In high school, I ran track. I was a sprinter, and I was fast. I even won a few medals.
Just a few years ago, for my fiftieth birthday, my husband took me to Hawaii to celebrate and I signed myself up to run in the local YMCA’s 5K run. Race day was hot, and the course was heavy laden with hill after rolling hill. We ran into the sweltering wind with the sun glinting off the surface of the ocean in the distance. I walked a good portion of the race and, when it was over, I grabbed my husband’s hand and told him we didn’t need to stay for the medals ceremony. I was just glad to be finished, and confident there was no medal with my name on it.
After we returned home, I opened my email to find a message from the YMCA director in Hawaii. Lo and behold, I had a won a medal! And, not just any medal, mind you. I had won first place among women in my age group!
The YMCA director mailed my medal to me and it arrived in an envelope at my home in Nebraska. Of all the medals I’ve ever won for running, this one is probably my favorite. The medals I won in high school were medals I was not surprised to win (although I probably should have been surprised). But this one, from the YMCA in Hawaii, was a total surprise. Most of the time, while running the race in Hawaii, I wondered to myself, “Why did I sign up for this? How in the world will I ever finish? What was I thinking? Look at all of these people running so much better than I’m running this race!”
Isn’t that the way it goes? All of that doubt and struggle and I ended up with a medal, anyway!
I think you’d be incredibly surprised if you knew just how much God delights in the race you are running today. Against the odds and struggling with every step, you are running it! You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and God is cheering for you the entire time. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Hang in there and keep moving forward, even when you wonder, “What in the world was I thinking?” God is for you, and he rejoices over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Keep running your race. Great is your reward.
This reflection originally ran at Life for Leaders. Click the image below, for accompanying questions and prayer.
LOVE this. I started running a few months ago at age 51 and really like it. I’m not fast and still have to walk a lot, but have decided the only bad run is the one I don’t get out and do! 🙂
Part of my race includes taching a Bible Study through Colossians 3. It kicks off tomorrow. Nervousness abounds!
I’m always so surprised to find out what my body can do, aren’t you? This morning, on the treadmill, I was giving thanks for my lungs, my heart, my legs, my arms, my little feet. My feet used to be so cute, but they’ve gotten…thicker as the years have progressed. I was complaining about my thick feet the other day and my husband reminded me to be grateful. These feet have carried me to very many places, and they deserve to be a little bit thick!
How did your Bible Study go?
WOW! Just WOW!
We had over 40 women present from all walks and seasons of life…singles, new moms, grandmothers and all in between. Some are new to our church and some don’t even attend. Some have never before attended a study and some have attended more than they can count. It was incredible!
I have also lost count of the number of women who have said they will be participating on line.
One of the greatest things we will do each week is pray for women who are pastor/elders’ wives and women serving as missionaries overseas. As of this morning (and the list is not yet complete) we had 42 women from 17 countries on the list. Many of them women we don’t even know but who long to be prayed for!
GOD is moving among His women and I am grateful to be a part. Thanks so much for asking. My heart is full to bursting!
I’m smiling ’cause I just walked my first 5K ever just a few weeks ago, Deidra. The runners left me in the dust, literally, but I didn’t care one bit. I reached my very personal goal and a victory it was indeed … even if I was the last to cross the finish line!
Yay for you, Linda! A 5K is no small thing. Even better if you can just settle in and enjoy the experience, and it sounds as if you did just that! I finished dead last in my very first 5K, too. In fact, in the middle of the race, I sat down on the side of the road and watched the runners and walkers pass me by. When I finally crossed the finish line, there was no one there to greet me but my family. :/
Your winning that surprise medal is kind of like that story of the sheep and the goats where people didn’t know they’d done good. I needed this story today. Peace of the Lord be with you.
What a great comparison, Katie. Thank you for sharing it, here.
Great message, Deidra! He IS for us and I need to remember that each and every day! I hope you’re taking the opportunity to rest this time around, though 😉
I’m just reading your blog for the first time, Deidra, but this brought me to tears. I’m feeling pretty lost, just now, as a stay-at-home mom with an infant and toddler. Just earlier, today, I’d had the aha that I do much better with the hard work of crisis situations than that of endurance. So today I find myself completely spent, and thereby especially vulnerable to my old demons of insecurity, shame, confusion, jealousy, and comparison. Thank you for being used to cheer me on in this long distance race!