...and Thankful

Thursday night, a bit after nine, and the house is quiet.  Everyone else is in bed and probably asleep.  It reminds me of last Thursday.  I wasn't at home then but about 130 miles to the west, spending the night in a community center in Beclabito, NM.  The five of us staying at the center had run either a marathon or a half marathon that day, with another one coming up the next morning, and so Thursday night we were focused on getting rested and ready for Friday morning.  We were taking part in something called the Four Corners Quad Keyah and planned on running our same event on Saturday and Sunday as well.  For me it meant four marathons in four days.  From Thursday morning until I headed for home Sunday afternoon my plan was to either be running or resting.

After finishing the fourth marathon on Sunday I stopped to get something to eat on the drive home.  I was at Lotaburger, awaiting a bacon green chile cheeseburger and posting about the event to a running group on Facebook.  One person expressed her congratulations and asked how I was feeling.  My reply was "Tired. Hungry. Happy."

Tired was to be expected, given all the running of the past four days.  My plan to rest included having one more day of vacation and running much shorter distances for a few days.  And I would seriously address the hunger issue as soon as my burger was ready. 

And happy?  The long weekend of running had ended much better than I had expected it to.  I ran very well each day.  I ran a bit faster than last year in conditions that were a bit worse.  All-in-all it was a good end to the competitive aspect of running in 2017.

And while I easily felt those three things in response to the question, over the drive home and in the following days I realized that I had left something out.  I also felt thankful.

I was thankful for my wife, who managed a complicated family schedule while I was gone.  I was also thankful for her encouragement of my running over the year, and in particular the last two months when I focused on this event.  I was thankful that my training had gone well and that this year has been relatively injury-free.  I was thankful that many years ago I came into a sport in which I was physically and temperamentally well-suited for. 

I could list a few other things related to last weekend that I am thankful for, but the point I want to make is that thankfulness requires an object.  In some of the things above the object is quite clear.  I am thankful for my wife's encouragement and I can tell her directly.  But other things, say being injury-free?  Do I thank my leg?  Do I thank my brain for advising to back off when my hamstring acted up?  Ultimately, the act of giving thanks extends outside of human existence, to God.

In February I am going to begin preaching through the Gospel of John, who begins with these words:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

In the poetic language of John's prologue, the Word is another way of saying Jesus.  Traced back far enough, everything we can see, know or experience comes from and through Jesus. 

It is easy, and nearly second nature to see that the big things come  from Him and to give Him thanks, things such as salvation, my wife and my family.  I'm still working on the lesser things, the things I am tempted to think come from my own efforts and perseverance, such as last week's running event, or the heart that continues to beat steadily whether I'm running or blogging.

All things are made through Him, and all thanks and praise is due Him. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.