One of my biggest sacrifices for the spreading of the Gospel has been my body. I love to run, do pilates, and eat healthy (sometimes). While traveling on the race it has been nearly impossible to keep up with these things due to VERY tight food budgets, ministry hosts cooking for us (rice, rice, and more rice), being on teams where people have allergies and preferences, unsafe environments to run alone in, and heat and humidity so extreme that even walking takes massive amounts of effort.
Since being in Europe, God has blessed us tremendously with cooler weather, the ability to cook for myself (it’s possible I’ve gone vegan??), a team with no allergies, and whole lot of motivation.
You see, I haven’t always enjoyed running. But once I started doing it, I realized that it made me feel alive! Learning how to control my breathing, putting one foot in front of the other, exploring places I never thought I would… it’s wonderful! One of my little personal goals for this year was to run my second half marathon in a foreign country. I realized when I got to Europe that I may never find an official race in my remaining countries and I may never have these blessed conditions again (Asia is supposed to be sweltering!), so I decided to run one on my own. I began running last month, continued into this month, and decided that this was the month I would try and achieve my goal of 13.1!
Today we had cool, rainy weather and a free day with lots of time, and I decided to just go for it. I surely didn’t think I was ready, but what was the hurt in trying? You know those days where you start running and feel like you could go forever and ever? This wasn’t one of those runs. But the entire time I just kept telling myself to put one foot in front of the other like it was any other run, and before I knew it the run was over. I did it!
On a bigger scale, this is what the whole race, and even all of life, is like. I was reading this book and it talked about how God sets our goals for us. He has this magnificent, unimaginable plan for our lives and gives us little glimpses of the future He wants for us, but it’s our job to go and take it. It’s our job to make choices, take action, and obediently follow Him knowing He loves us with an AWESOME love. Sometimes this is easy, thrilling, and fun! Sometimes it looks more like a really sweaty t-shirt, heavy breathing, and focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other.
This was one of my silly personal goals for the race, and I’m so proud I succeeded, but as I finish up these last 3 months (!!!!!) I want to keep my eyes focused on the bigger goals and bigger future God has for me!
So pumped to be alive!
You are magnificently loved,
Sara
p.s. I fly back to the states November 22nd!!!!
