Running

It seems that these days I only blog around big events. Just the phase of life I am currently in where other things have taken priority.

So, this weekend I did a bit of thinking. It was a big weekend for us and quite emotional at times.

I started running over 11 years ago. I have run almost every distance from a 1 mile fun run to 26.2 miles. It all started with a goal of running a full marathon before I turned 30. I did that. And just kept running. One thing I have learned over the years of running is that the more you run, the more mental it becomes. Now that may seem obvious but sometimes I am a little slow on the uptake. I just have noticed the last few races I have run have been the toughest mentally for me and I was trying to figure out why that is. What I came up with is that the new has worn off, for me and for my "fans." Now, I am NOT complaining, but the last few races I have run I have had one "cheerleader" there, my faithful husband. The poor guy has encouraged me from the moment I uttered the crazy idea that I wanted to run 26.2 miles to today. He has even decided to take up running too! This past weekend we ran 13.1 (really more like 13.5 with the race goof-up) miles together. I promise that if he had not been right by my side I would have never made it past mile 5.


Now, there are lots of reasons that Saturday's race was a bad one for me--I didn't feel well the day before so I didn't eat well the night before, and I woke up still not feeling great. So, that started the mental battle before the race even began. We learned around mile 2 that we had run an extra .4 miles, and the mental battle continued. I really started feeling bad around mile 4.5 and stopped to walk. I was on the verge of tears and trying not to vomit on the side of the road. But my faithful encourager walked with me, even though he felt great and could have breezed through the rest of the course. This scene played over and over again for the next 8 miles--got a blister on my foot, chaffing occurred, cramped in my abdomen. I mean, really, I was thinking I definitely look like I have not trained for this race, much less run several of these races!! So, my mental battle and me...and I did not do well.

But I had a partner who stayed by my side and held my hand to cross the finish line and let me come home and crash. Literally, I fell in the bed with my sweaty nasty race clothes still on me! That is how badly I felt. I ran too many miles on fumes and was probably a bit dehydrated. I beat myself up over how badly the race had gone, and not just for me, but my man was running his first half marathon. He felt great, he ran great and could have finished with such a better time than he did. But he chose to stay with me.

HOWEVER, I had a bigger better day to follow. And NOTHING could have kept me down. The same guy who has held my hand through good races and bad, led our boys to CHRIST and then got to baptize them. It was a perfect day and reminded of the truly important things in life. I mean, who really cares how bad my time in the race was?? Two of my boys have made THE BIGGEST DECISION of their lives and they are following in obedience to be baptized. And they were SO VERY EXCITED about the day.

I really didn't expect this day to come quite as early in their lives as it did. And that has been another mental battle for me to deal with. I have come to believe, through so many encouraging friends, that their salvation is a process. Just like my salvation is a process. Obviously, they cannot, and should not, be in the same place of understanding today as they will be in 10 years. But their salvation is secure and now the process of growing has begun.

I cannot begin to express my appreciation to so many who have poured into our boys. They are blessed beyond their imagination with a group of people who love them and who have invested in them, and will continue to do so. As a mom, I could not ask for more.

Saturday was so not perfect, but Sunday was just a perfect day. I was so excited to see the father of my boys baptize them. Knowing my boys, I knew there would probably be a "memorable moment" from the day and Jonah did not disappoint. I watched him swim out of the baptistry and spew water out of his mouth at Eli through the happy tears on my face. That is just his personality. But he is so spiritually sensitive at the same time. Just shows the amazing creative work of God. And to make two brothers so different and yet they both have been drawn to the TRUTH is just amazing.

To those who stood with me Sunday, I say THANK YOU. I know it doesn't truly convey my feelings on the role you have played and will play in the life of me and my family. It is the least I can say.

That about sums up my thoughts from this weekend. Two very different days, but both made me do some thinking. And both days made me appreciate the man God has blessed me with in a whole new way. He is the real deal and I just don't know what I would do without him.

So on to the next adventure...