I found this picture on my memories on Facebook this morning. It's my second race ever. My nephew, Jakob, came down to Louisiana from Oklahoma to run it with me. He had been at my first race the month before and figured he could do that too. So he did! When this picture came up this morning 7 years of memories flooded my mind! I had no idea at the time that I would still be running today. The future was actually very fuzzy at that time and I was barely making it day-by-day. My son and I were staying in a nursing home in a small town nearby and I honestly had no idea what to expect. I had just found running and had fallen in love with it. I'm happy to say that we are still involved in quite the love affair. lol I didn't know I'd reestablish myself and build a home back in Oklahoma and become a full-time caregiver for my son. I didn't know I'd face my own health issues in the coming years. I didn't know I'd run 20 half marathons. I never  dreamed I...

Before I headed out this morning I knew it was hot. I also knew that I was pretty tired and not feeling my best, and that's not always a winning combination. But because I run when the aide got here, I ran anyway. Just over a mile and I felt very sluggish. My legs felt like they were carrying an extra 25 pounds a piece (and no I haven't gained THAT much weight! lol). I started thinking that this run was a lot like my life. Over the last 4.5 years I have lived in what I call the furnace. Life is just one big trial; and like today's run - it can be stifling at times. I could probably use it all for an excuse and really no one would blame me. I was thinking about how my run and my life were so parallel as I was coming around mile 2. Here's pretty much my thought process: Ugh! This run is just like my life - heavy, tiring, strength-sapping and stifling hot. Lots of excuses...all of which are true - No....they are NOT excuses - they are reasons to survive! Peter says i...

My emotions are so back and forth about the my first half marathon! I have only 5 days! Yeah! ... and Yikes! I am going to have to gut this one out! I am confident that my training thus far will get me through the race. I don't have to do anything but finish! After all I am a half a century old doing my first half marathon! It still is somewhat overwhelming just to think about now and then. Life can hand us many challenges. It's easy to be overwhelmed when situations don't go as planned or tragedy strikes. All we can do is trust that our training will help us gut it out. We know the Lord is our strength - and we can do all things through Christ and those are easy to hold on to during our everyday activities. But then when the big ones come along we must trust that we have been prepare by staying in His word. Life brings us variety. Some trials are like sprints, over with quick. Others are more like marathons where we must learn endurance, steadfastness and strength to...