4 Miles past the end of Dan - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Could it be that God was calling me to embark on a long distance run?

This journey starts with a word from the lord to run long distance. First of all i’m not a fan of running and I don’t often run. The second thing is I don’t feel comfortable in telling the team my calling for the day. Well that is precisely what God called me to do for this day of ministry I just had no idea how to go about it. Normally we gather together as a team to pray asking the Holy Spirit to reveal a direction for the day. I hesitated at first and then gave up my rebelion of not sharing what I felt the lord was calling me to. I shared it and of course as God would have it Connor had running on his heart as well. I was thinking to myself, what is long distance to me? I felt the number 22 was a suitable long distance number. What! the team reacted, 22 miles! well yes that’s what in my heart I feel is long distance. As a team we decided that it was ok for Connor and I to head out on this journey to run 22 miles lead by the Holy Spirit. The team had full encouragement for us to take what we had heard from the Lord and be obedient to the calling. So after eating a shawarma and taking and hour long nap the journey began.

One small bottle of water,some money and a Snickers bar and on the road we went. The first 4 miles flew by as we ran along the small 2 lane road next to the black sea. About that mark of 4 miles running with a stitch in my side I needed to walk a little. We came to a sea side rest area with no other direction so we started walking the train tracks(photo#2). We took a detour off the tracks toward a beautiful Narnia type staircase that lead us to a secret beach area(photo#3). We had some amazing life talks and had hiked about 6 miles to this point. We reentered the tracks and continued our journey. At this point we could not run due to twisting an ankle on the tracks (photo#4). We were about 7 miles in when we came to a point that many tourists visit. A beautiful oceanside wellness center and restaurant (photo#5). the only thing around and in place where you might imagine a lighthouse.

We decided to follow the only road into this wellness center about 1 mile up the mountain looking for water. We were exhausted by this point with no water left in our bottles and no food in our stomach. We came across a small flower stand at the top of the mountain with a little older lady working it. The lady did not speak english so we played a game of charades asking if she had water. The most amazing thing happened! she gave every bit of water she had to Connor and I. I don’t know if you know this but that is a biblical motion to give servants of the kingdom water (Mark 9:41 NLT). I’m not sure if she will ever know she served the kingdom of God. I do know that the actions for the kingdom do not go overlooked. It was a blessing to be given water at such a point of need and in doing so we left a blessing in return for the hospitality.

(The kingdom of God is present even where no communication by word exists)

Have you ever thought to yourself why should I embark on a journey? Then have a revelation/realization while in pursuit of that journey? By this point of the trip I had just that. We found 1 mile down the mountain a tiny old looking building that had signs for food and drinks. We kind of knocked on the door and sure enough inside of this small place was waters and snacks including ice cream. (Hold on, this is a moment I don’t want to overlook. God provided exactly what we needed here in the exact time we needed it). We decided to refill our waters buy some juice and of course on a hot day picked up some ice cream. The lady inside was about 65 years old or so and only spoke Georgian. She had quite a few questions to ask regardless of not really understanding us. I believe in this moment God gave me the spiritual gift of interpretation. We talked and she told us a little about the town and how she felt about the russians and her neighborhood. Through my interpretation I felt that she was filled with much pain within her heart. Without being able to ask her for prayer in Georgian I just went ahead and prayed for her. I am not sure what God will do in her or with her but the spirit lead me to pray and obedience is my desire. I do know God does works in many ways outside of our understanding. We started leaving and she had the biggest smile on her face. The area seemed very old and kind of empty (physically and spiritually). It was a blessing to see her filled with some joy Jesus brought through us. I noticed that the area needed much prayer and intercession so what better time than as we walk. She waved us out and onward the journey continued.

We continued on this mountain road for about another mile, where we then found a road that followed alongside the sea. What a picture perfect road on the beach (photo#6) just the ocean air and water hitting the rock lined coast. This is the point were my I began to understand. I started to understand that if I was not obedient to the calling God placed in my heart I would never have walked this road. I found it easy to breath feeling rested even after it had been 10 miles of travel by foot. Connor and I were freely talking about the things that life has thrown at us sharpening one another feeling the teaching of jesus on this journey. We headed on this road for another mile or so when we ran into a dead end where it was either the train trax or the coast line(photo#7). We chose to walk the tracks due to the beach rocks beginning to get really irritating. As we walked up to a tunnel the train conductor motioned and X with his arms telling us that we could not walk through the tunnel nor could we walk around. I know what you are thinking its dumb to walk through a tunnel. Our purpose was to climb the mountain thinking that there must be a stair set up. At this point I was a little discouraged and deflated. Connor was the one that gave me a word of encouragement to remember that God has brought us this far! It makes me remember back in Argentina when the Lord revealed to me the power in who we let in our life boat. I actually Got to experience this first hand in this moment. Connor giving me the uplift spiritually that directed me physically to press on. We found a way to get back down to the beach and on we went back below that area where the tunnel for the train was. We came to a place on the shore where the beach turned into a rock mountain side. There were what looked like river rocks piled up creating a slippery steep foot hold around the wall. The waves came in heavy sets crashing against the wall creating the clear sound of power and pressure (photo#8 soft rest in the wave sets). You guessed it we prayed and started to scale around the rock face unsure if we could even make it around.

We made it halfway around where we found a safe somewhat flat area with some massive rocks blocking our sight (photo#9). As we climbed to the top of the rocks we got a glimpse of a fully secluded beach with about 10 people on it (Photo#10). We had to make sure there was a way out and thankfully a few people spoke english. They pointed us around the next rock face. Great only another sketchy swim not knowing what lies around the next bend I thought to myself. We set of and sure enough it wasnt that sketchy or dangerous. There it was an open beach for as far as we could see (photo#11). We ran into some Georgian men that had been playing with there children on the beach as we were ringing out our clothes. They were extremely excited to talk with americans. We were able to have an encouraging broken english conversation about serving the kingdom of God and why we had chosen to pass by this beach. We felt hope again by this point(I felt) also some excruciating pain from walking on the rocky beach for almost 3 miles. We took some time to try and take the road but that would take us another give or take mile out of the way. We made the call to cut the time in half and walk the beach. About ½ mile down the beach sure enough it turned into a soft smooth road that followed about 50 feet from the shoreline. There was a point another 1 ½ mile down the beach where the road hung over the water. By this point the encouragement role had flipped it was my turn to press into Connor. Connor had stretched his hip flexor a little to far on the crossing of the rock face and had some heavy pain by this point. Again the people that we allow in our life and alongside our journeys determine the distance, the challenge and the growth that we gain mentally, physically and spiritually. By this point I had another revelation 12 miles into this crazy journey. I have never hiked more than 11 miles and that was at training camp for the race. I had only ever ran 2 miles at a time and had accomplished 4 on this journey. I realized at this point that I had found the end of myself I no longer wanted anything. In not wanting anything meaning I was over myself hurt,problems and attitude. I was strangely content. I couldn’t understand why I still had this energy until I remembered what earlier in the week the Lord spoke to me. (Daniel if you find the end of yourself you will find the start of me). Wow! I found the end of myself walking with Connor in wet clothes nothing but what I had on and a feeling in my heart that is unexplainable. The road was parallel to the beach for another 4 miles. This is the 4 miles past where I had come to the end of myself and picked up the start of Jesus (photo#12). What a way to see the beauty not only spiritually but also physically. We found the sun setting and our feet getting tired, the Lord blessed us with a surprise just in time.

There was a restaurant outside of the main city Batumi called My Batumi Restaurant. We had made it in time to sit at an outside patio overlooking the beautiful sun as it slowly set behind the black sea (photo#13). God gave me another moment of revelation as I sat there. Connor asked me this question. Are you upset that you didn’t make the 22 mile goal? My response (It wasn’t from God to run 22 miles, that was my interpretation of long distance). A lot of the time God will give us a challenge and we get to pick the intensity of that challenge. The journeys we embark on in life may not always be fulfilled in our minds until we start to see in the eyes of the lord. Why sell God short by settling for less than your everything. Finding the end of yourself is not a bad thing its a practice for the challenges life will throw at you. It takes heart, action and desire to walk in obedience with God. The Holy spirit prompts things that seem out of our reach but can I say it is possible with Jesus. You will only find it if you listen carefully and obey the calling on your heart from the lord.

16 mile run< 4 miles of running, 8 miles of hiking with the last 4 miles well those, those are the Fathers.

Photo #2