What I learned this week.

1. I was complaining about the shoe situation to the running guru at the gym the other day and here's what he told me: Go home and look at your old shoes. Get the product number off the inside of the tongue. Go online and search for that product number. So I did, and guess what . . . I found them! I also found out that I am not nearly as smart as I thought. What I had was the Gel-Nimbus 12, and that makes all the difference. It's why I couldn't find them in any stores—because they're last year's shoes and no one wants them anymore (except me). Everybody wants the latest and greatest (except me). Apparently everybody has really narrow feet (except me). So I'm cautiously excited.

2. While I was complaining about the shoe situation, I thought I'd also throw in a few gripes about my legs being so sore from running in four different shoes over the last few weeks, and the guru told me to soak in epsom salts. I said, "Epsom salts?" thinking that was an old-person thing. And he said very seriously, "Epsom salts will change your life." So I am going to the store today to get epsom salts and allow them to change my life.

3. After my whine-fest at the gym, I was doing a short run through a neighborhood nearby where there are sidewalks and wide streets and very little traffic, when I came over a hill and saw a man standing at one corner. There was a woman standing behind him, and he had a long stick with a ball on the end of it in his hand. He had just started moving very tentatively across the street, waving the stick back and forth in front of him, with the woman offering a little encouragement but not touching him. He was angling toward the middle of the intersection rather than going straight across to the other corner. When he got a few feet too far, she said something and he stopped, turned a little to his left, and then kept going.

I was completely humbled and convicted about my complaining. Sister, learning to get around outside with no more navigation tools than a STICK takes some serious guts. I offered a word of encouragement as I passed (I hope that's allowed), and didn't stop thinking about that guy for the rest of my run. Even today I'm still thinking about him.

I've heard it said before that no matter how bad off you think you are, there's always someone who has it worse. I've also heard it said that complaining is just telling God that he's not doing the right thing for you.

Today I'm going to run my six miles in 30-mph winds with gusts up to 40. And no matter how bad it is (and I expect it will be), I'll remember that I have it good, and God knows what he's doing.

BE THANKFUL ~