This weekend is the Akron Marathon! I have such mixed feelings about it but overall I am excited. I trained but not as much as I would have liked to, and Akron has a particularly challenging terrain. Oh boy, I am making excuses already! Lol. It’s frustrating though because I want to do my very best and I’m just not feeling top-notch (fitness-wise). I am running with Team in Training for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society though so it’s nice to know there is a great support system as we encourage each other.
I am just grateful for a strong heart and lungs, legs that keep me going (although slowly). Lol. So often when I run now I think about people that I have seen or met that struggle with walking or cannot walk at all or are sick. It is a reminder to pray for them and although it sounds weird…run for them too. Giving God each heartbeat and push myself a little more knowing that the run in and of itself is a fully body prayer, mentally, spiritually and physically. I’m trying to focus on that as opposed to what my finish time will be. I just want to cross that goal!:) For everyone who is participating, go get em’! I’ll cheer you on as you pass me! Lol.
2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
**Update**
Thank you to beautiful D-D for sending this devotion! I just saw it on my e-mail and had to share it with you.
Feel The Burn
Luann Prater
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)
Devotion:
Jagged rocks sunk deep into my knee. They left a hole the size of a quarter and deep enough for my mom to wrap her finger in a washcloth and stick it down in it to clean it out! (How is that for way too graphic?) This 3rd grade bicycle accident left an impression, literally!
My knee always gave me trouble after that. Bike riding was still possible because I had the leverage of the other leg. I could walk for miles. But running was a different story. Running a lap in gym class caused my knee to swell the size of a small cantaloupe! If the teacher insisted I keep running, the knee would go limp and I would fall on the track.
The school nurse told my mom to take me to the doctor. He drained it, then wrote a note and handed it to my mom. A prescription? No, a note excusing me from EVER taking another gym class….EVER! Woo Hoo! I felt like I had just been released from exercise-prison!
What that did over time, however, was clip the wings of this butterfly. That note was my “get out of jail free card” and I pulled it out whenever exercise was mentioned. At first I was fearful that my silly weak knee would let me down and embarrass me in front of my friends, so I would just excuse myself from the fun. Then I just gave up all together, thinking I could never do anything physical beyond walking.
A few years ago, my sweet friend Lysa began running every morning. I remember thinking, I wish I could do that. My neighbor also runs every morning and asked if I wanted to join her. “Wish I could,” I’d say.
Dealing with congestion in our chests one day, my hubby and I decided to go for a walk. Suddenly I blurted, “Let’s run and get active enough to break this stuff up!” He looked to see if I was joking, then saw my serious face. So we ran.
And I liked it! I didn’t even consult my knee! We made a second lap and I finally felt it — the burn.
People talk about feeling the burn but I never really “got it.” However, that day the warm sensation in my limp, lazy muscles felt good. Stretching past the norm made me feel alive.
Complacency is never good, not physically or spiritually. Fear of what might happen took the drive out of my physical life. Sometimes fear of what might happen can take the power out of my run with Christ.
Are you pulling out your note of excuses, explaining why being an active Christian just won’t work for you? Or are you regularly feeling the burn in your walk with Jesus?
My husband and I are running twice a day now. I feel the burn and I’m LOVIN’ IT!
Is God calling you to get off the couch and out in the world to make a difference? If so, get up and go with gusto.
Dear Lord, You never sat lazily on the sidelines and watched life happen while You were here on earth. You were active in the lives of others. Help me Father to love the burn that comes with stretching my faith. Take my hand Lord and teach me to run! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Application Steps:
Stretch yourself today. What can you do to get off the sidelines of life and get into the race?
Power Verses:
Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (NIV)
Proverbs 31:17, “She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” (NIV)
Best of luck to you Saturday! Look forward to your stories next week. Prayers for strength and good health for you. Go get em'!!!!!