Last weekend, I embarked upon one of the most crazy, fun adventures of my life- I ran the Disney Princess half marathon. The morning of the race, I arrived around 3:45 am with 19,000 other crazy ladies in tutus and tiaras. I had been training for several weeks and was PUMPED to get the show on the road! After many fun songs and being herded like sheep to the start corral, it was finally go time. The “fairy godmother” sprinkled some pixie dust and the fireworks signaled the beginning of the race. Starting in front of Epcot, we raced down World Drive (a four lane highway) in pursuit of Cinderella’s castle in the Magic Kingdom. Along the way, there were several characters and Disney scenes to take pictures with, but I had my eye on the prize and was not about to stop for ANYTHING! I made it to Cinderella’s castle, smiled for a photographer or two, and continued to fight my way through the other runners back to the Epcot ball. For me, the best part of the race was checking out the awesome costumes. There were tutus of every size and shape, custom made t-shirts, guys dressed like princes and even an Elvis (who’s shirt cleverly said “Why marry a PRINCE when you could be with a KING?”… get it? Haha..). My friend Elle and I made our own custom shirts. The front of mine said “Princess Sarah” with a picture of princess Jasmine (my favorite!) and the back said “Daughters of the King” with a big cross and two hearts. With all the Disney hype about Prince Charmings and knights in shining armor, we felt that it was important to remember who our King truly was and that we serve a Heavenly King. Throughout the race, as I passed people they would yell comments such as “Amen, sister!” or “that’s the best shirt I’ve seen all day!” It was encouraging to hear others lifting up the name of Jesus in the midst of a challenging race. I can honestly say that it is His supernatural strength and power that carried me through. Without it, I never would have been able to finish with a time of 1:51.38!
Not only did God display His power and strength carrying me through the race itself, but just two days after the race, I experienced His supernatural presence in a whole new way. It is completely normal and natural to be sore with muscle aches and pains for several days after a big race. But, for some reason, I felt like mine was getting worse and the pain in my quads was radiating up into my left hip. I had been putting icy hot and a heating pack on it all day. Navigating stairs was a challenge for sure- I looked like the stiff legged tin man trying to walk down them! This evening, before going out with a friend, I told my roommate about how my hip had been hurting and asked her to pray for me. So she did! She laid her hand on my hip and prayed that, in the name of Jesus Christ, my hip would be healed. Instantly, the muscles in my legs relaxed and the pain left completely! I went skipping out of my apartment and ran down the stairs to meet my friend in his car. I know, I know, this probably sounds crazy, but it legitimately happened and I am now pain free! Although I want to jump right back into running, I know it is wise to take some time off and let my body recover with plenty of rest. 🙂
While I have always believed that God still heals today, that is the first time I have experienced His healing power first hand. It was the most incredible, unbelievable thing I have ever experienced! I will not even get into the theology behind it, or why God chose to heal my silly self-inflicted muscle aches from the half marathon, but He did. I believe He did because I believed that He could and would. After all, faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. I am so looking forward to the mountains that will be moved on the World Race as we all step out in ridiculous faith, expecting the unexpected and believing that Jesus will move in huge ways in the lives of those around us!
