Crossing it for the Crown

Just registered for my first half-marathon of the year.

The Flying Pirate Half Marathon in the Outer Banks. 

I printed out some blank calendars for January, February, March and April and made my training schedule :) Super stoked to train for this one.

I have found so much joy in running. It's amazing time to talk to the Lord, worship Him, and think through life and all its many events. Running a race is a popular metaphor seen several places in the New Testament. Training for such an intense distance is the same as running the race of life...humbling, difficult, painful at times...but the feeling of crossing the finish line is the most rewarding thing you'll ever experience. Sometimes when I run, I compare my current situation (uphill climb, pain in my knees from going downhill, level-ground, steps, crossing crosswalks...you get the picture) to what that could represent in my life and "run" with the Lord. It's an awesome thing to think through and meditate on.

Here are some of the verses I have that keep me going. I recorded myself reading them and then put them randomly in my running playlist...they always seem to play right when I need to hear them. Coincidence? Hah...try having a God that knows exactly what you need and exactly when you need it.

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim to is finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me -- the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." -Acts 20:24

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." -1 Corinthians 9:24-27

"And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain." -Philippians 2:16

"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, fixing out eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." -Hebrews 12:1-2

"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. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees." -Hebrews 12:11-12