So my crazy friends and I are training for a marathon this fall. We are about 6 week’s into training which means our long Saturday run is up to 9 miles. (I’ll try to write soon about how and why I decided to torture myself and run 26.2 miles). Yesterday we ran from my house to the next town. I hadn’t run all week because my cute “running” shorts wore literally holes in my thighs during last Saturday’s long run. Well this week I was ready to go: ate plenty of meat the day before, had breakfast, wore long spanks, applied glide and asked our friend at the halfway point to put some water on the porch for us. I did ok until a little while before the halfway point, then I started bargaining with myself in my head: maybe we can just run 6 today and run 9 next weekend, to which my friend promptly refused, insisting we do what we planned on doing, which I begrudgingly agreed to. After our water stop we usually start getting separate based on pace and sadly I’m in the back of the pack. At one point yesterday one of my friends was so far ahead of me I couldn’t even see her around the corner. About a mile from our destination, after several huge hills, I was pretty much running by myself and I was just about out of energy.. I was thinking to myself, “why am I even doing this? This is crazy!” Then all of a sudden I saw it, I saw the steeple of the church we were stopping at! It was pretty far away still and I could only see the very top of it, but I knew there was hope and I was almost there. Tommy would be there waiting for us, the car has air conditioning, and if we were lucky he might have something to drink with him. This gave me the mental energy I needed to keep going. It was still hard. I still walked a little here and there. My legs were still feeling like noodles. But I knew I could make it if I just kept going. I don’t think I’ve ever been more thankful for a church having a steeple. Had that steeple not been there, I wouldn’t have been able to see the destination until I was to it because of all the trees and other building between me and that church and I would have surely quit. And since I was by myself I could just think. I thought about that steeple. I thought about why churches have steeples anyway. I thought about how WE are the church (I once went to visit a new mom from our church to bring their family a meal and the little preschool sister screamed “Mom The Church is here!” One of the sweetest things I’ve ever been called!). Then I thought about how we are supposed to be like that steeple. There is a lot of darkness in the world. A lot of people are hurting and lost and struggling. Little kids just trying to survive, teenagers trying to make sense of it all, adults wondering if they’ll ever catch a break, all thinking “why am I even doing this? This is crazy!” We are meant to be that steeple. Close enough to the rest of the world to be seen. Standing out and standing tall so people can see us over the crazy world. But mostly we should be a place of hope, letting people know that they can keep going and giving them strength to do just that. Things might not get easier or better in the process, but they will see us and not quit. At work be the steeple that is positive and encourages your coworkers to see the good and the possibility of each day. At school be the steeple that is brave and treats everyone well, showing that we all have value and purpose. At the store or the gas station be the steeple that really sees people, smiles and is kind. At the gym or movies or wherever you are with your friends be the steeple that does the right thing, is selfless and wants the best for everyone. At home be the steeple by having integrity and being as good there, behind close doors, as you are for the world to see. I pray that my family and I are a steeple for everyone God puts us in contact with. And that He uses our home and yard and every resource we have as a beacon of hope, comfort and strength. I pray that people will be encouraged to keep going, they don’t have to do it perfectly but they just can’t give up and let the hills and miles of the world defeat them. You have the power and honestly the responsibility to be a steeple for those God has placed in your life. It’s not easy and it’s almost never convenient to stop what you’re doing and give others hope with our words or our actions, but it could quite literally change or even save their life. I may have just sat down on the side of the highway had that steeple not been there calling me to keep going. Don’t let anyone around you give up, stand up tall for them, cheer them on and let them see that there is good in the world and it’s a race worth running. Be a steeple.
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