Marathon Journey to the Start Line

Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glorify in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Today as I ran I realized that crossing the finish line of the Suva Marathon is not actually the victory, getting to the start line is!  If I had chosen this race for myself I would have given up a long time ago, but as a LIFE Runner I run for God, every time my feet touch pavement I am doing His work not my own and so I can't give up, it's simply not an option.

A marathon was never my dream.  I can tell you, from the moment that Ryan passed me the magazine on our flight to Suva, opened to a page talking about the Suva marathon, my life has never been the same.  I didn't want to run a marathon.  I was quite content with short distances and nothing too challenging, but God had other plans.  My time in Fiji is a marathon, as God uses me to do His work with LIFE Runners my commitment can't be half hearted, it can't be wishy washy, I have to be all in.  The same goes for marathon training, you are either all in or you fail.  God was going to use this training to strengthen me, to test my limits and increase my faith, He was going to show me what trust looks like.

I have spent countless hours running for God since February, training and preparing.  I totaled them up today, and since February when I started training I have run 637.52  miles (1026 km)!  That is crazy!  That would be like me running from Rapid City SD to Des Moines IA or for my Fiji friends, that would be me running all the way around Fiji 2.2 times! I have run 637 miles all to prepare my body to run 26.2 miles! Many of my long runs happened in the predawn hours, alone with God in the dark running and praying over the streets of Fiji.  In the beginning it was exciting, and I could hardly sleep the night before a long run happy to rise at 4am and hit the road.  God knew that I wouldn't make it if it got hard early.  When it was time for it to get hard, for my faith to be tested, God was right there with me.

Pain is something that many of my loved ones suffer from chronically.  As I dealt with pain and struggle I tried to remember that they fight this every day, and mine would pass.  When injury knocked at the door I made a choice not to answer.  I have to choose to trust God every single run.  When my IT bands scream in pain, when my knees throb and ache, when my calves cramp into knots, when my thighs have nothing left to give there is only one place to turn.  I turn to God!  It would be so easy to give up, I'll be honest, I've considered it.  When I have spent more time limping around, stretching, icing, and rolling out sore muscles, it is really easy to get discouraged, but God is asking me to trust Him.

Training for a marathon is not just about running, actually running has very little to do with it in my case.  This training was all about God getting His way in my life.  He showed me where my eating had become sinful and he broke the bondage of food addiction.  Occasionally I will start to stumble and the urge to binge will come but God is there reminding me how much stronger I am now that I have shed that sinful habit.  He showed me that quitting is easy, but pushing through and not giving up has great Kingdom rewards.  When I run, even when it hurts, He rewards me by building and strengthening my faith.  He is trying to show me that when I am worried or scared that those feelings don't come from Him and can be rejected, and just like that your outlook can change.  He is teaching me patience, I need lots of patience!  As a wife and as a mother I struggle with patience, but this process is long and slow and for over 6 months I have trained and waited expectantly about race day to arrive.  When I faced my first injury only 3 weeks ago (5 weeks out from race day) I really had to learn patience, to not worry, but to trust God was covering the details.

The biggest test of all was my 20 mile run, that is the longest run in training before the race and I was at the peak of my knee pain the week of my 20 miler.  Honestly my faith was wavering and I was scared that I wasn't going to make it.  That morning I got up at 3:45am to stretch and roller my legs so they would be limber on my long run.  I silently prayed that God would give me a good run to encourage me.  I also knew that I had friends and family praying for me and over me that day as I set out on my way.  I can tell you that after I warmed up that run was perfect and without pain!  God showed me that even though everything looks hopeless He provides for our needs right when we need it!  He carried me for 20 miles/32km over 4 hours without pain!  It was just what I needed to find the courage not to give up!  As I continue to run on my taper weeks, when the pain flares up I just remember how far God has already brought me and stop looking at how far I have to go.

I could never cross the finish line at Suva Marathon if I was running for myself, but with God anything is possible and I will glorify Him by never giving up!  God called me to this and I have no doubt He will see it completed!

I couldn't have done any of this without God or my family standing behind me.  Ryan has been the most supportive amazing husband.  I know that living with someone who is training for a marathon is not easy, my mood sometimes needs a good adjustment but he is always there cheering me on and waiting for me to come home after a long early morning run with words of encouragement.  He doesn't complain that I smell like icy hot constantly and he never grumbles when I ask him to massage out painful calf knots.  If He didn't support me, this would have been so much harder.  This morning my sweet daughter laid hands on my leg that was bothering me and prayed for healing.  I am so thankful that God has used this training to strengthen not only my spiritual life, but also
our walk with the Lord as a family.  There is something truly humbling to have your 5 year old lay hands on you and pray over you.  Ella Mae tells me that she is going to run a million miles for LIFE Runners when she is older.  I thank the Lord that this ministry is so powerful not just for me but for our family.

On August 8th, when I cross that finish line, I pray that God is glorified, that the LIFE Runner message of hope was spread far and wide and that this is only the beginning of what He has planned for Fiji and our amazing team of Pro-Life warriors.

Romans 8:31
What, then, shall we say in response to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?