I had this in the Drafts, of my blog posts for a year and decided that I would post it. I feel it is appropriate after watching the 2012 Olympics and as we prepare to return to Russia.
I ran 13.2 miles. That is I ran a 1/2 marathon race.
Now some people would say, "Why?!" I think partly for my own pleasure and partly to prove to myself that I could.
I am not the courageous person some might think. I have an ugly secret, I like to take the easy road, and sometimes I quit. I doubt myself and wonder if I really am able.
During the months I trained scripture verses on 'running the race set before me', 'spiritual discipline being much more profitable than physical', and 'running to win the prize' all played in my head like a song. One thing that kept kicking around in my head was accepting that, in my struggle to discipline myself to do my best, I couldn't do this for others; it was just for me. No matter how much I want to, I can't make choices for others, I can only encourage, and hope to inspire by my own choices. It is true that we are "church" but we are individuals that will in the end stand alone before God. In a world that is so interlinked and globalized this can be a lonely thought. My FB friends will not be coming with me when I face my Maker...and my Maker will not care that I have a network of 1000+ FB friends ( I don't really), but I will account for what people do not see or know, no matter what I post on Twitter, FB, or this blog. He knows the secret places of my heart.
Race day all my thoughts were on one thing, am I doing the best I can or am I selling myself short because I am too afraid to be all that I can be... afraid to fail, to succeed...afraid of what others might think. I had already decided to dedicate my run to my mom and of course to God. And then I realized, mom was not a conqueror, she didn't exude confidence and strength, she fell short of perfect in lots of ways, just like me. But when she gave her heart to Jesus she was transformed and she could not be anything less than a conqueror because she believed and confessed in what she could not deny. She was perfectly imperfect, working out her faith and running her race one leg at a time.
You may face new challenges today. You may think you can't...say, live across the world away from all you have ever known as home and family and comfort. I didn't either, but God, He gives me the power to say, "Yes!" everyday. He has already given me victory and I learn to lean hard on him. He has put me in training and I sometimes want to be lazy, or find myself afraid of what new things He will put in front of me once over this hill...maybe a mountain, or maybe a straight flat easy trail. Whatever it is, I can do it with Him propelling me.
I ran that 1/2 marathon and I had a chance to share my testimony with some people running with me, of a believing mom who wasn't afraid to pray healing over me. Every time I run I am reminded of that healing from asthma, with every breath I take and thank God. I finished the race strong in a sprint over the finish-line. What a great feeling it was to know I had done the best I could, that all the training had prepared me for a strong finish.
What kind of training does God have you in now? Don't fight it, embrace it and know that with Him you can do anything He puts in front of you today. When I stand before Him I want to have no regrets, but not because of anything I have done but what He did as I took courageous steps with Him to live a life for His glory.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," Heb 12:1
I ran 13.2 miles. That is I ran a 1/2 marathon race.
Now some people would say, "Why?!" I think partly for my own pleasure and partly to prove to myself that I could.
I am not the courageous person some might think. I have an ugly secret, I like to take the easy road, and sometimes I quit. I doubt myself and wonder if I really am able.
During the months I trained scripture verses on 'running the race set before me', 'spiritual discipline being much more profitable than physical', and 'running to win the prize' all played in my head like a song. One thing that kept kicking around in my head was accepting that, in my struggle to discipline myself to do my best, I couldn't do this for others; it was just for me. No matter how much I want to, I can't make choices for others, I can only encourage, and hope to inspire by my own choices. It is true that we are "church" but we are individuals that will in the end stand alone before God. In a world that is so interlinked and globalized this can be a lonely thought. My FB friends will not be coming with me when I face my Maker...and my Maker will not care that I have a network of 1000+ FB friends ( I don't really), but I will account for what people do not see or know, no matter what I post on Twitter, FB, or this blog. He knows the secret places of my heart.
Race day all my thoughts were on one thing, am I doing the best I can or am I selling myself short because I am too afraid to be all that I can be... afraid to fail, to succeed...afraid of what others might think. I had already decided to dedicate my run to my mom and of course to God. And then I realized, mom was not a conqueror, she didn't exude confidence and strength, she fell short of perfect in lots of ways, just like me. But when she gave her heart to Jesus she was transformed and she could not be anything less than a conqueror because she believed and confessed in what she could not deny. She was perfectly imperfect, working out her faith and running her race one leg at a time.
You may face new challenges today. You may think you can't...say, live across the world away from all you have ever known as home and family and comfort. I didn't either, but God, He gives me the power to say, "Yes!" everyday. He has already given me victory and I learn to lean hard on him. He has put me in training and I sometimes want to be lazy, or find myself afraid of what new things He will put in front of me once over this hill...maybe a mountain, or maybe a straight flat easy trail. Whatever it is, I can do it with Him propelling me.
I ran that 1/2 marathon and I had a chance to share my testimony with some people running with me, of a believing mom who wasn't afraid to pray healing over me. Every time I run I am reminded of that healing from asthma, with every breath I take and thank God. I finished the race strong in a sprint over the finish-line. What a great feeling it was to know I had done the best I could, that all the training had prepared me for a strong finish.
What kind of training does God have you in now? Don't fight it, embrace it and know that with Him you can do anything He puts in front of you today. When I stand before Him I want to have no regrets, but not because of anything I have done but what He did as I took courageous steps with Him to live a life for His glory.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," Heb 12:1
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