We've signed up to run a half-marathon! We're running the one in Pensacola.
The race date gives us 14 weeks to train. We've already gotten in our first run of 2014! After our first 5k, we ran sporadically then stopped altogether (except for our Thanksgiving day run) to do INSANITY. (Boy was that a mistake. We ran what seemed to be the hardest two miles ever on December 31, our anniversary.) We completed the first month of INSANITY as written and started month two. Now, however, we are going to use INSANITY as cross training on non-run days. We might end up fitting in more, but I doubt it.
So, Fred and I are running a half-marathon. I pray we have an injury free training and a fun race. God has blessed us thus far, and we give all glory and praise to Him for our success and accomplishments.
We chose this race because we have adequate time to train. The race is close to family though it's a six hour drive for us. My sister and her husband intend to run with us, and we hope they are able to.
I know I have some difficult runs ahead of me; however, I'm not scared, and I don't think it's impossible. Note to self -
All throughout my C25k training I would recite a verse that comforted me: "For God has not given me a spirit of fearf, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV) I think I'll need it again!
About a month ago I read something that implied that not all change is good. I can agree. The author also stated that not all people change for the better. I can agree.
My husband and I have undergone some changes since we have been married, and the changes have been for the best. Each of us have strengthened our relationships with God individually. We've been doing more reading, studying, and praying. The best change has been that we are ONE. We've also come to be better friends and better parents. We have also decided to better stewards of our bodies, which is why you have anything to read from us in the first place.
A song by Matthew West, which our whole family loves to sing, really gives voice to the change that has taken place in us. Right now the words are my very own testimony. I am not ashamed of my past, and my past has no hold on me. Every single step in the right direction is cause for me to give God praise. Nothing I have accomplished is of my own doing. Not one mile of running, not three miles of running, or even the four miles I'll run this weekend. It is through God's power that I have strength to accomplish anything - even that which was once foreign to me like running or sharing Christ with others.
Here are the lyrics to the song (and a video is at the end):
Hello, my name is
regret
I'm pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I'm the whisper inside
That won't let you forget
Hello, my name is
defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I'll drag you right back down again
'Til you've lost all belief
These are the
voices, these are the lies
And I have believed them, for the very last time
Hello, my name is
child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, and I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I am no longer
defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it's true
Just take a look at my life
Hello, my name is
child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, and I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
What love the
Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called His children
I am a child of the one true King
What love the
Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called His children
Hello, my name is
child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, and I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I am a child of
the one true King
For those who know Fred and I personally, if you believe we have changed for the worst, I dare you to get to know Christ for yourself. If you believe we were better off how we were before, you are wrong.
After embarking on this journey for a healthy lifestyle, I find myself wondering about the future that GOD has planned for my temple (body). Only HE knows when I will accomplish the ultimate goal of complete physical fitness. Only HE knows why I am going through these difficult times of trying to get back into the physical shape that I once acquired. GOD has always known that I would take what HE gave me (my temple) and do harm to it. It has always been HIS plan to give me leeway, allowing me to do as I as desired. Only by HIS will have I been given a chance to redeem myself and leave behind the ignorance of thinking that I did not have to acknowledge the GOODNESS of GOD.
GOD has been so good to me in my life, and I acknowledge HIM more today than ever. I now know that the LORD has allowed what has been my life's journey for one reason and one reason only, and that is to see that HE is Sovereign and MIGHTY and that I will never successfully make it through any challenges without HIM being present in my life. One way that the LORD has been good to me is by placing in my life at the right time a GOD fearing young lady who I am proud to call my wife. If HE had not given me Bridgette only HE knows where I would be at this very moment.
Bridgette says that since we have started this journey toward a healthy lifestyle I have been an inspiration to her because I push her to achieve goals during our C25K program. However, I want to say that she has been an inspiration to me since we first began to court. The Lord knows that without his gift, my wife, none of this would be possible for me. I promised her that I will be responsible for our future in all ways with an emphasis on health. I told her that even when she doesn't feel like going out to walk/run, she would for the sake of my promise to her. She believed at the time that I was doing it for the both of us, but I was only doing it for her. As time has gone by I have found myself enjoying the challenges that we are facing because we are facing them together. I thank her deeply for being my motivation for getting up off the couch to stop wasting time when we could have and should have been doing this all along.
I give HIGH PRAISES to GOD for giving me GRACE and MERCY during all of my hardships and also for giving me my BABY. Thank you and HALLELUJAH!
It's not that I doubt myself, I just sometimes have to see it to believe it. Before each run I am a bit eager, looking forward to crossing new hurdles. At the start of of each run, I just go. . . not knowing what the next couple of yards will mean for me, hoping that I can finish the prescribed workout. I've learned in the last couple of months or so that some runs will be invigorating, some will be fun, some will be HARD.
I started off feeling great today and spent the first half mile praying for the marriages of a couple of my friends because although marriage can be hard, marriage is GOOD. After that, I can remember thanking God for a strong husband. Here's why:
While I've never had too much of a problem with being active, I've never really played any sport formally. And I've never been a runner (though secretly I've always wanted to). Running is hard for me. I don't know if I have exercise induced asthma, but I've had difficulty with my breathing from the start. Now, I no longer have the sensation of burning lungs, but I still breathe rather hard. By mile one today, I was praying for God to give me the strength to endure. By mile one and a half I was a yard or so behind Fred. When I find myself more than a few feet behind him (which is often), I remind myself of how far I've come and that I don't want to quit. I match his steps - right, left, right, left - concentrating on anything other than my own tired body. He looks like the run is a breeze to him, but he always says it's not.
I am a quitter though. If I didn't go with Fred everyday, I know I'd stop as soon as I felt tired. With strength training, it's different: I'll keep going, pushing through 'til the end even if I workout solo. With this C25K, I wish I could tie a rope to Fred and myself so he could pull me. I know I'm making progress though no matter how slow I am. And Fred will not let me quit. Today he said, "You need to pick it baby," and I sped up. If I tell myself to speed up, I just might slow down! It never fails though when he announces, "One minute left," I dig deep and speed up to try and pass him. Sometimes I catch up; sometimes I keep going after he's stopped so I can make it to where he stopped or to a point past where he stopped. Other times I can only say, "Thank you, Jesus!"
I usually end my run with a "Hallelujah," because I know there's no way I made it x amount of minutes without stopping except by the grace of God. Yes, I contribute my success to God. It definitely isn't me by myself. I'm looking forward to my last week so I can say "By the grace of God, I made it!"
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
Learning to seek and live out God’s will has had the
greatest impact on our lives ever - as
husband and wife, as parents, as individuals.
Our blog title might lead you to belive that we are runners.
In fact, we are runners in training having not even completed our first race.
Nonetheless, our journey is not in vain. Yes, we are physically running (or
jogging) for our health. Greater still, we are running in a race commissioned
by Christ that we hope will have a lasting impact on someone else’s spiritual
and physical health in addition to our own.
A song we have grown to enjoy listening to is “I Am Free.”
Part of the chorus says “I am free to run/ I am free to dance/ I am free to
live for you.” This song is the source of our blog title.
Once we learned to stop living for self, stop living in the
moment, stop living for fleeting moments of pleasure the chains that once held
us in bondage no longer render us immobile. In Christ we are free!
Together we take this opportunity to free ourselves from the
extra weight that has also left us stationary for quite some time.
