Running a Marathon

When we were sophomores in college, my friend Holly & I decided we were going to become runners.

So we started going running a couple afternoons a week. 

Luckily, our legs are about the same length & we had both been high school athletes, so while we were currently not in the best of shape, we could easily keep pace with one another.

A couple minutes of running the straights & walking the hills turned into being able to run the mile loop around the intramural fields.

We played it safe at a mile for a while then took on the seemingly endless hill we had been avoiding.

After we conquered the hill we set out for 2 miles.

I will never forget the day we ran 2 miles.

Staring at our watches for the last half mile, watching the pavement slowly but surely disappear beneath our heavy feet, & panting so loud we could hear ourselves over our iPods.

We hadn't been smart enough to plan the route ahead of time so we ended up running the last fourth up a lengthy hill.

But we made it! 

I think we felt extra good about ourselves because a third friend had gone with us that particular day & had dropped out halfway through.

Sophomore year was a long time ago. 

Holly & I don't live in the same city anymore.

But I do still run. 

2 miles isn't scary anymore. 

I'm a 3 to 5 mile person now, but it always depends on the weather & the time of day & how my bad knee is feeling.

And I don't do sprints.

I've never been someone that does things fast.

Even as a high school swimmer, I was distance.

After all, they say it's all about the journey right?

The title of this post is probably a little misleading.

I am NOT running a marathon.

Not literally anyway.

I have been thinking about  the analogy of life being a marathon a lot lately though.

It can't be lived as a sprint. It just can't.

Sometimes it is incredibly tempting, but to sprint through life would be to miss out on life.

Even during the bad times when we want to lower our head, put a shoulder to the wind, & get through without feeling much, it's better to keep the pace.

There is a little tiny hill in part of my route that is more of a challenge than some of the big ones.

I think it's because it is sharp & on a turn & in the middle of the route, so no promise of "the end" once I reach the top.

I often tell myself that if I can make it up that hill, then I can make it through every other part. 

I take deeper breaths & I really concentrate on my feet hitting the asphalt. 

I feel my muscles in my legs tighten & my heartbeat speed up.

Then it's over & my body relaxes just a little.

That's how I see life. 

It I sprinted through even the toughest emotions, then I am not really engaged in life.

And I want to be fully engaged. 

I want to soak up every drop of life that I can. 

I want to run this marathon to the best of my ability. 

It's funny because what that means for me, a 24 year old with a degree from a private University, is spending the majority of my time with high school people. ( I don't call them kids cause they would find that offensive!)

It's true!

I find that I am most engaged in life when I am living a life that expresses the love of Jesus to others. 

And my God is a God of laughter & joy.

He is a God that wants me to enjoy the good things he put on this earth & to relish in the happy times.

So here I am, living a life that most of the rest of the world will never understand, so that one day I can say, as the apostle Paul did, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race...I was fully engaged in the marathon of life!"

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Here's some recent shots from my "race"