Running For Jesus

Hey ya'll! It's been a long time since I've written. Maybe you didn't miss me, but I sure did miss writing. These past two weeks have been pretty hectic. I mean, I THINK I had Spring Break somewhere in there, but it kind of got lost amongst the homework, working, and training.

Speaking of training, have any of you began something on a whim, and later realized that you didn't particularly enjoy pushing yourself to the extreme in that area? Yeah, I enjoy running. But only on a good day. Which hasn't been for a while. To catch you up: Three weeks ago, I ran my first nine miles. Which was amazing. The week after, I ran ten miles. That ended up being just as amazing as nine. It's those midweek runs that kill me. You know, the "shorter," recovery runs that you go out thinking you're going to conquer the world and you come back with sweat pouring down your face along with a tear or two. Either that or you go out dreading a run and come back with endorphins pumping into your blood stream and you feel as if you could do ten things at once. That happens a lot too.

Take Saturday, for instance.

Since I'm taking the ACT next weekend, I wasn't able to run at my regular Saturday run time (eight o'clock). Instead, I took three hours out of my morning to do horrible math equations that I haven't learned yet while I listened to a teacher "dumb-down" the problems in order that we absorb everything we needed to. Back to running. After my ACT prep, my family went out to lunch. I ordered pasta. Before a run. Maybe not the smartest decision on my part. I've been having a lot of ankle pain lately, so we went to an athletics store to look at new tennis shoes for moi. I was hesitant at first because of the price, but I knew that if I was going to finish this thing I needed to not injure myself. So I bought the shoes. Which, I thought, would encourage me to run that afternoon. Until it began raining.

For those of you who have run in the rain, it really is awesome. But it's the getting started that's hard. I have a really hard time motivating myself and all I wanted on Saturday was sunshine and warmth to accompany me. But I forced myself out onto the trail anyway. In my beautiful new running shoes that were getting soaked with mist. I knew that if I was going to keep my mind occupied I needed something to do - other than run, of course. So I began singing songs. But that makes you breathless pretty quickly. Imagine: some crazy blonde, singing to herself at the top of her lungs, running like a maniac in the rain. Funny picture? Pretty much.

Running gives you a lot of time to think. I know a few runners who like to talk to God while they run. Honestly, I've had a pretty hard time connecting with the God-man lately and I knew that if I tried to pray in my head I would get sooo distracted. So I just began talking to him like I would if one of my friends had been running beside me. I recently have had a hard time knowing what to pray for. So as I was talking to Jesus, I just began thanking him for everything. My new running shoes. The rain. The fact that a teacher is willing to sit down with students and help them study for the ACT. My ability to run ten miles. Then I began praying for the people in my life; the ones who encourage me, and those who need the Lord. And I prayed for myself. For my decisions and that I will have integrity to know what He wants me to do. During this time I realized, not only that I've been negligent in my walk with God, but I'm running for the wrong reason, for myself, when who I needed to be running for was God.

Before I knew it, my run was over, but God's presence was with me. And He can "run" with you too if you ask Him.

I'm in a band!

Yep, you read that right. Who would have ever thought that I, Gracie Elizabeth, would ever be in a band, let alone, perform in front of people! Gasp! And this is how it came to be:

A couple weeks after Christmas, one of my friends bought a drumset. We all thought she was crazy to waste her money. (She can't even keep a beat while clapping. I love you, Ayla!) Once she had her drumset, her automatic reaction was to, you guessed it, start a band. She asked me to play guitar. (My guitar is blue, by the way. Don't be jealous!) So it was me and Ayla. Naturally, we had no idea how we were going to pull this off. So we asked one of our friends, a show choir kid, to help us out. She is really amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I know she's reading this. Not only does she sing, but she also plays piano, guitar, base, she learned how to play the ukilele, and she was able to write music for a violin. Did I meantion we also have a violinist? Now what else do we need? Oh right, a pianist. Duh!

There we were. The five of us struggling to play Taylor Swift together. The first song we played was "You Belong With Me" The first time we played it through and stayed on beat the whole time, we just stared at each other in awe. As in, "That's right, guys. We just did that. How cool are we?"

After playing Taylor Swift for two months, you kind of want to shoot yourself. Sorry, Taylor, I still love you! But seriously, it was time for something new. So we migrated to Christian music, and along the way someone got the wacky idea to play in youth group. Ha. As if! But the idea stuck. We had exactly two weeks, and I don't even know how many hours we practiced. It was all we talked about.

This week was it. We were going to do it. We had everything all planned out: the songs we were going to sing/play, who was to do what, we even talked about who was going to pray when we were finished. We arrived at church two hours before youth group was supposed to start and played all the songs through twice.

If you know me at all, then you know I'm not one to stand up in front of a group of people. This took guts for all of us. Something that made it easier was the thought that, since we were in youth group, our peers should be worshipping God and not looking at us. But I was still nervous that I was going to mess up, naturally.

Playing in a worship band is something I think every musician should experience, because it's not for you! It's for God. As Philippians 2:9-11 says, "Therefore, God has highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." This is what I realized after performing. And I can't wait to do it again.

Making Mistakes

I recently made an "oops," let's call it a "big oops." I have asked forgiveness and been forgiven, so for me (and hopefully for the other person) this is in the past. What I did can't be undone, and I do regret it, but it's over now; insults and back-stabbing aren't going to change anything.

It's hard for me to ask forgiveness. Why is it always hard for us humans to say the what-should-be simple words "I'm sorry?" As Christians, the world sees us as people who need to be perfect. Maybe there's a reason for that. After all, we're called to follow Christ's example, who was perfect. But in the grand scheme of things, we're still humans. And obviously, imperfect. Guess what, guys? I make mistakes too!

In Brant's Blog, he writes about a famous guy who recently made a mistake. I don't understand all the details, and it's not necessary to, but because this guy was famous, the whole world is now able to ridicule him, call him names. Guess what, guys? Just because he's famous, doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes too!

Brant was talking about how the guy now has his entire burden laid before the world. He wrote, "Your breakdown, your fallenness, your foolishness, your weakness, made national news. Ours hasn't, yet. But everyone knows you are no Superman. Everyone knows you are a man who cannot 'hold it all together.' Everyone knows you are not to be placed on a pedestal. Everyone knows you are a man who cannot be trusted to save the world. Everyone knows you've got 'issues.'"

You know what, Brant? I've got issues too. And you're right, it's kind of a relief to let everyone know you're not perfect, even if it undermines your credibility. 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, "Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring light to what is hidden in darkness, and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time, each will receive his praise from God."

It isn't our place to judge. I have a hard time remembering this one. So thanks for keeping me accountable!

The thing that most stuck with me from Brant's post was this: "God knows our darkest motives, our worst moments, our private shame, and is yet willing to say, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant,' because of what Jesus has done for us. I simply can't imagine having everything brought into the light, and then hearing 'Well done . . . '"

God forgives. And thankfully, because of Jesus' saving grace, we can too. I'm sorry for what I've done, but I can't change the past. You, however, you can change the future.

Losing Endurance

You know what endurance is; that thing that keeps you going, even though you are ready to quit. The technical definition is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for long periods of time. Such things as running, biking, swimming, volleyball, I'd even say homework takes endurance.

Of course, the endurance that I'm talking about right now has to do with running. I am officially seven weeks into my half-marathon training program, and it gets harder every day. I feel like I'm taking one step forward, two steps back. For example, I ran four miles today and I felt like I wasn't going to be able to make it. Last weekend, I ran eight pretty-easy miles. Maybe it's just the heat?

There's nothing I hate worse than feeling like I can't do something. It's just so depressing to realize that you're not strong enough. My "running verse," Isaiah 40:31, says this: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

If I follow God and trust Him with all my heart, I can do anything, as long as it's His Will. That's supposed to make me feel better, and it does, but I'm not sure how much I can keep up my "endurance." Help me out here? Any cross-country, track, marathon runners know what I'm doing wrong? 

The Perfect Christian

For the past two days, whenever I have turned on the radio in the afternoon, the DJ is always talking about what it means to be the "perfect Christian." He asks questions such as "should we be perfect?" and "If we're imperfect, what does that say to non-Christians?" and "But if we do pretend to be perfect, how does that affect the way non-Christians view us?"

Well, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. If I mess up, does that just prove to those who don't believe that we aren't really changed when we accept Christ into our life? Or does that just make it easier for them to understand that our God really is a forgiving and loving Savior?

Honestly, I don't know. I'm trying to find scripture references that say something to the extent that our imperfections make our relationship with God all that more real, but this is what I found:

Matthew 5:43-48 says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Those were Jesus' words. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. So now I'm really confused. I think that if we try to be perfect, we'll end up thinking that we're perfect, which we're not. We are made perfect through the blood of Jesus Christ. We can't be perfect on our own. And that's why Jesus said "as your heavenly Father is perfect." But there is no way we can live up to that standard.

If we live imperfectly and admit to our flaws, are we telling unbelievers that our God is weak? Or are we saying that he's strong enough to save even those who are imperfect?

What do you think? Thoughts? Opinions? Or do you just have more questions, because I know I do?

Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is just around the corner. As in, it's on Saturday. I was eavesdropping on a coversation my mother was having with someone, when I overheard her say that she couldn't believe that such a religious holiday has turned into a celebration of beer. Okay, so maybe those weren't her exact words, but that's what she meant. But that got me thinking. I had never thought of Saint Patrick's Day being a religious holiday. I must have overlooked the "saint" part. Anyway, Saint Patrick's Day in a nutshell:

The Irish have been celebrating Saint Patrick's Day for over 1,000 years. March 17 brings around the anniversary the death of Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century. He was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. When he was sixteen, he was kidnapped from Roman Britain and brought to Ireland as a slave. After his escape, he is rumored to have returned to Ireland and brought Christianity with him. The shamrock, or what I call a four-leaf clover, is also brought to light during this holiday. Saint Patrick was believed to have used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to the Irish people. Since then, the shamrock has become the national flower of Ireland.

Saint Patrick is known about through his writings, the Confessio, which is a spiritual autobiography, and the Epistola, which is a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians. In his autobiography he describes himself as being a "most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God."

The first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day didn't take place in Ireland, but in the United States, during the eighteenth century when Irish soldiers marched through New York City. This allowed the soliders to reconnect with their culture and show patriotism while in a foreign land. Traditionally, the Irish attend a church service the morning of Saint Patrick's Day before celebrating in the evening with a feast.

This somewhat holy day has turned into a day of celebrating the Irish with colors of green and gold, and of course, the traditional shamrock. Not to mention the leprechauns and their lucky pot of gold. As for the Irish, it can still be a religious holiday consisting of attending mass and offering prayers of missionaries before the celebrating begins.

My Pet Peeves of RUNNING

As I was running the other day, I began to list all the things that annoyed me while I ran. Here's my list of the things that drive me crazy:

1. When you begin running and realize you forgot to stretch, so you stop in the middle of the trail and almost get hit by a biker.
2. Your foot falls asleep while you're trying to finish your eight miles.
3. A bug flies up your nose and you suddenly can't breathe.
4. When a bug flies in your eye and you suddenly can't see.
5. All the bicyclists try to ride by you as close and fast as they can and you pee yourself a little.
6. You can run eight miles but you can't sprint to the car without breathing like a racehorse.
7. You're so proud of how far you ran and all of your friends just stand there, unimpressed, as you tell them how you can't believe you did it.
8. The city doesn't open the trail restrooms until May. When they do finally open up the bathrooms to the public, they forget to leave toilet paper.
9. Your friend who has never run in his life asks to run with you and is better at it than you are.
10. You trip on a crack in the sidewalk and practically fly up into the air, flail your arms, and fall headfirst into a bush.
11. The homeless man on the trail begins to follow you.
12. All of the baby geese hatch and the mothers suddenly decide that they need to viciously attack you as you run by.
13. You run past a dog and it jumps up and tries to attack you. You pee yourself a little. Again.
14. You think it's going to be warm, so you wear shorts. It begins to snow.
15. You think it's going to be cold, so you wear sweat pants. The sun is melting you.
16. Your shoelace comes untied. Five times. You double knot it. It comes untiled again.
17. You can feel a blister beginning to form during the first mile of your run.
18. When you forget to bring some form of time keeper and you're late to dinner.
19. You accidently run a mile further than you're supposed to; therefore, you run an extra two miles.
20. You stand on the street corner for five minutes because the "walk" sign doesn't change.

But really, running isn't so bad. I am in the sixth week of my training program (for my half-marathon), and I've never felt better. For all the things that drive me crazy, the feeling of accomplishment after I run is what keeps me going.

Despite everything I just told you, this is what you need to know: exercise is healthy. Get out there and do something good for your body. Whether that be running, walking, or playing a competitive game of sand volleyball, get outdoors. Have a beautiful day!