Running in the Mud

I fell on my run this morning. I was doing a short run (4 miles) and it was within the first mile that I took my spill…right in the mud. I got up and pictured myself in one of those Gatorade commercials, defying all odds, I even think I picked up my pace for a little bit and completed the run…I’m now a little sore.
I’ve been doing a little bit of stumbling late, I think it’s natural to be tired at this time of year, I feel like a bear who wants to go into hibernation. When you think about it, the craziness of this time of year contradicts a lot of what goes on around us. Animals go into hibernation, leaves fall off trees, the days are shorter, crops have been harvested, it’s almost as if the world around us wants to take a break; yet, we ramp up with the whoop la and then crash.
I’ll admit this time of year has gotten much better for me, in fact each year gets better. I’ve been able to gather more control over my schedule and I spend this time of year with the woman I love.
I’ve been looking at the schedule for student ministry for this is the time of year and it gets hard to get ahead because you are tired from an intense fall schedule, but there is a need to keep it going through Christmas and even with a two week break it feels tough to get things ramped up again for the late winter, spring and early summer. There’s something about this cause of events that doesn’t seem right. I understand that there are waves to what we do, hills and valleys; however, over the span of things there should be a gradual climb, and then a gradual decline. It shouldn’t be work, work, work until we fall flat on our face and then have to force ourselves to get up and get going at the same pace we were at before we fell. Momentum needs to be gradual. As a runner when you get started it’s important to build to the speed you want to run and then when you are done with a run the best thing to do is walk around a bit, not to stop suddenly. Yet, this happens in ministry. There’s something we can do to change this, maybe it’s thematic, maybe it’s systematic, but there should be a more gradual climb and decline in what we do.