On a jog and a prayer
Published: November 8, 2006
That was how the running trail conversation with Carol Middlekauff started. Minutes later, she was asking heavier questions, like how one gets to heaven.
When Middlekauff, 57, hits Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail for her 3-mile runs, she’s not just working on her physical shape. She’s checking up on fellow joggers and pedestrians’ spiritual conditions. [Grace Plus Nothing]
Middlekauff began running the trail when she moved to Austin almost seven years ago. She’s always loved to run, she said, but felt she could be more productive if she ministered while she did it.
So two years ago, she started wearing a sign on her back that reads: “John 3:16, world = you” with the name and Web site of Great Hills Baptist Church. Her husband, an artist, made the sign from a number worn in a race.
For Middlekauff, it’s a conversation starter. She chats with people, often as they’re passing her, by bidding them good day and asking them about their distance. Then she lays on the heavy questions: Who is Jesus to you? Are you 100 percent sure you’re going to heaven?
“People never get asked about their spiritual fitness,” Middlekauff said as she clipped along, stopping periodically to walk or get a drink of water.
The questions can lead into testimony. Middlekauff talks about taking a step of “faith,” an acronym that she explains as, “Forsaking all, I trust Him.” She also hands out cards with Bible verses that she carries in a pocket on her baseball cap. [What is Faith?]
Middlekauff said she hasn’t gotten any negative comments. People who don’t appreciate her efforts simply turn around and go the other direction.
She said she thinks her efforts have made a difference to some people. And with each run, she tries to reach more.
“I’m going to heaven,” Middlekauff said. “And I’m taking as many people with me as possible.”
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