My running journey started my senior year of high school. After I decided to quit high school soccer I didn't have a sport to play. I didn't realize how it effected my body until the summer before my senior year. I hated how sluggish I felt. So I began running on the treadmill at the YMCA Fall of 2009. I started out slow, only able to run 10 minutes at a slow pace. But every night at 9:00 I'd go to the YMCA to run. As the semester went on I worked my way up to running for an hour! Praise God!
In 2011 I ran my first marathon in Dallas; the White Rock Marathon (which is now the Dallas marathon). At first my motivation was to finally succeed in a sport that NO ONE in my family has done before. I wanted to do something for me. I ran every day for miles around the streets. I wanted to run to be first, which was the wrong way to look at a marathon. Dallas' white rock marathon changed everything for me. It took me longer than I wanted to finish, and I didn't know how to prepare myself for 26.2 miles. But I had my family there waiting for me at the finish line, and my mom and brother-in-law drove around to try and catch me at different mile marks. I learned that the marathon journey was a hard and long journey. In the beginning I was running with adrenaline, but there were moments where I felt alone, tired, and weak. I thought I was the last person in the race. But then I realized something, it doesn't matter if I'm the first or the last runner or what time I get. What matters is that I persevere and finish the race. And God put people along my marathon journey; fans, runners, and family to keep me running to the finish. He even provided 100 calorie gel packs and oranges to give me energy since all I ate for breakfast was a granola bar....
I had the strength to keep going until mile 23 when I started to feel weak again. I didn't know if I could finish the last 3 miles until God sent a fellow runner to run passed me. This runner had a verse on his shirt that is now my running verse.
2 Timothy 4:7 says, "keep fighting the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith."
That was no accident. God was telling me that it wasn't about being the best. It's about my heart. My heart that has been changed not by works, but by grace. And when I get tired and weary, I can look to Jesus who endured the worst pain and death for my sins and the sins of the world. If Jesus could endure the cross, I can endure a few measly miles. And I can endure whatever happens to me in this life for the JOY set before me--the finish line; eternity with God through Jesus Christ!
So take heart runners. God loves you so much more than you've ever been loved before! You have strength not in your ability but in God's MIGHTY power!
Keep running the race, keep the faith; choosing to believe God no matter your circumstance, and fight the good fight of faith.
This is why I run.
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