We celebrated our oldest son Mark’s 51st birthday a couple of days ago, and I found the perfect card. It had me with the line on the outside about “pushing the limits.”

Not so long ago, you were a little boy pushing the limits…

Did he ever! But the card went on to say:

And today. Not much has changed. You’re still reaching, striving, giving it your all…

The birthday card we bought for Mark…Mark between buildings in Oklahoma City…Mark’s two gold medals, March 9, 2024.

It made me realize that “pushing the limits” can be good. The day before his birthday, he flew to Oklahoma City to participate in a stair race. This event was run in two different buildings, two different races. One for the fastest time up the two buildings (one 21-story, and the other 16-story). Mark won that with a time of 7:35, a course record, 15 seconds faster than the guy who finished second. He went on to win “Power Hour:” how many times can you go up both buildings in one hour? He’s the only competitor who did it six times!

Pushing the limits. Once he set an ambitious goal to sell a certain number of houses in a year. He met his goal by May of that year. Pushing the limits can be a good thing if you’re pushing in a good direction!

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, NIV)