Pre-Race Reflection

So on Sunday I'll be running my first half-marathon race. My friend will also be running it, and in an e-mail update of hers, she wrote the following (boldness added) about the marathon moments of life:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1) Later on in the same chapter, the author says, "no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hmmm…sounds like this guy has run a marathon before. Well, perhaps not, but he sure knew that life could feel like a marathon at times. [...] Just when we think we can't go any further, our bodies are tired, our legs are weak, and our mind is about to wander off the edge, our Heavenly Father comes and refreshes us, strengthens us, and even carries us. But it isn't without pushing us a little, encouraging us to keep going despite the pain, despite the difficulty, knowing we still have more in us, knowing our potential, knowing more about us then even we know.

Notice that part..."But it isn't without pushing us a little"...Yeah...sometimes we do get stretched...perhaps this could be compared to a pre-run stretch, warming us up for the big race ahead. Just a little prep work.

I guess right now I feel like there's this unobtainable *"takane no hana" I want to reach out and grab. I often desire to do the 'big' ... but what about jumping over the everyday hurdles and incorporating invisible service into daily life? I am not striving to honor God in all my waking moments. While I desire to become significantly more disciplined and skilled at life management, I can't really just push a green 'go' button and turn into Ms. Merry Management overnight. I need to put in some effort. Step-by-step, hill-by-hill, (and water station by water station with God's refreshment and strength!), maybe I'll make it around the bend and fly like an eagle if through waiting for the Lord my strength is renewed (Isaiah 40:31).



*according to my Japanese idiom book, "takane no hana" means "flower on a high peak", and refers to "unrealizable desire, an unobtainable object, something out of one's reach"