"Getting fitter"

As I begin writing our blog, I usually have a theme of sorts on my mind however, once I start to type I find my thoughts going in a completely different direction. 

This week I wanted to return to some statistics and before I get side tracked, I've uploaded a screen shot of the miles we have covered in our training programme, since the beginning of January. If you are able to zoom in, you can observe that we have walked a total of 606.59 miles that equates to 9.78 miles per day.

Now the boring part, (as he gives a big sigh), when this photo was taken we were 62 days into 2024, out of these 62 days, on at least 18 of them we walked less than 5 miles per day which worked out at a total of 46.57.miles subtracting this from 606.59 = 560.02 then divide by 44 it works out at an average of 12.72 miles per walking day.

During our walk we hope to walk for six days a week for approximately three months, taking Sunday off as a rest day and, where possible, attend church somewhere. This means we will be required to walk an average of 15 miles per day to complete the walk from Lands' End to John O'Groats.

Phew! I'm glad that's over as I know you will be, unless of course you like statistics.

But what has all this walking done for us, well, physically Shona and I certainly feel a lot fitter than we have been for some time, and whoopee, I seem to have been able to go down a notch on my belt. 

However, as we chatted about feeling physically fitter, I was reminded of something once said by a man named Paul in a letter to a young man called Timothy, and it is this; "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come". 

In other words, physical workouts at the gym are all well and good and may be of some use, but a daily disciplined life in getting to know God is much, much better this makes us fit, not only for today, but forever. There are some lines of a wee chorus that spring to mind that say:

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God,

And His righteousness,

And all these things shall be added unto you,

Allelu; Alleluia".

If you don't know this chorus a quick internet search should let you find it.

Walking 1100 - 1200 miles is perhaps a long slog, and we will require to continue with our physical training nevertheless, thinking about what Paul said is a real challenge to us, that we also ensure we are spiritually in the best shape we can possibly be.

Thanks once again for reading our blog, we really do appreciate all the support and encouragement we have received.