Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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Ready, ready, ready, ready, ready to run

All I’m ready to do is have some fun

What’s all this talk about love?

 

I don’t really know this song beyond this point but these lyrics have been in my head the past week as I have begun running. These lyrics come to mind because of a video some of my friends and I made in college for one of our classes. It was a video on running and different things. I have never enjoyed running before and have never done it consistently. In fact, I don’t/ haven’t worked out much the past couple years. On the WR, I’ve maybe done something 2x in the past 10 months but I am ready, READY TO RUN!


You may be thinking, “so what… you’ve decided to run.” Thing is, most times it was my decision to not run, but then when my team and I were in Jo’berg I got hurt and COULD NOT run… or even walk properly. I twisted my knee really bad. It swelled up really big and I couldn’t bend it without it hurting. It slowed me down but it didn’t stop me from doing ministry. I iced it and elevated it and did what I thought necessary to heal it. The swelling eventually went down and I could finally walk normally. We moved on to Cape Town and to a different ministry. Most of my team loves to work out and does it frequently. I had never really wanted to join them before but that month they did exercises with the kids and it would have been fun to join in. I knew that I couldn’t though…. yes, I could walk but doing some of the things they were doing I knew would be bad for my knee so I opted out. My explanation was that I don’t work out. I didn’t want to admit that I couldn’t do it. Like I said, my knee was getting better and didn’t really feel pain except at night from keeping it in one position for so long.

 
 
         
      
         Left: Elevating leg right after twisted it.
         Above: Swollen knee.      Below:
         Wearing knee brace around Cape Town.

                             
                           

Then we took a long flight (about 16 hours or so) from South Africa to the Philippines. Sitting for that long was not good for my knee and it made it worse. I couldn’t do some of the ministries because of my knee. My team made me spend time in my bed actually resting my knee. That was hard for me not being able to do things but also learning to be still. I am a doer and when there are things to do and people need help, I want to be involved. I can’t lay around in my bed while others are out working but I was forced to.


I never realized or thought about how important our knees are until I injured mine and then I felt how much we use them! Climbing stairs, pulling weeds, shoveling, sitting Indian style, among other things were all things that I found out that I struggled to do without pain. It was hard to not be able to do that stuff. Then one day I was standing on our balcony which overlooked the field where most of my team and others from some of the other teams were all running around… I was looking out at them and in that moment wished I could be out there running with them… remembering the feeling and freedom of being able to run.


God has taught me a lot through the injury of my knee throughout the months. I did go to the hospital in the Philippines to try and see if I had torn something or what had happened. They didn’t have the right equipment to tell me anything and all the doctor wanted to do was to prescribe me pain medications. It had already been over 6 weeks and I hadn’t been taking pain medications so it was frustrating that that is all they wanted to do for me. I continued to give things to God and he has healed me over time.

 

I am learning that my body is the temple of God and I need to take care of it. For me, it is not about losing weight but it is about being physically, mentally, and spiritually healthier. I have never been a morning person and I still don’t like mornings but I have found that starting my morning prayer running is much better for me. Before I started running I found that my feeble attempts to continue sleeping while our squeaky bedroom door kept opening and closing only put me in a bad mood. I would be irritated and frustrated because I couldn’t sleep. I would roll over and attempt to pray but would be distracted or end up drifting off. Getting up to run, I still stumble out of bed and am slow moving to put on clothes and tennis shoes. As we walk to the sidewalk, I am still yawning and trying to wake up. But I have started to run.


Now I am ABLE to run!!! I walk/run since I haven’t been exercising much before this but I push myself and God gives me strength. Day 3 of running I was able to go the whole way! I never asked me teammates questions… I just went. That day I decided to ask how far we run… their response was “about 2 and a half miles”. I have never in my life run more than 2 miles. So now, not only am I able to run but I am able to run more than I ever was before! With each step that I take, I fall more in love with God. He desires a relationship with us even if that involves running with us. I have never been more thankful for the ability to run and to move. Our bodies are amazing and I am able to move. Some people are disabled and don’t have that ability. I need to praise God for what he has given me and how he has been moving in my life. This past week, I have been running with a couple of my teammates and it has become a form of worship for me. We have fun talking and praying together. During the run, we talk about dreams we had the night before from riding around on invisible scooters to dreams about going home. We pray for our day and whatever comes to our mind. Prayers are said between our huffs and puffs of breathing hard. Each labored breath that I take and every step that I take moves me closer to God. And so, I continue running.



So I want to encourage you…


Colossians 3:17

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”


God wants a relationship with us. There are times that we need to sit and be still before him but he wants to be included in our lives. How can you be including him in yours?