Enduring Joy!

Today is April 30 and this blog post is an excerpt from my book, GRACERUNNER - FAITH ON THE RUN. As you read, you'll soon find out much about me that you don't know. You'll also notice that my "celebration" run this year is the 26th anniversary of the day that changed my life forever.  

Read my story and you'll understand why I must continue on this path that God has laid out for me....There truly is a place called grace! 

GOD WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION!

A Miracle of God’s Unimaginable Grace!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good

of those who love him, who have been called

according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

On April 30, 1986, I left my office to go out for a run. The day had been shortened for me as the athletic teams at Samford University had finished practices a bit early on that day. As the Head Athletic Trainer at the university, it was extremely rare for me to get a little free time at the end of a day. So, I was excited about going out for a long run and having some time alone for reflection.

Little did I know that, on this day, my life would be changed forever. My life as I knew it would never be the same again.

I ran an unusually fast pace that day. I ran a route that was somewhat new to me. I took a wrong turn and had to make my way down to a very busy highway just about the time of rush hour. I couldn’t get across the highway to run against the traffic so, I moved to a spot several yards off the shoulder of the road and ran alongside the traffic. I had a few hundred yards to run before I would reach the entrance to the Samford University campus and be able to walk back to my office for a cool down from a very good run.

Suddenly, I was involved in a serious, unimaginable accident. While running along the very busy Lakeshore Drive in Birmingham,Alabama, I was struck from behind. I was propelled forward more than 30 feet. I thought that I had been hit by a car! I was face down on the shoulder of the road and I knew that I was hurt badly. I couldn't feel my legs and I had significant pain up and down my spine. I was alert and conscious during the entire event but still had no idea what had happened. It felt as if time stood still.

Several people stopped to help. I heard sirens in the distance and a flurry of activity ensued. One of the people who stopped to render aid was a nurse. I spoke to her and told her that I was a certified athletic trainer and understood what was going on medically. Therefore, I had many questions. “Do I look broken up? Am I bleeding? What hit me?Will you take my blood pressure to make sure that I don’t have any internal injuries?”

The answers were good and bad. She told me that I did not appear to be mangled and that I was not bleeding. She took my blood pressure and assured me that it was fine. Still, I couldn’t feel or move my legs. I could hear the sound of sirens getting closer and closer. The nurse stayed with me until the paramedics arrived. I never saw her face. I never spoke to her again. Nearly 24 years later, I still do not know the name of this wonderful person who stopped to comfort and help me after this devastating accident.

Police arrived on the scene and I finally found out that I had been struck by something that had flown off the back of a pick-up truck. I didn’t know what the object was, but I knew that it must have been something pretty significant!

As I lay face down on the ground, I overheard the policemen describing the object that had hit me in order to record it in their incident report. I heard them describe the object as a “5 feet wide by 9 feet long sheet of plywood.” For some reason I thought -- “They don’t make plywood in that size.” So, I asked the EMT to get the policeman over to me. I asked the officer about this 5’ X 9’ sheet of plywood and was told that it was painted green with white stripes.

I was puzzled by this until he told me the rest of the story. Bottom line: IT WAS A PING PONG TABLE! This “table” was being hauled on the back of a pick-up while two men held it down from the cab of the truck.This very large piece of wood, that soon became a flying missile, was not tied down or restrained in any way whatsoever. I had been hit by a flying ping pong table! What are the odds of that?

God went to the extreme to get my attention during my afternoon run! He does that sometimes! Sometimes it's a soft whisper, sometimes it’s a loud roar, and sometimes it's a ping pong table!

After being immobilized on a spine board by a team of very capable emergency medical personnel, I was transported to a nearby hospital where I regained feeling in my legs a couple of hours later. I was kept in that hospital for pain and injury management for 17 days. A few days after my first hospital stay, I was back in the hospital for surgery and a stay that lasted until the end of June of that year.

My sacrum had been crushed. I had lost nerves. I had significant muscle and other soft tissue damage. I had tremendous swelling and eventually turned black and blue from the top of my shoulders to the bottom of my feet. This injury would affect me for the rest of my life. I was very fortunate to be alive.

Serious rehabilitation was ahead of me. I was told that I would be lucky to walk normally again and running was most likely out of the question forever. In my wildest dreams, I could not envision running again.

If I had been struck a foot lower, my legs would have been damaged significantly. If I had been struck six inches higher, I most likely would have been a paraplegic. If I had been hit in the neck region, I would have been a quadriplegic. If I had been hit on the head, I could have been killed. God spared me for a reason. I continue to uncover His reasons more than two decades later.

Each year on the anniversary of this event, I celebrate that I'm able to walk and run. I celebrate that God used a tragic moment in my life to get my attention. I celebrate that he did a miracle in my life and now I have been blessed to be a part of the running community through a ministry such as TEAM 413 that was planned and ordained by God Himself! I praise Him that I am able to be a part of something that is so much bigger than we could ever comprehend, envision, dream, or imagine.

On the day of celebration each year that marks the anniversary of this STRANGE event and injury, I go out for a run at the time that the injury occurred, about 5:30 PM. Each year, I ask others to join me on that day either in person or wherever they are at that moment. They run with me and they pray with me. It’s always a very special day to thank God for miracles of GRACE.

Each day of my life I pray that God will continue to get our attention and then use us in ways that we cannot comprehend. I also pray that He will be glorified through the ministry that we call TEAM 413. God has entrusted us with such an amazing outreach ministry. We consider this a miracle after the incomprehensible circumstances that occurred on that day in April 1986.

As we continue on our journey through life, we give thanks for God's grace… ~ And so I run ~ And so I care ~ And so I share ~ And so I praise His name for His goodness!

~ ONE MORE BREATH, 

~ ONE MORE STEP, 

~ ONE MORE MILE, 

~ FINISH LINE!

Under HIS Grace...

Chris

Don't Steal the Joy!

It was a busy day at the 2012 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon Expo. We had made contact with new people who wanted to be part of TEAM 413 all day, renewed friendships with folks from days gone by, and shared the message of TEAM 413 with thousands of people. Still, it would be the "least" of these who I would remember the most.

Late in the day a young boy about 8 or 9 walked by our booth. I watched him read the banner hanging at the back of our space. I saw him check out the shirts and other ministry tools that we showcase at marathon expos all over the country. He continued his stroll down the isle and he suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked up to the front table. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled dollar bill and dropped it in our donation container. Then, he gave me the thumbs up, smiled, and walked away.  

For a moment I thought about stopping him to give him a wristband for the donation, but I didn't because something inside me kept me from doing so. I believe if I had done this, I would have stolen the joy of his gift. He had pondered this for several minutes -- he had walked by and turned back around in a deliberate act of obedience to what I believe to be God working in his heart -- to have minimized that gift and the joy that came along with it would have been discounting the tug on his heart, the joy deep within, the goodness that he modeled.

Lesson learned -- "When God nudges someone to be a blessing to you through words or actions, never take away their joy by feeling like you owe them something in return. Their reward is in being obedient to the Master!" 

On the way home from Knoxville, Kiki was driving the rental van. She said that she thought we might have a flat tire. We pulled off to the side of the road and sure enough, our driver's side rear tire was flat. We pulled as far off the interstate as possible -- folks really drive fast and, quite frankly, don't seem to care about the safety of people on the side of the road.

We had to find and read the owner's manual to locate the spare tire which was underneath the van between the front seats. You literally had to use a special tool to lower the tire to the ground from the inside of the van! Then, the jack and tire iron looked like something that you would use to work on a toy car! I swear they turn changing a tire into an IQ test! I'm certain that the folks who make the cars have hidden cameras somewhere on the vehicle and they check out the video footage each day. I know they were laughing at us!

We were struggling with the getting to all the stuff, getting the lug nuts off, watching for traffic, and figuring out how to replace a full size tire with a tire half the size! We were surprised when an SUV pulled off the interstate in front of us, backed up, and a young man and his son got out of the car. We would later meet his wife as well. The family had been in Gatlinburg for the weekend and evidently felt compelled to stop.

"Need some help?" was music to my ears! They immediately jumped in and helped us get everything done and soon the job was completed. They cut the time that we spent on the side of the road in half! When we finished, we laughed about the tools that we used, discussed where the spare tire was located, and admired our handiwork. Before they returned to their vehicle, I asked them to hang on -- that I wanted to give them something.

The dad immediately said that it was not necessary, but I insisted. I asked Kiki to get three TEAM 413 shirts for them. After being presented the shirts and reading the back, the mom said, "I know that's right!" We talked briefly about TEAM 413 and our new TEAM MEMBERS were off to complete their trip.

Kiki and I also returned to the vehicle and we were on our way as well. God sent some angels to us. He aligned this meeting for reasons we may never know.  

"When God nudges someone to be a blessing to you through words or actions, never take away their joy by feeling like you owe them something in return. Their reward is in being obedient to the Master!" Instead, this time, I felt the nudge to do something for these wonderful people. They, too, learned to share in the joy that I had in giving them those shirts. Now they will enlarge the outreach of TEAM 413 in a way that we never saw coming ... God works like that! 

Enough writing for now ... I have to start reading about all the spare tire locations on different types of vehicles and the instructions on how to us the "Tonka Toy" jacks and tire tools that go along with them! If a gray headed guy with a very cute wife stop to assist you in changing a flat or lending a hand in some other way, let us help -- don't take away our joy of sharing it forward!

Under HIS Grace...

Chris

Absolute GRACE!

Chris and Kiki at the 2011 Hospital Hill Run in Kansas City

Earlier this month I had the honor of representing TEAM 413 at the Rock 'n' Roll St. Pete Half Marathon in St. Petersburg, Florida. We had a good expo, met lots of wonderful people, and then ran the race on that Sunday morning. 

My race was a success by our ministry standards -- it was about being on the course to encourage others, to represent TEAM 413, and most of all to glorify God.  At most of the Rock 'n' Roll events my buddy, John "The Penguin" Bingham, is the lead announcer. John and I first met back in 2002 and we've remained friends through the years. In my opinion John is one of the most significant forces in the "fitness" running boom of the past 15 years. He is a self-proclaimed "accidental athlete" and offers hope and inspiration to people from all over the world. The list of people who I respect as much as I do John Bingham is very short!

At the start line and the finish of most of the RNR races, John finds me, acknowledges me in his unique way, and mentions TEAM 413. This simple act of kindness validates the effort of everyone who slips on that TEAM 413 shirt and shares their faith on their journey. John's words mean a lot to me personally because I know what it means to all of our TEAM 413 folks.

This day would be different. As I ran across the last "timing" mat just before the finish, my name most likely popped up on the computer screen and John knew that I was on my way. He called out my name, mentioned TEAM 413, and then he said, "thank you for all you do for this sport!" He didn't know it, but his words touched my heart, lifted my spirit, and tears rolled down my cheeks. One of the medical folks asked me if I was OK and I told them that I was just emotional. I hopped aboard one of the shuttles, returned to my hotel, packed up, and then quickly made my way to the airport.  

At about 30,000 feet somewhere over the southeastern United States it finally hit me why John's simple words had drawn such emotion from within me. It's not that I have done anything for this sport -- THIS sport has done so much for me!

Many years ago I was told that I would never run again. I went through significant life changing events. I lived through a job change that hurt me more than anyone will ever know. We had a flood in our home from a broken pipe that destroyed virtually everything we owned. I suffered from significant medical problems that it took doctors almost five years to figure out. We started a small ministry called TEAM 413. A divorce that I didn't know was coming hit me hard. We struggled to keep the ministry afloat.

Then, through running, I met Kiki and we married in 2005. Other issues would hit both of us hard over the next few years. However, one thing would remain constant -- God would be glorified and TEAM 413 would become the largest ministry for endurance athletes in the world. Through the hard times when we didn't think we could go on -- God would provide.  

Through all of those changes, our TEAM 413 family and the overall running community lifted us up when we couldn't hold ourselves up. Our wonderful expo partners always checked to see how we were doing. Runners from all over the world would lift us up in prayer and ask their friends to check out TEAM 413. God would provide ways for us to get in front of more people than I could ever comprehend. He would open the doors and windows of the hearts of people from all over the world through TEAM 413, GRACE-WORDS, GRACERUNNER JOURNEY, and so many other unique ways. He gave me absolute GRACE that I don't understand or deserve!

You see, it's not what I've done for the sport of running -- it's what this sport has done for me. God used running to help give me back things that I had lost. It helped mold me into the person that I strive to be each day. Running has given me far more than I can ever give it! The wonderful people of "my sport" are family to us! Kiki and I are blessed to travel this road together as we praise God in everything that we do.

My mantra for race weekends is always, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord for HE is worthy of your praise. Lift HIM up TEAM 413!"  This living, breathing "thing" is much more than a sport to me! It has become a lifestyle to glorify God -- to celebrate His mercy and grace -- to share my faith forward!

Thanks, John, for the acknowledgement, but thanks so much for what you have done for the sport and for so many people! And, God bless all of you for doing so much for us! Y'all are truly blessings in our lives!

Under HIS Grace...

Chris

New Chapter -- GRACE-STORM 2012

It's been quite sometime since I've written anything in GRACERUNNER JOURNAL and I really don't know why.  There is so much to tell -- there is so much to share -- so many wonderful things are going on in the ministry of TEAM 413.  Yet, I've just not found the time to put it down in words.  Life has a way of getting in the way and that's where I'll lay the blame.

God is doing such a work in my heart and in my life.  He has revealed much to me in the past few months.  I've traveled thousands of miles with TEAM 413.  We've been able to share Christ with hundreds upon hundreds of people throughout the country.  It's been quite a journey for the past year.

2012 has already offered up many challenges.  My health -- my work -- the enemy on the march!  We'll weather the storm and come out on the other side better than when we embarked on this journey through our theme for the year --- GRACE-STORM 2012!

There is so much work to be done and we truly need your help.  We need your prayers.  We need you to volunteer.  We need you to give to the ministry of TEAM 413 financially.  God is at work and we will follow His perfect timing -- one breath, one step, one mile at a time!

Please join us on this amazing journey!  See you down the road --

Under HIS Grace...

Chris

The Next Chapter

Over the past few months I've not been writing as much on my blog as in the past.  Instead, I have been writing chapters for upcoming books and will share all of this information in the near future.  However, be on the lookout for a blog describing the emotions and stories of grace that were a part of races in Des Moines, St. Louis, DC, Springfield, San Antonio, and Las Vegas this fall. I also plan to share some of the details about future plans for TEAM 413.  There is much ahead of us and the best is yet to come.

Want to be a part of TEAM 413?  Let us know!  There is a place of service for you!

Kiki and I pray that you have a wonderful holiday season as we give thanks for our many blessings and celebrate the goodness and grace that God has given us through His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Under HIS Grace...

Chris

God's Pleasure

Recently I was in Des Moines, Iowa for the IMT Des Moines Marathon weekend.  We had a wonderful time sharing with the great people of Des Moines and the surrounding area. It's such a great event!

On race day, I ran the half marathon.  Somewhere along the 5 - 8 mile stretch through Water Works Park, there was a man playing the theme from the movie Chariots of Fire.  The music is dramatic and a bit slow -- if you didn't know where the music originated, you simply wouldn't understand it's intensity! 

I heard a man say, "Well, how boring is that -- they could at least play some music to fire me up!"

My mind raced back to that 1981 movie and the quotes of Eric Liddell. I thought they were worth sharing: 

"You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you're dinner's burnt. Maybe you haven't got a job. So who am I to say, "Believe, have faith," in the face of life's realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me." If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race."

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

When I run, I really do feel God's pleasure!  Do you?

Under HIS Grace...

Chris 

HERE and NOW

Today marks day 86 of my sabbatical from my teaching and administrative duties at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.  Using my very inadequate math skills, I believe that 100 days remain until I return to campus on January 4, 2012.  I have accomplished much during these 83 days yet, I have a lot more to complete in the days ahead. 

I have learned so much about “me” during my time off.  This is the longest stretch of my adult life that I’ve had no real schedule to dictate my days.  I’ve actually waited more than 30 years to have an opportunity like this.  I’ve always been driven by a daily schedule – practice times in athletics, class time, appointments, meetings, and so much more.  During the past few months I have found out that it’s not easy to drop a schedule oriented lifestyle.  I even went so far as to actually try to create a schedule for myself …. Until my wonderful wife, Kiki, told me to stop it!  In her words she proclaimed that this sabbatical was about recovery, rejuvenation, discovery, and rest!  I’m not supposed to have a schedule according to her – and she’s right! 

I’ve also taken a significant inventory of my heart, body, mind, and soul.  I have pondered what God has in store for me.  I have laughed and cried more in the past 86 days than at any point in my 53 years.  God is doing much work in areas of my life that needed an overhaul.  I had to let go of some things and allow Him to tear down walls – repair deep recesses of my heart and mind – and prepare me for the path that He has prepared for me.  God is not through with this remodel and I look forward to the result of what He has in store for me. 

Typically I’m a very forward thinker and it has been difficult for me to step back and think about the HERE and NOW.  I have made an effort to retool my thought process. I have loosened the ties to the calendar, day-timer, check lists, and expectations that strangled me.  I have allowed God to direct my days and it has been enlightening to say the least. 

So, what has God got planned for me down the road?  To be frank, I have no idea!  But, I wait on His perfect timing to complete the work that He has started in me.  My desire is to please Him and I will give it my ALL in order to ensure that He is pleased with my labor and that others will see the evidence of Him in my life. 

This is my blog – so, I can give all the advice that I want to give! At the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil or one of those other “self help” coaches, here’s my suggestion to you – drop the schedule for a few days and allow God to take control.  Oh, sure you have to stay on track for your family, job, friends, etc.  But, just relax for a day or two – chill out and listen for God’s voice through others and through all that surrounds you.  Drop the pretense that you must be constantly busy and allow God to do a good work in you!  I think that you’ll learn, as I have, that we are chained to a life that we have created for ourselves instead of one that God has planned for us!  

Under HIS Grace… 

Chris