GOAL!... GOAL!... GOAL!

There's a guy that lives on my road. Now, I'm a terrible judge of age but I would have to guess that he is in his late-60s or early-70s. Most mornings for the last year, on my way to take the kids to school, I see him running. Not out on the road, but just around the perimeter of his yard he runs. He doesn't have all of the cool running clothes or even an athletic gait, but he runs. With his shoulders slightly slumped forward, he runs. Leaning into the hills as he goes around, he runs. With a steel-willed look in his eyes, he runs. Every morning. Apparently, at some point, he had set a goal that he was going to start running and that is exactly what he has been doing.

A couple of weeks ago, when the temperatures were in the teens every day, I really didn't expect to see him. In fact, I secretly hoped that I wouldn't. I think some dark part of myself wanted him to fail at this goal, because if he did, it would make him like most others. It would make him like me. But even in brutal temperatures, he runs.

After the big snow last weekend, the kids haven't had school so I haven't seen him. Today they finally went back 2 hours late and I still didn't see him, but I saw his path in the snow. The place he has been running has melted just like the tire tracks in my own driveway... from use. Even in the snow, he runs.

Today I changed. I no longer hope for him to fail. Today I root for him to succeed. He is just like I want to be. Different.

I had already decided to spend today out of the office to work on my goals for this year. So, I am in an undisclosed coffee shop, drinking an undisclosed number of cafe' mochas, seeking God and his purposes for my life, and the God-sized goals he wants me to tackle this year.

Pray for me. Pray that I will sense His leading. Pray that this year I'll be different.