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Growing up, I can remember my dad testing his car odometer against the mile markers on the road. He wanted to know if his car was accurate. I learned how to anticipate arrival times or even give directions because of the mile markers.
Life is full of mile markers.
I used to be a regular runner. Anywhere between six and nine miles a day. I did that until my late 40s, when a terminally persistent injury took me out of the game.
Well, I say I ran six miles. Actually, I ran 200 to 250 yards, 40 to 50 times. I would find some marker down the trail and run to it. As soon as I passed it, I would find another marker and run to it. I found that I could run much further if I ran a series of shorter distances.
The older I get, the more I realize how important life’s mile markers are.
When I was growing up, we never did preschool, elementary or middle-school “graduations.” Those were reserved for high school, college and even more prestigious moments. The new graduation phases began occurring when my children were little, and after a few curmudgeonly diatribes, I came to appreciate the celebrations.
But what we did have growing up was “the first day of school.” At church, we had our Sunday school promotion day or “step-up” day. I remember “stepping up” into middle school (we called it junior high in Texas) and how big I felt. And it gave me an increased sense of place.
Also, there are other“first days of school.” The first job. The first baby. The first mortgage. The first firing. The first promotion. The first business. The first time your teen ignores you in public. The first bad diagnosis. The first European trip after retirement. The first wedding. The first loss of a parent. The first grandchild.
Too often, we spend our lives trying to hang on past the shelf life of the good experiences—and either ignoring or giving way too much emotional energy to the bad ones. Life undulates. Learning to flex with it by realizing there’s another 200 yards can actually give us hope.
Here are three things I’ve learned about mile markers:
Henry David Thoreau said it well, “Live deeply and suck the marrow out of life.”
Paul said it better. Crying out to God in a particularly difficult time of life, Paul shares his exchange with the Divine: “But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Run to the next marker. Life may be a marathon, but gratefully, it’s broken up into 200-yard segments!
Photo source: istock
 | Dan Hall served as senior pastor in three churches for more than 25 years, from a church plant right out of college to a multiethnic fellowship of 5000 with over 40 nationalities. Over the last 10 years, he has served as a coach and consultant to senior pastors and executive teams in the areas of generosity, strategic alignment and leadership development. After an accident left him a quadriplegic in 2016, Dan has expanded his ministry to include “Emerging from the Shadow,” sharing his journey from near death to a new beginning. Learn More » |
This isn’t just another leadership book—it’s your invitation to discover how Christ-centered questions can transform the way you lead and live. Packed with real stories and timeless wisdom, it shows you how to grow your influence, deepen your faith, and lead with the same life-changing impact Jesus did.
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