beyond marathon distances (Beyond 26.2)

And even still you might be asking and how is this important?

The message is "God Does Deliver on His Promises!" We just have to ask... With sincerity and be open to heading his instructions. He never will tell you to harm yourself or someone else. He wants to father you or even mother you if that's what you need. But the point is I trusted his promptings and guidance and he took me places I could never have gone on my own and there are no books or people or even websites that could give me the power to do what do with so much peace and protection.

Again back to jobs, income, income protection... What can God do with those? I asked him that question a ton of times over the years. I wondered why he seemed to not answer the question while I toiled away at jobs that didn't allow me the freedoms I missed so consistently.

Before I deliver the punch line to this God sized joke (which is really not a joke!) Let me tell you he was developing my character! What was going on in my life that in my feelings I disliked, sometimes even hated was never really happening TOO ME... They were happening FOR ME!

I look at the growth in my character over these decades and I now see a bit more of Gods vision for my life.

God was busy routing out the qualities I'd adopted that would not be compatible with true freedom.

How often do we hear of someone winning the Lotto then ending up busted broke in just a few years? Our country's economy is great example of people gaining access to more money than they were spiritually ready to manage.

Well I must have made to that threshold as the Lord has answered my prayers about provision so I could be free to run more, invest in his people more time and resources and free more than just the soles of feet from shoes.

He gave me GBG!

Your saying "What the heck is that!"

I said the same thing when I first came up the letters....

Well on this blog page itself I am only going to tell you to click on the top link below to find out! I've found a hole in the fence of cash flow bondage and with the Lords grace I am setting this captive free! My freedom has only one condition! I must also grant you the same freedom.... The more captives I set free the greater mine and thus the same principle for your freedom. It gets more magical than that though! Click and see!

I want to meet you in person to run side by side.

To honor your freedom, my freedom... and the source of all true freedom...

That man who was nailed to a tree who died and rose in freedom again for us!

Ready?

Click the first link below on the right.

Watch the first short movie.

Then click "Just Push Play (LARGE) :o)