Walking with Jesus

I haven't written much about my marathon experience, so I wanted to share a few moments with you. I changed corals (start groups) twice trying to get in with a pace group, so I wouldn't run too quickly or too sowly, but when I got to the race there was no pace group in the coral I was in. So, I had to guess at my pace. It ended up being a little fast, which hurt me in the end. The first half of the race felt really good. There were portions here in particular where crowds lined the streets with signs and anxious searching looks and they watched for their family member, friend or loved one to run by. It would have been easy to miss someone, but person after person was found along the way. At mile two I saw Olivia, standing in front of the Alamo. Periodically, there were tables lining both sides of the road filled with cups of water and cytomax (a frankly nasty sports drink) with volunteers handing out cups, talking to each other, and cheering us on like they actually knew wh...

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle ofthe fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true ...