Posted by on January 31, 2013

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The 10K is a big race around here. Thousands of people (and I’m talking THOUSANDS) come out for the Monument Avenue 10 K. It’s the eighth largest 10K race in the country. 

One of my new goals in the whole “horizon” word-of-the-year thing is to participate in a 10K race.

That’s 6.2 miles.

I’ m not planning on being a part of the Monument Ave race, though. Too many people for me. Not that I want to run this thing alone. I really like having complete strangers cheer me on. It’s a great feeling, but I think I’ll find a less popular race. 

However, if things keep going the way they are, I won’t be running any race. I haven’t done such a great job of implementing my new exercise plan. Between the weather, my loathing of indoor gyms, and some very important errands, I’m averaging five miles a week. That’s not going to get me in shape. 

Now, I could get down on myself about this. I could focus on yet another failure in my long list of things I’ve attempted. But that won’t do anything but make me feel bad about myself, and despite what a lot of people say, God actually wants us to love ourselves, encourage ourselves, and push ourselves to keep trying. 

Just because we fail, miss the mark, go to Starbucks instead of walk three miles, we’re not lost causes, and we are not unloved. Nothing separates us from that. When my kids fail to do what I’ve asked them, I may be disappointed. I may refrain from giving them more privileges. But I don’t turn my back on them. 

It’s a race, right?

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” (Hebrews 12:1)

It’s a marathon, and we’re not alone.

There are people cheering for us, and when we stop and walk instead of run, they don’t yell insults. They don’t keep pointing out to us that we’re walking and not running. Instead, they tell us not to give up.

Can you hear them?

They’re cheering for both of us right now. Don’t give up. Tomorrow’s another day. Keep trying. They are part of a great cloud of witnesses. They know what it means to stumble, to lie, to cheat, and do all kinds of things, and they know what it means to stay the course.

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George Loy
George Loy
10 years ago

I need this today. Wilma and I are both needing a “boost”. We haven’t had much success with our new business lately. We haven’t given up, just discouraged. For the first 4 months, it has been great. We go to Atlanta Feb. 8-9 for a Leadership Training meeting. Leanne Denny, Becca Watson, Wilma, myself and 2 others are going to learn how to better build our business. Again thanks for the devotion today. I think Dave Ramsey said, “success is not a sprint, it’s a marathon”.
Have a great day and “hi” to Cameron and the girls.
Blessings,
George

Debbie Smith
Debbie Smith
10 years ago

One of my favorite running quotes…”Run if you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up. ” Dean Karnazes

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