{"id":9391,"date":"2013-07-26T02:58:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-26T02:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=9391"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:35:31","slug":"running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=9391","title":{"rendered":"Running"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tomorrow we finish our three weeks of what OMS calls Cross Training.\u00a0 We have been living in an apartment on the campus of the OMS headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana and spending each weekday in class with over twenty other folks heading to various mission fields.\u00a0\u00a0Our class represented not just America, but Northern Ireland and New Zealand and our fields stretch from Haiti to Spain to India and beyond.\u00a0 Our teachers have\u00a0covered everything from spiritual gifts to cultural sensitivity, mental health to holiness, and on-the-field security issues to conflict management.\u00a0\u00a0Our kids have been in classes too, and enjoyed several field trips,\u00a0along with 11 other missionary-kids-to-be.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u00a0Between classes, we have enjoyed coffee and cookies, walks around campus, wading in the creek, and a picnic about every other night. We’ve heard each other’s testimonies and calls to fields of service and we have worshipped and studied the Bible together.\u00a0 It’s been so very refreshing… and tiring!<\/p>\n\n\n

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The girls (and the rest of us) enjoyed having a bit more space than we\u00a0have\u00a0been\u00a0used to during the last two years at Grandma's house.\u00a0 Our apartment had two bathrooms!\u00a0 Wahoo!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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At the midway point in our three weeks, there was an all-afternoon carnival.\u00a0 That's Hannah in the dunk tank, about to go down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Fellow classmate, Mike, took full advantage of the face painting during the carnival.\u00a0 I believe that's an angry bird on his cheek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Like all the other kids, Samuel got plenty of use out of the inflatable slip-n-slide that day, and his little buddy, Luke, did too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Every now and then – when there wasn't a picnic or a dinner invitation from a local missionary – we\u00a0got to cook our own dinner in the apartment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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One of the greatest blessings of our three weeks was getting to know the Heckmans, a family also heading to Haiti.\u00a0 They'll be just down the road from us by the end of August, working full-time on the campus of Emmaus Biblical Seminary.\u00a0 One evening last week we had the chance to show them a bit of downtown Indy, which\u00a0was fun for us\u00a0since they hail from New Jersey. (Emily stresses the fact that their home is in SOUTH Jersey, not the reality-TV-show part of the state!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Sunday morning worship at Southland with the Heckmans and the Hills.\u00a0 I loved how Luke Hill wanted to hold Sammy's hand on the way to the front doors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Sarah practiced her coconut tree climbing skills in her spare time.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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The Heckmans sharing their testimonies in chapel – as each of us had the opportunity to do.\u00a0 All of the folks working at headquarters gather each Tuesday and Thursday morning for chapel, so there were a lot more people in attendance than this photo would imply – even missionaries won't sit in the front row during a worship service!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Plenty of food on hand at every break!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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One evening we had a special visit from our friends from Columbus, the Combs.\u00a0 It was a great opportunity for our kids to introduce old friends to new and vice versa!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Four square on the tennis court.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Today the kids found a baby bird that had fallen out of a nest. Sarah couldn't wait to show all her little friends.\u00a0 She cried tonight at the thought of leaving them all tomorrow!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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We took lots of walks around campus in a vain attempt to drop some of the calories we were consuming day by day. Good exercise and good conversation – can't beat that!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

I’ll close with a word picture that came to mind a week ago that seems fitting for this summer, especially as Cross Training ends: I pictured myself running, running, running.\u00a0 Sweat is pouring off my forehead.\u00a0 My side is hurting.\u00a0 Both legs feel wobbly. I start thinking, “I’m not gonna make it. I need water.”\u00a0 I\u00a0am on the verge of giving\u00a0up, but then someone yells encouragement at me:<\/p>\n\n\n

“Keep going!\u00a0 Don’t stop now… <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

you’re almost to the STARTING line!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Cross Training\u00a0has been\u00a0that refreshing water we needed to keep going.\u00a0 It ends tomorrow with a\u00a0 special commissioning service in the afternoon and then we’ll all head our separate ways.\u00a0 I’m sure it will be bittersweet.Now for the final warm-ups and stretching.\u00a0 The starting line is fast approaching: Tuesday, August 13th!P.S.\u00a0 If you are willing to pray for us, our most pressing concern right now is the house.\u00a0 Yes … STILL!\u00a0 No buyer or renter lined up yet!\u00a0 Time grows short.\u00a0 We are trusting that God has an awesome solution in the works already.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow we finish our three weeks of what OMS calls Cross Training.\u00a0 We have been living in an apartment on the campus of the OMS headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana and spending each weekday in class with over twenty other folks heading to various mission fields.\u00a0\u00a0Our class represented not just America, but Northern Ireland and New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9407,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9391\/revisions\/9407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}