From here to.... THERE

   This morning I ran in my first 5K. I didn't even know about it until last Sunday and I was totally bummed cause we were leaving on tour Wed. morning. But due to a cancellation that freed up our entire weekend, I decided to give it a shot. And it was really fun. (did you catch that? did I actually say that running 3.1 miles as hard as I could was... fun? Okay, I'm not superwoman. It was only a little fun. The really fun part is thinking back on it!) My goal was to get under 27 min. and I finished in 24:03, which totally stoked me out! Here's me crossing the finish...

                                       And even placed first in my age group... what???

Later on I was talking to my mom about it, how I never thought I'd be a runner... When I was little I used to idolize older girls who were runners, it took me forEVER to run. I mean years of trying and just admitting that I was not athletic. 

  Then I started thinking about other things that have happened in my life that I NEVER thought possible... I was a shy, timid, scared little girl growing up. I never thought I'd be onstage in front of hundreds, thousands on occasion. I never thought I'd write a blog that other people would read. Before last year I couldn't even imagine setting foot inside a gym... what a horrible thought! Or lead a worship team. Or play a lead in a play. Or really do anything that involved being a leader or being in front of other people... Are you kidding??! 

  

  So fast forward a few years and.... welcome to my life!

  

  But that's it, that's the problem. When we think about feats or accomplishments in our future and write them off as impossible- we aren't thinking about the time it takes to learn, grow, make mistakes and painfully press on. We think, this is who I am now. Who I am now could never do that. Well, yeah! But something might happen next week that makes who you are right now just a little stronger, a little braver, a bit more trusting or adventurous. 

  

 Don't write off a dream, even if it seems waaaay out in left field. 

And my mom also said something I thought was interesting...

"When we think of the future, we rarely ever picture God there with us"

Now, that sounds really hard and un-christian, but it's true a lot of the time! When I have serious doubts, or worries, or fear about the future, it's because I'm looking into it and seeing myself there, alone. Left to cope with the worst that could happen. Instead, I need to picture the Lord in all His strength and almighty power right there by my side. Ready to protect, provide and comfort.

I'm still ridin' on cloud 9 tonight... can't really believe that shy little, un-athletic me finished a race. But there's still a lot of mountains in my future. And yours. Just imagine yourself working your way to the top with a really good mountain climber holding the rope. I mean, Divinely good. You know Who I mean.

Keep runnin'!

LM