+FillUs

"The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial." A lot of focus has been placed on "giving up something for Lent," but neglecting the true meaning behind, which is to prepare ourselves for the death and resurrection of Christ.  The purpose of giving up certain thing(s) in our lives for Lent is none other than reminding ourselves our utter reliance on God and God alone. Self-denial is a way of saying "I'm not the center of the universe," and sacrifice is an act that proclaims "I believe in God who is greater."  It takes faith in God for the Israelite in the Old Testament to sacrifice their spotless and perfect lamb without blemish. It takes great faith in God for Abraham to put his son Issac on the alter (God delivered a ram to take Issac's place at the end). And finally, God made the ultimate sacrifice of giving His only Son for ...

Today marks the one-week anniversary of my trail tumble during which I torn my my shoulder and the peroneal longus tendon/muscle and put me out of commission. Taking away running and swimming is a painful thing, especially when these two things account for the biggest chunk of my time aside from sleeping and working. Other than feeling like a depleted balloon for the next two days after the fall, I wondered if God was trying to get my attention and teach me something. Like a loving parent, sometimes He does withhold something we care deeply for our sake. Maybe I've (once again) put too much emphasis of my life in physical training rather than spiritual? As I pray for my own healing, I thought about Jesus' miracles in the New Testament. My favorite healing story is found in Luke 5. Jesus was preaching in a fully packed house while a group of friends tried to deliver their paralytic friend to Jesus. "Finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ...

Running On Empty from Neil Webb on Vimeo . Production Company: Statically Indeterminate Productions Ltd. Filmed and Edited by: Neil Webb Running On Empty is a gut wrenching, yet heart-warming documentary short that tells the story of the lengths that one man will go to bring his six-year-old, quadriplegic son back to health. This 22-minute documentary marks the second film from 24-year-old, award-winning filmmaker Neil Webb. In September 2010, Webb teamed up with Blaine Penny; a 36-year-old Calgarian who was attempting to run a 100-kilometer ultra-marathon over several mountain passes in Alberta, in order to raise awareness for his son’s debilitating disease. Two years ago, Blaine Penny and his family were living a normal, quiet life until Blaine's four-year-old son Evan went in for a routine surgery to have his appendix removed. His appendix was fine, but he wasn't. Evan did not wake up from the surgery and fell into a coma. After Evan awoke from the coma 5 d...

Tonight, I received the news that my swim coach is retiring. My heart sank as I read the email. While I am very happy for her and fully support her decision, I selfishly know that I will miss her presence at pool deck dearly. All of a sudden, some of my joy and motivation to keep training and pushing hard flee with the news. Why is that? I wonder. Well, part of the reason for training hard is to not disappoint her. I know she pours her heart and soul into the program and I want her to see results. In other words, she keeps me going.  Dropping time in my swimming is my way of saying thank you.  This is when I realize much of my motivation in training - be it swimming or running - derives from people, especially those have invested in me and those who are walking with me. Maybe we could accomplish a lot on our own, but our records and accomplishments will pass and fade away. Only God and the souls of men last for eternity. What other treasured possession have we but ...