"Perseverance"

Earlier this year my friend decided she wanted to start running, and also decided to put a goal out there that in 3 months she would run a 5K.  Of course she asked me if I would be interested in running with her and of course I said sure.  Let us remember that I hadn't ran in years.  I've always thought runners were way cool, and I had always thought it would be super duper exciting to just be able to run, run, run.

Needless to say I went to work.  Got out there and started with my walking.  Slowly but surely I progressed to walking/running.  Let me tell you it took some good songs, lots of sweat, and baby steps to get to mostly running mode for me.

One day I was out running nice and steady.  Felt like I had a good pace/rhythm going on, when I looked down only to see that my shoe had come untied.  I had to stop tie my shoe, and try to find that right rhythm again.  No sooner did I find it, only to look down and notice now the other shoe also came untied.  Bent down, tied it, and I was back on my way.  By this time I was super annoyed, not only was it raining and cold, it was the day to run the full 3 miles.  You would guess it, 3 times was the charm.  Yes, 3 times now did I have to stop and fall out of rhythm during this nice run.  At this point I was pretty much ready to triple knot them so it didn't happen again.  I was so frustrated I was just about at the point when the running for that day was going to come to an end, but I pushed on.

This is a lot like our every day life.  We have those road blocks, those things that happen that mess up the rhythm of our routine.

Maybe you were headed out the door late for a meeting and the baby decides to burp up formula down the front of  your outfit.  Maybe it's your day for carpool and wow and behold you have a flat tire.  Maybe you're trying to grocery shop but everyone seems to be whinnying and misbehaving and your new goal is just to try to find the nearest exit.

We experience bumps everyday, every minute it may seem like, but it's how we choose to look at them that determines how we will let them effect us.

I could have gotten so frustrated stopping 3 different times to tie my shoes.  I could have said enough with running for today, but where would that have gotten me.  Not one step closer to my goal of running a 5K.  Instead I chose to keep going.  No matter how many times I got knocked down, I was going to keep going.  I was going to finish the race that was set before me.  I wasn't going to let those road bumps hold me back.  I can proudly say that because I didn't let those road blocks stop me that I not only finished the 5K, but I went on to push myself a little more and also finished an 8K this year.

Whatever road blocks you are facing, don't let them stop you!  Keep your eyes on the prize.

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."  Hebrews 12:1