The two closest cities to Kandern are Basel, Switzerland and Freiburg, Germany. In the last two days I’ve been to both of those cities, but for very different purposes!
Yesterday, the entire population of BFA took 6 buses to Basel to explore Herbstmesse, the annual fall carnival. We arrive around 5:30, eat food, ride rides and sit in Starbucks until 7:30, take over the bumper cars until 8:30, and head back to the buses by 9:30. Herbstmesse is an event fraught with drama because it is the official start of the “asking” season: hopeful guys ask their special girls to the Christmas banquet, often in extensively thought out, romantic ways. We witnessed one guy give flowers to his smiling date on the Basel bridge.
Today was a day off school (All Saint’s Day), so I decided to do one of the things on my “do before I leave Germany” list: run to Freiburg. From Kandern. I also had the goal of completing a marathon in 4 hours or less, so I combined those two.
I set off from my house around 10am with water bottle, granola, cell phone, and memory verse cards in hand. It was nice to start late in the morning; I had a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast (those two things had been lacking in my last two marathon attempts). The sun was shining, it was several degrees warmer than it had been last week, and I felt good! Every 10 kilometers (6 miles) I stopped and ate some food (that was another problem with my second marathon – I didn’t eat enough on the way). 26.2 miles later I arrived on the outskirts of Freiburg, sweaty, salt-encrusted and exhausted. My time was 3 hours 50 minutes!
I’m grateful to Emily for driving to Freiburg and riding her bike back to where I was running to keep me company for the last 15 kilometers or so. She had lots of extra water (I drank 3 water bottles!) and a camera to document the run.
Like fasting, running a marathon reminds me how dependent I am upon food to function. It lets me experience tangibly God as Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. He created us to have needs. We are not self-sufficient. He wants us to depend on him for everything – even our daily bread.
Psalm 147:10-11 says “His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
God isn’t particularly impressed that I can run 26.2 miles. He can cover that distance with the sweep of his mighty arm. He created all that scenery I got to see today – that’s so much more impressive! Our God’s actions are so much greater than human achievement.
Wow!! Good job on your marathon !