Saturday, January 28, 2012

13.1 :)

13.1! Yup yup! I did it! Never thought I could.. but I did it!


Psalm 18;29- "With your help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale a wall"



I have been meaning to write this blog for a couple of months now, but I just haven't gotten around to it until now... but first let me say that this journey has been amazing.. I can remember the first time I tried to run a lap around the track in back high school. I thought I was going to die! Literally! It was extremely hot and here I am panting to run just a quarter of a mile with out stopping... I remember the first time I actually was able to run a mile with out stopping. I remember feeling like my lunges were going to explode inside my chest. I remember how my coach used to buy a huge tub of bubble gum for me because I was so convinced that I could not run with out it because it helped keep my mouth and throat moist.. (and may I say that I still to this day believe this! lol try it before you judge!) I remember the first 5k I ran in cross country. I remember my coach telling me I was doing a great job and I finally worked up to the point where I could run the entire race without stopping.






 I remember the first time I ran 5 miles. Man I thought that was so far! Dont get me wrong.. it is.. but nothing compared to what I had ahead. I have never been a consistent runner.. I don't even know if I ever will be. But over the years I eventually got to mile 7..8...9... and then BAM! I hit the big double digits! I reached mile 10! 






Yes! That felt good! I remember being so tired I felt like a train had hit me when I finished.. but mentally I was ecstatic! Me? Run 10 miles? Who woulda thunk! At that point I decided I had to make a commitment to do my first half marathon. After all I was so close! So as a couple weeks go by I believe the girls and I were running an 11 miler.. but then had a big surprise! At the end of our run.. my great running buddy Leonor told us that her watch was set wrong and we actually ran over 13 miles. Holy crap went through my mind! I did it! I got to my goal of my first half marathon! I started out not being able to even run 1/4 of a mile and I made a goal I never thought I would in a million years! 




Now my blog post doesn't end here. It actually just starts here. You see, I can honestly say ALL credit goes to my God. I cannot tell you how much I learned through this specific time of my life of training. Not only did he give me the feet and legs to be able to run, but he gave me the vision and the strength as well as the encouragement from other runners. 








I cant tell you how peaceful it is to run 10 miles listening to praise and worship music. Now take me back a few years and I probably would have never gotten motivation to work out or run listening to praise and worship music. It would be somewhere along the lines of something "rap like" but who ever pegged me to be one to like that kind of music right? (inside joke). Anyways, what i'm trying to say is God loves us so much and wants us to learn his ways, he also wants to see us succeed in a way that is glorifying to Him. There is no coach, no accountability partner, no trainer, no teacher, no friend or family member that can be a better leader to you than our Lord Jesus Christ. His Holy Spirit has the power to work amazing things in your life. Now sure, I may have been able to do this without God in my mind and heart. I mean, people do that all the time and are way faster than me and in way better shape right? But that is also the amazing part. I didn't' just run this race alone. I ran it WITH my God- the creator of me and of this world..  He is my coach. He is my leader. But best of all..He is my shadow - with me everywhere I go. He is there in my trials and struggles. He was there when I started the race and He was there when I finished. He was there. He always has been and He always will be. 

Today I encourage you to remember- we are to be heaven minded in absolutely everything that we do. We are to glorify God with our body. If we do anything here on earth that has nothing to do with His name or kingdom then it is pointless. If we do anything for ourselves then it is pointless. Everything we talk about and everything we do should be surrounded by Him. That is one of the biggest things I've been able to grasp from this experience. 1 Corinthians 10:31- So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

If I give my all to God, He will give his all to me. 


What race are you running? Are you trying to glorify yourself? Are you trying to prove something to someone or maybe even yourself? At the end of the day.. when it's all said and done, what do you have? You. You have you. Is that enough? Or do you still want more? My guess is something is missing. 

Galatians 1:10- Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.


Filling a bottomless pit can be exhausting. But filling your life with Christ is unimaginable and is promised to be an amazingly wild and great adventure!

"The power of the human spirit is inexplicable. Jesus Christ has been my source of inspiration. Through his life, Jesus demonstrated how the human spirit can face and overcome anything. He looked ahead with hope. With faith in God, we can come from nowhere and go anywhere. We can shine like a bright light as we move through dark times and face the worst life throws at us. Everyone who holds onto faith during difficult times will be embraced with affection and respect by the people around them. You are a force to be reckoned with when our faith is intact and God is empowering you" - Robert H, Schuller