The cost of victory

Honestly, if you would have asked me about a year ago that I would run a half marathon in a year, I'd think you are completely out of your mind and crazy. But, it's happening. With God's strength and my legs I will be running a half marathon in May.

My mom and I have been running for a little over a year with the Run For God program through my church. My mom and I ran a 5K last May, a 10 K in October and now she signed us up for a Half.

Training began and running was the last thing I wanted to do. The weeks passed and the miles kept getting longer and I kept pushing through. Last week was the run I was dreading for so long, the seven mile. The longest I have ever run. It came with ease, so much ease that I ended that morning having complete eight miles and felt amazing after.

Having felt like a million bucks for running an extra mile than on my training plan, the pride came too. I wanted everyone to know about how long I ran. I wanted people to commend me for the run and the ability I was able to do. And that was just the beginning...

Tuesday's are the long run days and when the day came to lace up my shoes I was ready...for nine miles. I wanted to show everyone - my mom especially - that I was able to run far distances. The run felt great and I PRed my time. But soon the runners high would fade and the pain would come.

My feat ached, my muscles were sore, my head pounded and I felt sick to my stomach.

I suffered because of my pride.

It's funny. I have the exact plan for my training, yet I thought I was better than the plan and decided to do things my own way.

It's like the bible. We have an exact plan on what God calls us to do and that it is the best plan for a good life. Yet, we choose our own way. We decide we can live life on our own and reject the plan. But how far is that from what God intended.

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. - John 14:21 

A Video Craze

Earlier this week I had a friend show me this video that she loved so much and she could not wait to show me. The video was a group of girls in track and some of them were falling over hurdles. I thought it was one of the funniest videos I have seen in a long time. After my friend showed me, I was driving a friend to work and I had her watch it in the car too because it was just so funny that I wanted it to brighten her day too.

It got me thinking, I wonder (and I'm guilty of it too) how excited we can be about a video, yet we are in fear over proclaiming the Gospel.

It's just a video that means nothing in eternity. But the Good News of Jesus is better than any other story or video this world can bring. It's the ultimate story about how a King leaves his palace to save the ones He loves.

It's just a thought on what our lives would look like if we lived in the reality that the Gospel is better than any video in the world and that it has the ability to save.