Day 60

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Philippians 3:13-14
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Sports fans are into numbers. The number 60 is one of those special numbers that instantly bring specific thoughts to your mind.

For years, 60 was a special number to baseball fans, as Babe Ruth held the all-time home run record in a single season with 60 (in 1927). When Roger Maris was threatening the record in 1961, many fans sent him hate mail, because they felt the record belonged to Ruth and no one else should consider taking it away from him. When Maris hit 61 that season, Major League Baseball actually put an asterisk in the official record book because he did it in a 162-game season, while Ruth's record was in a 154-game season.

There are 60 minutes in an NFL game and an NHL game. The 60-win plateau in the NBA means you've had a tremendous regular season. Even with cars, the test of acceleration is how fast the car can go from zero to 60 miles per hour.

Why are we going down this path? Not just because I am a huge sports fan. Today is Day 60, and we're celebrating that fact more than hitting 60 home runs. Just as we expected, this ride has been a roller coaster. We've had a lot of ups and the occasional down that caused our stomachs to move up into our throats. We're now well past the half-way point. We still have the quick dip that makes us queasy, but those are fewer are farther between.

We feel like we went from zero to 60 rather quickly. In some ways it's been slow, but many of you have told us that it's hard to believe we're as far along as we are. We're now starting to look at Day 100 as something to plan for, rather than something far in the future.

We are running the race with perseverance, pressing on toward the goal. We do that with our eyes fixed on Jesus. As tempting as it is, our ultimate goal is not just getting Tammy healthy. Certainly, that is a goal. But our goal is to run "the race marked before us," and that is to do everything we can to glorify Him.

We hope you are enjoying the run with us.