What is good, my friends?

Out on my 1000 Mile Walk with God today.

A couple days ago, I got a message from a former student of mine.

He had me in seminary probably 20+ years ago, which is both awesome and slightly rude of time to keep moving that fast. 😄

He sent me a kind message and said he loved seeing my walks on the socials and appreciated that I was still teaching.

Then he asked:

“Are you training for something?”

He told me about an event he’s training for in Spain, which honestly sounded really cool.

And I thought:

“Nope. Mine is not that cool.”

I’m not training for a walkabout in Spain, or an ultra race, or for some extreme endurance event.

I’m training for life.

Which sounds kind of melodramatic, but it’s true.

My goal is to walk 1,000 miles a year for the rest of my life.

And I hope that’s a long time, because I want to be available for my family. I want to be able to serve. I want to have energy to build, create, teach, encourage, and show up. I want to be physically able to do whatever God asks me to do next.

At some point in the last couple years, I just realized:

I need to keep moving.

Not because I’m trying to become some elite athlete, because I am just not that guy.

Hey, don’t get me wrong. For those of you running ultramarathons, climbing mountains, or doing events where your toenails voluntarily leave your body… Godspeed. I admire you.

I am also not you. 😄

For me, this is about staying healthy, staying connected, and staying available.

And this year, with the youth theme being “Walk with Me” (Moses 6:34) — for which we created an epic pair of socks to match — I thought:

Okay, I’m going to walk with God.

And because I’m a teacher at heart, I started sharing little thoughts along the way.

Not because I have everything figured out, or because every walk comes with a perfectly polished spiritual insight.

Sometimes it’s just me, a sunrise, a rucking vest, my phone, some fabulous walking shoes, and a brain trying to process life out loud.

But I’m grateful that some of you are walking with me in this process.

I’m grateful when someone says, “Hey, thanks for sharing that.”

And honestly, I’m doing this for me too. So my testimony stays strong and so I stay connected to God.

I want to keep noticing His hand, so I keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Because maybe life really is the longest marathon.

And maybe the goal isn’t to sprint through it.

Maybe the goal is to keep walking with God long enough that He can use us wherever He needs us.

Training to Be Available

So no, I’m not training for a race — but I am training to be available.

Available to my family, to serve, to learn, to grow, and to whatever God is writing next on this excellent adventure.

Thanks for being part of this little B.O.M.Socks community. I’m grateful we get to walk through faith, family, health, humor, scripture, fabulous walking shoes, and real life together.

Godspeed!

Derek Crimin
B.O.M.Socks CEO, Excellent Sock Model