I am wrapping up week four of marathon training and I haven't missed a run yet, so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. They haven't all been easy and most of them have been quite slow, but I'm getting them done.
I've been mentally exhausted lately and haven't had the ability to think or string words together outside of work. I have an inbox full of messages I need to reply to but I haven't had the energy. Words are hard to come by sometimes, especially when you second guess everything you say.
Wednesday night when I got home from work I couldn't make one more decision. James had fallen asleep on the couch and the kids were full of energy and hungry and I just started to cry because coming up with a plan for dinner and the rest of the night was just too overwhelming. I gave them a bunch of healthy snacks and called it dinner and then we went to get some ice cream to fill the time. I'm happy to report that we all made it through the night even though I may have been a little harsh with the McDonald's worker that said their ice cream machine was broken. (sorry!)
I've been trying really hard to focus on eating healthy foods, mostly fruits, vegetables and proteins and really cut back on the carbs. I feel better and my runs felt stronger this week but the scale isn't moving. I think I'd take stronger runs over losing weight at this point though, so I'll still call it a victory.
I've been doing my long runs the last month or so with my friend Kelley on Friday since both of our husbands work on Saturdays. We became friends in 8th grade when I moved to Farmington, so we've known each other for a little over 20 years. There were a few years during and after college that we didn't talk, because sometimes girls (me) do silly things in the name of "love" in their early 20s and lose friends in the process. But God redeemed our friendship about 8 years ago and it has been so awesome to have her back in my life. She has listened to me go on and on about Team World Vision the last couple of years and this year she decided to join me for the half marathon. I think we became such good friends sitting on the bench together during basketball and volleyball, so it is kind of funny that now we spend most of our time running together. We're not the strongest runners and we're not fast by any one's standards, but we are both stubborn and work extremely hard and it has been great to have her as a running partner for the long runs.
Yesterday we were around mile 6 of an 8 mile run and it was getting warm and we were both getting tired. I was completely out of water and knew there wasn't any along the path we were running so I knew I would run the last two miles thirsty. I started thinking about what it must be like to walk for miles in the blazing hot African sun to get water. Not only would you be parched just trying to get to it, but it wouldn't even be refreshing or cold, rather warm and deadly. As I was thinking about this we came across a stagnant puddle that just screamed disease.
I was so thirsty and this was the only available water, and I wouldn't drink it if you paid me to because the cost would be too high....I'm lucky that I have the ability to make that choice. I asked Kelley if she was ok with me stopping to take a picture and she said it was just the reminder she needed to get through the next two miles. I'm pretty sure God was with us on our run when we needed him the most reminding us that no matter how hard it is for us to run, we are still incredibly blessed because we have access to clean water pretty much everywhere. I knew I had a bottle of semi-cold water in my car to drink as soon as we were done, but the thought of what it would be like if this was the only water I had available hasn't left me yet.
Next week some time I am going to attempt to live a day without water, just to keep remembering why I run. If God is showing me anything this year, it is about how much I make everything in life about me, and I need constant reminders to stop and turn it back around to Him. So I plan on going an entire day without water and documenting it here. When I say without water, that means all of the things that would require water to make, I'm going all in. Anyone want to join me?
I know that a world where everyone has access to clean water is possible and I'm fighting for it. I know that there are plenty of other people out there who can share that vision with me and help make it a reality. I've been thinking so much lately about how much time and energy all of our "stuff" takes out of our lives. I'm starting to understand why Jesus had his disciples sell all of their things and leave their families. I spend hours trying to keep my house somewhat clean and the yard half way presentable. Today I spent half a day folding laundry and matching socks. I think of all the good I could do if I wasn't spending time taking care of all of the "stuff" we have.
Is there some "stuff" you can do without so that someone else has clean water to drink? Chances are, the stuff you're after isn't going to make you as happy as you think it will and you'll end up spending more time taking care of it than it is worth. The only thing that isn't taken away from you in the end is what you have given away. What if we all cared less about our stuff and more about the lives we could change if we gave extravagantly of our time and money.
So what do you think? Can you join me in the vision to get clean water to everyone in the world?
No comments:
Post a Comment