"Risen Indeed" (4/1/2024)

It’s been about a year since I last wrote, and it’s been an interesting one at that. 

We’ve moved to Idaho and are two weeks from the birth of our third child. We’ve experienced both loss and gain in the last year and are starting to feel the onset of a new season in our lives. 

Why the break, and why am I writing now? Over a year ago I had this idea of The Suffer Club, not really knowing what it was going to be other than my pursuit of faith and fitness through the study of both physical and spiritual suffering. Like I said, the last year has been a big one for us, with a cross country move, a new baby on the way, the loss of Sierra’s ‘Nana’, sickness among family members, new friendships and new challenges. It pulled me away from focusing on The Suffer Club, as I tried to enjoy and fully engage in our new chapter of life in north Idaho, and while there have been down times and challenges, it’s been good. 

Now I find myself at odds with what’s next. I’ve spent about 6 years focused on building a traditional career, and while I’m grateful for the way it’s provided for our family and taught me a lot about myself and my skills, it lacks purpose, and that has God reminding me more and more about The Suffer Club. The Suffer Club exists to share the power of Christ through the pursuit of suffering. In recent years, I’ve been infatuated by the concept of intentionally exposing yourself to suffering, with the purpose of drawing on Christ to push you further as an active form of worship. We know that diamonds are formed under immense heat and pressure from an otherwise valueless material. As I reflect on Easter yesterday, I think about how our salvation is like that diamond. Jesus was brought to earth with the appearance of an ordinary man, and through pressing and suffering he was tested to the end, where he never failed, he lived a perfect life, was hung on the cross to experience the ultimate death through long and slow process of suffering. After three days, the “diamond” emerged as he rose from the grave and revealed himself to over 500 eyewitnesses, therefore giving us the freedom to no longer fear sin, but instead to live a life in pursuit of him, with the security of eternity available to everyone who chooses to partake. 

Sierra is 38 weeks pregnant, and yesterday as much as we didn’t want to, we decided we’d put a bit of suffering to work, so we knocked out the “Passion WOD”. It consisted of 100 double-unders on the jump rope, an 800 meter “cross carry” with a 95 pound barbell, and 100 burpees over the bar. The sun was shining and I really wanted to nap in my hammock, but I’ve heard God calling me back to this recently, and when your 38 week pregnant wife is willing to put in the work on Easter Sunday, you suck it up and suffer together, so that’s what we did. 

For the next 8 weeks I’m planning to sprint. The Suffer Club is going live on social (Instagram) and I’m currently working on a website to house all of my posts. I hope you’ll join along, and when you see fit, share with a friend who you think could benefit from this too. I don’t know what this looks like long term, and quite frankly I might fall flat on my face and fail, and that’s okay. But I’m going to let God make that decision for me, because I believe he is honored in what I’m doing here, and as a result he will lift me up in my pursuit. 

Matthew 28:18: 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”