Small Beginnings

Picture this...

It's the last day of school. I'm standing with my co-teacher, Ms. B. We are asking all the little kiddies what their plans are for the summer. Unbeknownst to me, I am asked this question by Ms. B herself. What do I say? I tell the class that I want to run a mile. Simple goal that I've had going on two years now. I have always started and stopped as the task seems fairly daunting to me, never having run in my life for any reason except MAYBE if I were being chased.

Before I finished my statement and while the classroom of hormonal pre-teens giggles, points and laughs, Ms. B is apparently searching for sporting events for us to join. Well, she found us one and now I'm training for a marathon. 

A. MARATHON. I don't RUN!! And not in MARATHONS!!

Well, needless to say, this has truly been a challenge for me on all levels. I won't go into great detail here, but I will say this is definitely more of a spiritual challenge than a physical one. And it's definitely a physical one.

I Corinthians 9:24 KJV reads: "Know ye not that those who run in a race all run, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain it." If you can't read French, The Message reads: "You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally."

I will be running (as soon as I raise some money to sign up for the event), with hundreds, maybe thousands of other people. My goal is to run the whole thing. SN: A marathon is just over 26 miles! What is my prize? To be called a good athlete? To get a shiny chunk of metal? To get that slap on the back when I'm done or be on TV for three seconds? All of these things would be neat and give me warm fuzzies, but for me, this is really about being spiritually discliplined.

This is about making a goal that is attainable and taking small steps to reach it. I have done this all my life. I set a goal to get a degree and I'm finishing a third. I set a goal to give spiritual and Biblical counsel to those needing it and I do that. I set a goal to leave Tennessee and I am working on living out my third year here. Big goals. I think big. Running a mile is likely chump change to some people I know. Some would scoff at such a small endeavour because they can do it without blinking or breaking a sweat. Luckily, this ain't about them! Why do I want to run a mile? Mostly, I think I'm crazy, but I know that running a mile means better health for me. Am I trying to be skinny? No. I like my big butt. But I do know that running a marathon, and even training for one, will cause weight loss. Hopefully, I will re-shape the caboose and develop less of a keg in the mid-section, but overall, I wanted to do something I have never done before. 

I wanted to blog about this journey, but hesitated because I had nothing to report. Well, I can report that I successfully ran a quarter mile this morning! I didn't stop or even hesitate until I had reached the set goal. I'm stoked. And I do not have a running partner to keep me accountable. It's just me and Jesus sweating it out. 

So, just for those who want to know the boring details: I run three mornings a week in a cul-de-sac in my neighborhood. The area is very quiet with little traffic. It is roughly one half mile from the street's stop sign all the way around. My friend M taught me to run between every other phone pole and I had started out doing that, but that was too much starting and stopping. So, I modified his suggestion and used the poles as markers to stop. I start at the street sign and stop at a phone pole I choose after I start to struggle. It works well for me. Today, I didn't get winded until halfway around the cul-de-sac!! I'm so proud. I didn't time myself. Right now, the goal is just to run the whole cul-de-sac without stopping. Then after I reach that goal, I will run on the sidewalk towards town. In public view of drivers. This is personally challenging to me for many reasons that I can share privately, if you really want to know.

Hebrews 12:1 KJV reads: "Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

The same verse in The Message reads: "Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"