Help Dave raise money

For over 25 years, Urban Impact Foundation (UIF) has brought opportunity and hope to more than 2,300 youth in Pittsburgh. They do this by meeting physical, emotional, and spiritual needs through the gifted hands of men and women devoted to serve others, and through the support of community partners to include corporations and professional sports teams. What they have accomplished is truly remarkable. Fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission is a worthy cause providing renewal, hope, and purpose ––one person, one family, one block at a time!  

For me, the year 2021 holds three life milestones: the year of a 70th birthday; the year of a 50th wedding anniversary, and the year of a 40th anniversary since my first full-marathon in 1981 ––this being the second. As I reflect on the years, I have received God’s unmerited favor in good health, a devoted wife, loving children and grandchildren, a fulfilling career, and an abundance of friends and life experiences. I am deeply grateful for these blessings! 

As a career law enforcement officer spanning three decades I have always considered the vocation a noble profession. Removing a dangerous criminal from the streets was at the pinnacle of satisfaction and reward. But overall it was like a kaleidoscope of images and memories ––both good and bad. The bad ones were the obvious depraved-montage of humanity at its worst, but there was another dimension of justice that often presented itself. This involved the quiet and often untold stories of men and woman who were charged with a crime, confessed to their crime, accepted responsibility for their crime, and showed genuine remorse for what they had done. It was like watching the weight of the world being lifted from them as they took that step. They hit rock bottom with no way up and prayed for help. Things changed. Driven by hope they became clean, healthy and productive. They began to see potential in their lives that they had never seen before. Self-respect and dignity were restored. In gratitude they started to give back.

How do we account for this? The way I see it, the soul of man has unique attributes and capabilities such as self-awareness, abstract reasoning, an orientation to the future, to freedom, to moral responsibility, and the capacity to have a relationship with their Creator. It is the way we are wired. Yielding to guilt of conscience and accepting responsibility is in conformance with this design nature, while rejecting it is in nonconformance which further perpetuates the downward spiral of self-destruction and despair. Of course not all offenders respond to their crimes in this way when they’re in a pinch, and there is clearly no formula to figure out who will and who won’t. I do not understand the mystery of regeneration – the secret act of God in the life of a human being, but I’ve seen dregs of the earth emerge from the pit of hell to live transformed lives in renewal and hope. Unlike the law of gravity, regeneration is not predictable, but it is a moral law that is observable in reality. 

It has been wisely said, “The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart”. Whether one lives in the city or in the suburbs, there is a problem. For some it's glaringly visible, for others it is not. The bad news is brokenness is everywhere because it is part of our fallen nature. The good news is, there is a way out. When ‘the commission’ meets 'the community’ through organizations like Urban Impact, people change, good things happen, and a moral consensus becomes the guardian of hope, opportunity, and social order. 

I am running for Urban Impact Foundation to help build awareness and support for this inspired movement that is making a difference in the lives of Pittsburgh youth and their communities!  RACE ON!!!

FROM THE FINISH LINE!  As a non-competitive distance runner, surviving is winning! I ran the virtual race Saturday May 1^st from early morning to early afternoon with a little surprise at the end. 

The 16-weeks preceding race-day were not easy. I had two particularly difficult long runs of 14 and 20 miles that were confidence-killers, and I was beginning to think completing a full-marathon was a figment of my imagination. I had to make mental, physical and spiritual changes to get back on-track. Fast forward: The ‘mind-game’ persisted deep into Friday night prayers, but when I got up at 4:00 AM as planned, I felt rested and encouraged with a renewed sense of confidence that I’d cross the finish line. In the first 15 miles, I passed one runner and no bikers, followed by a dozen or so of each from mile 15 to the end. And then, nearing 'the wall’ (condition of sudden fatigue and loss of energy), two members of my men’s prayer group entered into the picture. One actually made a cellular break-through with words of encouragement...and the other, a short time later, appeared with his family on the trail horizon just ahead of me. I was stunned in disbelief for a moment followed by utter amazement. They were visiting family in the area and had no idea I was running on the Allegheny River Trail that morning. The time and context told me these were not mere ‘chance encounters’ but rather the hand of divine providence. In them, God provided a subtle reminder and confirmation that race-day performance was settled the night before in prayer, and these men provided grace needed to endure the agony to ‘crash through the wall’ and finish the race in the joy of the Lord!  

In my vocation, fitness was never an elective. So it naturally became a lifestyle, providing the bonus of mental therapy over the many years. It has been a gift of God. Now in the back-9 of life-on-earth, I wanted to use it in a way that would honor Him. So I embarked on the journey, remained disciplined to my training roadmap…to include hitting the pavement in January at pre-dawn hours and single-digit temperatures. My desired goal was to be able to run every step of the way without having to run-walk or walk at any time along the way. But by week 12 of training I was beginning to concede-mentally that I’d probably have to run-walk or walk portions of the final miles – which is not uncommon for the novice runner. What followed, I never saw coming. Though is experienced fatigue, I was protected from ill-health and injuries throughout the 16 weeks, and was able to ran the full distance with enough stamina to muster a modest sprint at the finish line!

Now the surprise at the end. GPS signal strength was unreliable and the All-Trails online map app listed the trail distance from Franklin to Emlenton as 26.8 miles. It was a tad over the 26.2 marathon distance and I accepted the possibility that I might have to crawl the final 6 tenths if need be. Now at the Emlenton (trailhead) finish line, a chart listing all the official mileage waypoints between Franklin and Emlenton listed that distance at 28.2 miles. I actually ran 28.2 miles and my mile-pace was consistent with that. So, not only did God give me the 26.2 miles I asked for, He added two more for extra measure!!! That’s what He does; that’s who He is!!! 

Fast forward: No major muscle or joint pain and a quick and thorough recovery to anything I experienced in the past. What I’ve described here doesn’t really add up. I don’t have this kind of endurance, stamina, or ability to even think I could do this at age 70 (which probably why I never ran the full-marathon again since 1981). All this to say, this is not about what I did or how I did it; it's about Him!!! Our Heavenly Father is Almighty God and his abounding love and grace bout our amazing God … “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and donations to the Urban Impact Foundation. They're making a difference 'changing lives one person, one family, one block at a time’ and you’re part of it!!!