Creatures of Habit
“We are, all of us, creatures of habit.” – Edgar Rice Burroughs
Bad habits are difficult to break and new, healthy habits are not easy to establish.
Studies show that It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. If an experience is pleasurable, the habit is more quickly established. If something takes tremendous effort, it takes more time.
During this past year, all of us established new habits while breaking old routines. Now, we put on masks and sanitize our […]
What people are saying…
As I work on the final edits of my new book, “Ascend”, I am excited about the endorsements that it is getting:
“This book is the closest thing in form to a kind of modern expression of parables I’ve ever read. Clear, compelling, mysterious, and evocative all at once. Matt’s story-telling and personal passion for the story of Jesus and his way reverberates around every corner. Beautiful. Read this!”
A.J. Swoboda (PhD, Birmingham) is assistant professor of Bible, theology, and World Christianity at Bushnell University and the author of After Doubt.
“I’ve had the privilege […]
Daily Devotions
I open my eyes and look at the digital clock next to my bed. 5:29 a.m. I quickly reach for it and move the small switch to the right, turning off the alarm that will otherwise sound within seconds. Sliding out of bed I stand in the darkness and reach onto the floor where there is a pile of clothes and a pair of shoes. I pick them up and quietly, leave my bedroom, and get dressed in the bathroom. It is October and I know that it is the low 40’s outside. I put on a t-shirt, a hooded […]
The Race Nobody Finished
I have competed in some races that were disasters. There was the time that a hiker intentionally removed the directional arrows for a half marathon trail race and nearly everyone went the wrong way.
There was the time when a locomotive pulling 100 rail cars slowly crossed a 10K course at the four-mile mark, forcing a majority of the runners to stop for ten minutes.
There was the time when the person with the key to 100 porta-potties at the starting line slept in and failed to show up. Imagine the mess 10,000 runners can make of a downtown park just before […]
The Olympic Trials
“Matt Runs To Catch a Dream.” This was the headline in The World, our local newspaper. The black and white photograph featured my mother with bobbed hair, looking down at a stopwatch as I ran past her on the dirt track behind Sunset Junior High in Coos Bay, Oregon. I was eight-years-old.
Like many children, my dream was to one day run in the Olympics. The legacy of our hometown hero, Steve Prefontaine, made this seem attainable. He had finished fourth in the 1972 Olympic 5000m. While other boys pursued the glory of baseball and football, I spent my time running […]