What would be the opposite thing of a “Bucket List”? For me, signing up to run in the Los Angeles Marathon would make the Top Three for sure. I’m not a runner and don’t think I’m a nut. Why would I sign up for such a lunatic adventure? I’m still not sure how it happened, but I trained for a year, then actually lined up with 20,000 other demented men and women to stagger through 26.2 miles in a cold, driving rain.

Did David B. Smith’s debut on the marathon course go well? You’ll have to listen to this book to find out! Hint: the answer is a muscle-shredding, red-faced, ego-deflating no. My finishing time in the race goes down as perhaps the biggest athletic flop since the Dodgers 1982 collapse. But as I later nursed my blisters and wounded pride, I began to realize there are poignant Bible lessons out there on Exposition Boulevard. Our Lord invites us to “run so as to receive the prize.” In the race for a crown of life, there can be many winners! So I hope you are blessed by these chastened spiritual reflections.

I’m recently retired after fifteen amazing school terms as a math professor at San Bernardino Valley College. During semester holidays, I enjoyed creating the Rachel Marie series of faith-based love stories all happening in my childhood home of Thailand. It’s a fun adventure, and all ten sagas are available in print, e-book, and audio formats. You can check them out at www.davidbsmithbooks.com.