Fighting a Cold

I somehow managed to catch a pretty bad cold. I have a feeling this is still a result of my post marathon recovery stuff. Since Saturday I have been bad. I have been fighting a fever/chill/sweating, all that stuff. My throat has been burning. Finally today I am feeling a little bit more like myself. But still don't have the energy that I would like. Ohh well. I just keeping plugging away.

Why I like football more than politics

I am sitting here watching a little MNF sporting my Willie Parker jersey (even though he isn't playing tonight). Steelers are currently leading (and yes I am predicting a win). And I know the score. Not only is it on all the graphics but the announcers are kind enough to mention it ever so often.
On this past Friday being the responsible citizen that I am, I was watching the presidential debate. I listened to both candidates, and well, honestly, I had no idea who won. So I listened to some of the post debate analysis and that didn't help. Basically McCain's people thought that McCain won. Obama's people though Obama won.
Why can't we develop some sore of scoring system or at the very least have judges. Well I guess then if there were judges it would be hard to find a non biased judge. Oh well.
Therefore, I now turn my attention back to the game. Go Steelers!

I am a Dreamer

The more I think about it the more I realize that I am a dreamer. The more I realize I am a dreamer, the less I want to quit dreaming. I want to dream more. I think dreams are what motivates us. Dreams are what drives us.
Somewhere when we were growing up we were taught to stop dreaming. Think about going to a second grade class and ask them what they want to be when they grow up. Ask them about thier dreams. Then go to an adult class. Ask them about their dreams. I wonder if there would be any dreams.
Do yourself a favor, come to Bakerstown Alliance on Sunday at 10 am. You will learn how to dream again.

Post Marathon Recovery

This is one of those posts that I have been waiting to write until I started to recover. I have been a little afraid to mention some of the things because it is embarrassing. But it might help someone out there, so here I go.

Physical:

• I have never been as that much pain than when I was in mile 24
• I kept going and when I finished, wow!
• I took my shoes off and counted at least 10 blisters on my feet
• 10 days later the blisters are almost gone
• The greatest thing on the market: bodyglide!
• The first 72 hours after the race, I was in pain. I was taking a lot of motrin.
• I went for a jog on Saturday. Made it a mile. That is all I had in me.
• Went to the gym on Monday. I had nothing!
• I am gaining more strength back every day
• Sometimes I get worn out after just a little activity
• I have read that it takes one day to recover for every mile run. That is 26 days for a full recovery. So I guess I will have to wait.
• Interesting twist: I have develop a much stronger taste for Gatorade

Emotional Side:

• This is a lot harder to talk about
• Finishing was an incredible feeling, one that I will never forget
• But then comes the "post marathon"
• Last week was really tough emotionally
• I did not feel like doing anything
• I remember having a meeting on Tuesday and just did not want to be there. I was just feeling so low.
• My feelins low had nothing to with our electricity being out for 72 hours, but this was bugging me. I felt like a failure, I felt like I could not provide for my family. Again this is not reality, I know that, but that is how I felt.
• There is a real empty feeling when you accomplish something that you have been wanting to do since the 6th grade.
• I have wondered how can I top this?
• If I do another one will it be this crazy?
• I wanted to be happy with my time, I am not. That messes me up.

Those are most of the things relating to marathon recovery that I am going through. Today, I feel good. But it took me ten days to be able to write all of this. Running 26.2 miles is tough. I did not know exactly what I was getting into when I started to train for the marathon. I do now. Training/finishing/recovering is the hardest thing I have ever done mentally. I hate sport cliches but it is truly 90% mental.

Will I ever run another marathon? I don't know yet. Am I glad that I did this one? Yes!

The weekend

Yes it was a crazy weekend, but then again what else is new. I actually had a very low key Friday and Saturday just relaxing and hanging out with the family. I managed to run a whole whopping 1 mile on Saturday. It felt good. I think I might go all out on Monday: 2 miles! Seriously I read a lot about post marathon feeling and training and stuff. Very interesting. Not sure if I am ready to blog about all of it but some day maybe. This I did learn: That it takes about 1 day for every mile. So that means 26 days till I fully recover. Interesting.
At church today I wanted to accent the whole Body of Christ concept. So being that Bakerstown Alliance lets me do fun things, I re-arranged all the chairs. Caused people some confusion, but I had them arranged in such away so everyone could see each other. I was trying to create a more "intimate" atmosphere. I think it worked. Also got to use Mr. Potato Head to explain the body of Christ. Love the days I get to play with toys in the service.
The sad part of the weekend: I had to tell everyone (and now all of you out there in blogland) that I will be leaving Bakerstown Alliance. I have accepted a job at the Lighthouse Foundation. It is going to be a tough transition and I will mention more about it later. But just be praying for Bakerstown Alliance and myself during this transition.

Electricity and God

Sorry that I have not blog that much this week. It is basically because I had no power at my house. I had power at Bakerstown Alliance but the Electricity in our house was out for 72 hours or so. That made life a little difficult. Fortunately for us, my parents live like 3/4 a mile up the road and they did have power. So we stayed with them. But things were just a little more crazy then normal.
But all of this got me thinking. I don't think it is to far of a stretch to think of the Holy Spirit as electricity. Something you can't see but you sure can tell it is there. Something that makes a big difference even though you don't see it. Living with out electric was not a lot of fun. Living without the Holy Spirit is not a lot of fun. Yet sadly I think many people go through their daily life and never use the power of the Holy Spirit. That is about as ridiculous as having power and never turning anything on. Cool thing about the Holy Spirit is that He never goes out!
We have access to the most powerful force in all of creation. Use it!

I did it!

I finished the Erie Marathon. I finished all 26.2 miles. I am tired. I am sore. I am in pain. But I finished. Thanks to all of you who supported me. Today was hot! When I looked at the weather on Saturday it was supposed to be raining during the marathon. Somehow that all changed, and it was hot. Hot, Hot, Hot! I finished, I am happy, I am tired. I was able to raise $583.30 for church planting. That is great! Hopefully I will be able to walk normal again sometime.

The day before the big one

That is right. Tomorrow is the big marathon. I am really excited about it. It is cool when you know that you are going to fulfill one of your life goals. I have been drinking a lot of water this week, to make sure that I am fully hydrated. I have been eating a lot of pasta for the carbs (they're good when you running). I have been tapering the length of my runs for about three weeks now. This week I have felt like I should be running further. I feel really good.

In a couple of hours I will be leaving to go to Erie. When I get there, I'll pick up my registration packet, find some dinner, spend the night at Edinboro Camp, wake up some time way too early in the morning, drive to Presque Isle, and start the race at 7:00. Just in case you are in the Erie area I will try to get Heather to post my bib number.

I have set some goals for myself:

• Base goal = FINISH!



• Realistic goal = 6 hours



• BHAG (Big Harry Audacious Goal = 5 1/2 hours

Now here is what is really exciting to me. If I run all 26 miles we will raise $583.30 for church planting. Now that is exciting! I have to run the whole thing now! I have to finish! Now of course there still is more time to join in the fun. All you have to do is email me at dan_borchert@yahoo.com with the per mile amount you would like to sponsor me, and I will tell you where to send the check!

I just want to thank all of you who have encouraged me to do this. I thank you for all your support. Don't worry I will let all know how it went.

You want change? Start with your neighbor!

Surely by now you are getting to the point that you are sick of hearing about change. With the political election in full swing everybody is all for change. Both side are promising change. Both sides are promising a better country.

Now I know that God has never been a registered Democrat. I also know that GOP does not stand for "God's One Party."

Now let me encourage to make sure that you do vote. And let me encourage to make sure you study the issues (not the name calling), pray about them, and make an informed decision.

But (and here is where I begin to start typing really loud, because I am getting excited) this notion that if we vote for one candidate or another candidate that everything will be better, and one candidate is the next great prophet is totally ridiculous. If you are looking for the country to be run on Christian values, neither of the candidates is going to solve that.

Maybe at this time we need to take a look at ourselves. Maybe at this time we need to think about how we are doing at telling others about the Good News. It is not the job of politicians to "save" this country. It is my job and it is your job to tell others about the good news. The change that you are looking for comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a relationship with a political philosophy. The change that you are looking for starts with your neighbor.

Guesss what? Even if everyone in this nation followed God, there would still be different political ideas.

Maybe we are not as "Christian" of a nation as we used to be. There could be two reasons for that:
#1: As the end times get closer and closer, we are warned in the Bible that society will continue to deteriorate. That just means Christ is getting closer to His return. I am ok with that.
#2: Maybe we are not doing our job at reaching our neighbors. I know that sounds harsh, but honestly, how much time are you spending arguing about your political philosophy as compared to telling your neighbor about Christ?

So if you are looking for change, start with your neighbor. Start with telling people the Good News. That is real change. The Good News brings real change!

Yes God Does Answer Prayers

I have been making a conscious effort lately to focus on answers to prayers. I wanted to see if God does answer prayers (I knew He does). I think what happens to us, especially when you hear tons of prayer request every day, is that we forget about the answers. I just go an email from a good friend telling me the cancer treatment worked! Every week at Church when I have been asking for prayer request I have been hearing a bunch a answers to request. It is a very subtle change, but I will encourage you to start making a conscious effort to remember the answers to prayer request. It will leave you with one word: "Wow!"

The weekend review a little later

Sorry about that. I just did not get around to blogging until now.
Great weekend! Had a blast. I am really encouraged right now at Bakerstown Alliance. Lots of exciting things going on. There is just a real open and accepting atmosphere at the church right now. Man that gets me excited. That is what I like to see. I also have been really pleased with the attendance as of late. No matter how you slice it we are growing. Now I don't know why or how or anything like that. But that is good because the only thing I can figure out is that it is God. And if all the credit is going to God, well that is the way it is suppose to be.
On Saturday I ran eight miles. That is my last "long" run before the big one this week. Eight miles? That is a nice distance to run. 26.2? Well that is just insanely stupid! Really looking forward to it. Trying to stay relaxed, hydrated, and rested. And if you want to support me in the "Running for Church Plants" effort, just drop me a email dan_borchert@yahoo.com I am looking for people to sponsor me on a "per mile" basis. So if you want to go say $100 a mile x 26 miles = $2600. Sounds good right? I use big numbers like that because I don't ever want to limit potential. And if you happen to be able to make it to Erie on Sunday please be cheering super loud for me. I can use all the support I can get.

Getting the job done

Sometimes I feel like repeat myself but honestly, that is because the same thing happens. I was mowing the grass and I had a lot of tractor issues again. Argh. I messed up my mower again. So this time my brother has a "back-up" mower. However, it hadn't run in 3 years. So it took a while to get it going. But once I did (5 hours later) I was able to finish mowing.
I love getting the job done. For me it is not a matter of how, it is a matter of doing.
We need to practice that theory when it comes to reaching people for Christ. Whatever it takes, we have to be willing to do it. It doesn't matter if it is "our plan" or not. We have to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
I am willing. Are you?

Where do I fit in all of this?

Getting ready for the Erie Marathon, my 1st ever marathon, I came across a quote that made me laugh:

"You don't have to be particularly fast or athletic to finish a marathon. You just have to be tough and stubborn, or perhaps just too dumb to know when to quit."

So which part do I fit? Tough? Hmm... maybe? Stubborn? I certainly can be stubborn. But perhaps, the last one is fits.

Well, with all that said, there is still time to enlist your support in the whole Running for Church Plants effort. Just email me for the details. dan_borchert@yahoo.com

Trying to get everything done.

In my head I always have basically a "best case scenario list." A list that if everything goes according to my plan I will actually be able to accomplish everything that I want to get done. Rarely (if ever) does this happen.
Today was one of those days that if I were to list my accomplishments it could sound pretty impressive. But on the other hand if I list the things that I didn't get done, I think it would be pretty disturbing.
I am sure I am not alone on this. That is why I am blogging about it. To make you feel like you're not the only one who suffers these things.
But soon I will go to bed, wake up, and start the next day and try to get everything done.