I praise the Lord for this time we had with one another as MiXchangers and supporting parents, as well as this time we were able to share with the Lord. The goal: back-to-back 21km runs. The task: lean on God for strength and expand your faith.

On day one we set sail to go to our first starting line, a later start (07:00) than our cycling counterparts (04:00). We arrived after a fairly fun car ride, got our nutrition ready to go, and off we went. Myself and my running buddy set out to clock this challenge in ample time. We felt strong throughout, getting our first 21km done in 2hrs 17min. Day one was simple enough considering the preparation we had done, however, there were hurdles along the way. My newly and completely restored achilles started acting up just before race week and I was concerned I wouldn’t get it done, months of preparation down the drain, enter God. I made a full recovery in time, all it did was test my faith and mental space on day two. Speaking of which, it was going to be a dig-deep situation on day two. I had two awesome brothers alongside me to help push me through on day two, reminding me to lean on the Lord as I did on day one (making it as easy as it was). We were fairly slower on day two, coming in at 2hrs 25min. We had to redesign our ositerse as we went and tired legs kicked in as two major factors slowing us down. Back-to-back  21km was something I never thought was possible but God gave me the grace to do it, and I can truly say I am nothing without Him! Getting to that finish line on day two, everyone standing outside Seattle Coffee cheering us on in the cold Dullstroom dusk, after a long day of their own mind you, a few even joined us for a couple hundred metres. It was a picture that speaks more than a thousand words.

The next step is to get on the bicycle, but it’s not about cycling. It’s about learning a life lesson through doing uncomfortable things. Getting up and getting onto a bicycle that you never wanted to get on in the first place, but doing it anyway because you realize that the only way to get to the next step in your faith walk is doing it. Life is full of difficult things, sometimes you’ve just go to do it, and dive in head first whilst you’re there. The more you immerse yourself in doing the hard things, the faster you learn to lean on the Lord for help every step of the way. Here’s to growing spiritual discipline and training the spirit to be able to walk in the assignment and calling God has on my life. Cheers.