We have you SURROUNDED

Yesterday was our longest run yet and one tenth of a mile farther than I’ve ever run before in my entire life. 13.2 miles, from my house all the way down 110, through the next town and almost to the edge of Tyler. The humidity was insane and we knew it was going to be rough. The first 8 miles were good (which definitely means I’m getting stronger and in better shape!!) Then as I came into Whitehouse, my back and side started hurting. Like I wanted to cry kind of hurting. I walked a little ways in hopes of breathing and it calming down. But each time I started to run again it was more intense. I was still 5 miles from the destination and I was never going to make it if I walked the rest of the way but it hurt so bad to run, it was like a catch on steroids. After a few minutes of going on like that, I seriously began considering calling my sister-in-law, who was so kindly waiting for all of us at the 10 mike mark as our second water stop. She could come get me, I could be put out of my misery for the day and it would be fine. As I debated with myself a few interesting things happened. 1. At least four people drove by flashing their lights, gently honking or waving madly as me. I didn’t recognize any of them but it was clear that they knew me or of our little running crew or were runners themselves. 2. My friend’s husband pulled up next to me and offered me a cold bottle of water. It was exactly what I needed to not only cool me off but lift my spirit. He didn’t say anything about me walking, he didn’t ask how far ahead the others were. He just gave me water and told me to keep it up! 3. I remembered that my before mentioned sister in law/cheerleader was just up ahead and I could at least make it to her. I’m not gonna lie I walked the entire two miles between where I was and where
she was at Brookshire’s, but I wasn’t sad or disappointed or frustrated. I was thankful for the morning, the breeze, the cold water, the anonymous encouragement from potential strangers. I remembered how many people ask me about how I’m feeling and how running is going on a daily basis. I remembered how none of us go a day without some random person asking one of us about about how far we ran and what our plans are and what we are training for. We always tease each other about how “famous” we are. But in all honesty people are watching, so many people are cheering for us and invested in this little bucket list item. Even if I wanted to give up I couldn’t do it without dozens of people asking what happened and offering their help and encouragement. As I strolled through town it occurred to me that we are really surrounded my such a great cloud of witnesses- people who pray for and encourage and help and believe and push and sacrifice to make sure we keep going. I’m not sure why our craziness has struck a cord with people but it seems to have done just that. People want us to be successful, they genuinely do. I stopped for just a second at Brookshire’s where Aleyna reminded me that I just had 3 miles to go and 3 miles is not much at all, that’s less that we do on our easiest days. That little bit of encouragement pushed me to run the majority of the remaining distance (except for the hill of death after the toll road). As I walked up that last hill I kept thinking, why have my #marathonmamas not given up on me and driven to pick me up? Why are they sitting in the air drinking Gatorade letting me suffer? Then I rounded the corner into the parking lot and there they were cheering  and videoing me as I struggled across the “finish line”. I hated them for not coming to get me but I loved them for it even more. They believed in me too, even though I was ridiculously slow and they waited there for me for forever, they weren’t letting me give up. They are also my great cloud of witnesses.

The Bible talks about how we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that help enable us to run the race of faith. I am understanding more and more what that means In a personal way. I know it’s talking about all the people of faith that have gone before us and how that should be enough to empower us to keep going, knowing that we are not going it alone and we are not the first to have struggled down the roads of faith. If a horn honk, an encouraging text, a bottle of water, or genuine interest in our marathon plans can keep me going down the road and the Bible clearly draws a parallel between our faith and runnng a race it would be irresponsible to let the common threads go unnoticed. I’ve honestly been struggling in my spiritual life as well lately, barely stumbling along, tired and frustrated and discouraged, much like all my long runs go haha. But seriously it is just so hard to stay consistent and unwavering when church and life and everything in between is frustrating at very best. As I ran the last 3 ish miles yesterday I was so thankful for those people who helped me keep going and I began thinking about that verse-. 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 our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.( Hebrews 12:1-2) What if our churches and families and friends really were a great cloud of witnesses  for us as far as our faith is concerned like all these people have become as we train for a marathon? What if we had people checking on us daily asking how things were going with Jesus? What if when people saw us struggling to keep going they stopped to help? What if people knew us well enough to even noticed we were struggling? What if we were honest with each other and instead of trying to look like we have our crap together we were just honest and real and unashamed of our real condition? Don’t get me wrong, I’m as guilty as anyone, I don’t often ask people how they Jesus time is going or what they are struggling with or what is challenging their faith. I don’t invade people’s faith lives without an invitation and even then I get distracted and impatient quickly. I should be part of a great cloud of witness for everyone around me, I should be cheering and encouraging and offering help and prayers every day. I should be willing to ask questions and sincerely want to invest in people’s lives no matter where they are on the road of faith. I also so desperately need a great cloud of witnesses investing in me. I need people to know me and see me and ask me how I really am. I need them to see me fail and push me to keep going and not take my excuses. I need people to let me be real and not just expect me to be a certain way because I happen to me married to some one who gets paid by a church. We struggle. We have stress. We are stupid. We are tired. We don’t know what the heck we are doing. We need people to speak truth over us when our ears are too overwhelmed to hear from God. We need those witnesses saying- I’ve been there and survived you can do this too. Or I see that you are walking when you should be running, I’m praying for you. Or I know you’re a hot mess, let’s do this together. As a runner I need that. As a mom I need that. As a wife I need that. As a teacher I need that. As a pastor’s wife I absolutely need that. If you have the opportunity to be part of some one’s cloud of witnesses, pushing them to keep their eyes on Jesus and run the race well, PLEASE do that! You have no idea how close that person may be to just giving up without your words and love and help. We cannot do this alone. And we were never meant to, let’s for real do life together and finish the race well! I am going to keep running. I am 10 of the 13 miles this week and even though that is short of the goal, it’s nothing to scoff at. Please keep encouraging and believe in us! Otherwise we won’t make it to race day! And I’m going to keep trying to figure out this faith journey! Please help me! And make me help you!