One More Mile

I ran a half marathon once, and I said to myself, That's good. Checked that off my bucket list. Won't ever do that again. 

But for some reason we have the tendancy to do the things that we say we will never do. 

So here I am again, training for another half marathon because the circumstances are different. Mainly the people are different. The cause if different. Before, I ran alone. This time, I'm running with a bunch of people that I know and that are all somehow connected with our mission in Burkina. Before, I was running to get a good time. This time, I'm running for the infants in distress program. Yep, the one that I work for everyday. 

A few years back, a woman came on a short term trip to visit our team, and she was so greatly impacted that she has rallied people to pray and support us ever since. That's why she organized a team in the Chosen Race of New Braunfels, Texas, that will directly benefit our infants in distress program. The funds the runners raise will help to supply and stock the new Infant Rescue Center coming soon in 2017. Now that's a cause worth running for! 

So I get up early once a week for a long run. I started at three miles and I add one mile each week to help train my muscles and heart and mind to endure. You can't just wake up one morning and run thirteen miles, you know. (Well some probably can, but not this girl, and I think I'm in the majority.) 

I've noticed something during my training. First, I've noticed that the second mile is always the hardest. Every time I run the second mile, I think, Oh boy, this is going to be a really long run today. I also have points during my long runs where I hurt and I think I'm going to have to stop, but if I just keep going and push through, the pain passes and suddenly the next couple of miles become easy and light. 

Second, I've noticed that every week I feel as though I've gone as far as I can possibly go. I feel like I could never possibly add another mile. Yet the next week comes and I add another mile and I feel the same way all over again. I remember when I struggled to run five, and this morning I ran ten. At the end of the tenth mile, I felt like there was no way I could ever do eleven, but I know that next week I will get up and run eleven and feel like I could never ever run twelve. It's a phenomenon that applies to life, too.

I love how Paul compared our lives to running a race. It's so true. There will be days when your feet are tired and your heart feels weak. You may be breathless and you don't think you can go on, but when you persevere, you will break through to a wide open space where your feet are light and you feel like you could run for miles. That's what God does for us when we trust him with our course, our path, our fatigue, our burdens. He brings us into wide open spaces and makes our feet like the feet of a deer. 

There are also moments when you feel like you cannot possibly add another mile. But somehow, you keep going and you add the miles that you never thought you could. And one day you realize how strong you've become because of the struggle and the pain and the days that you kept going when you wanted to quit. That's also something God does for us when we trust him with our struggles - he stretches and strengthens our spiritual heart muscles with the weight of the burden. He transforms struggle into strength. 

If you want to see what I mean, just go for a run. 

We are all already running. Run the course that God has marked out for you. Persevere through that second mile. Push past that roadblock. Add the mile that you never imagined you could add. Press on towards the goal to win the prize to which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). 

For you aren't running alone. But you are running for a cause. May we run to know and love God more deeply and make him known and greatly loved among all peoples.

Interested in running the Chosen Race or supporting me to run? (Remember, I'm not doing this for no reason!) Every gift will help stock and supply the medical infirmiry of the infant rescue center. Check out https://raceroster.com/events/2016/6944/chosen-half-marathon-5k/pledge/team?id=10