Running the Race

In late November, I broke my toe and had to stop running for a few weeks. However, I had already signed up to do the Resolution 5K again which raises funds for Earl's Place, a non-profit that finds homes for homeless men. For most of December, I thought I was going to have change from the 5K option to the 1miile walk as my toe continued to ache. This was discouraging, as was the weight gain with the holidays upon me due to the irresistible cookies infiltrating the house.

Yet, a few days before the race, a wonderful thing happened. I found that my toe didn't seem to hurt much anymore and I could jog without discomfort. I decided it was time to suck it up do the whole 5K...this time while pushing Liam in our jogging stroller. I figured no one would blame me if they saw me walking with a stroller and not running.

Needless to say, running/jogging/speedwalking is not as easy with a stroller and I felt my out of shapeness  acutely. I slugged through the whole race but kept on pushing (quite literally). The finish line came into view, and Bill jogged over to me and took the stroller away, encouraging me to sprint to the end and beat all those other people.

The sprint was exhilarating. With my burden lifted, I felt incredibly light and agile. It was beautiful feeling my body responding to the new freedom I had.

And after it was all said and done, I thought about how Jesus does that for us. He comes to us in the middle of our race and says, "Cast your burdens upon me, for my yoke is easy and light, lay aside every weight, everything that slow you down, to run the race set before. I'll be there at the finish line."

So Jesus, here's my 50lbs of stroller. I'll see you at the finish line.


(coming later this week...spiritual lessons from the Velveteen Rabbit)