New Life

In Pennsylvania, each season is so distinct.  Hot sun and lots of fun in the summer, beautiful gold and crimson leaves in the fall, cold snow and ice during the winter, and finally comes the fresh color and fragrance of spring.  I started running last summer so I've officially now run through all of nature's seasonal elements.  Today, I am going to focus on spring.

As I was approaching the top of a hill during an early morning run last week, I noticed the beauty of the new life that sprouts up each spring in a way I never had before.  There were tiny blades of grass and weeds pushing their way up through the weight of the old heavy wet leaves left behind from last year.  Overlooking a large field and forest, the hilltop was breathtaking, as varying shades of bright green began to grow.  Even the WEEDS displayed beauty to me that day.

God spoke to me that morning through all the tiny bright green buds and blades about newness of life.  Nature rests each year as it lies dormant through the bitter cold winter and each spring it gets the opportunity to start over with a new life.  My thought was, how fortunate are we that we do not have to go through the same annual cycle?!?!
(As always, God's timing is perfect!  He inspired this blog post as Easter was approaching.)
Chist died once for us so that we may walk in newness of life with Him forever.  Meaning, because of his great sacrifice on the cross, we only have to die to our sins once in order to live in his glory forever.
Really!  How ridiculously amazing is it that He died for US...washing away ALL of our sins (no matter how big or small in our eyes) with His blood shed on the cross so that we can start over!!!  Seriously, I cannot even conceptualize that kind of love!

Romans 5:8  "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

We are a world of sinners, and yet despite that, He still gave His life for us anyway!
Does that make us lucky?  No, that makes us blessed!

Now, think of yourself as a weed...if winter never came.  When you accept Jesus Christ into your life, the seed is planted in your heart.  God's word and love is like your sun and water.  When you spend time in it, you start to grow and your growth is directly proportional to how much time and effort you put into soaking up these vital elements necessary to support this new life.

If you are a weed in my garden, you are likely to get pulled out and cut back from time to time, and if I get really mad at your growth, I'll use chemicals.  That would be the world/devil trying to tear you down and rip this new life away from you.  Anyone that's pulled weeds knows how hard it is to get the root out.  In my gardens, the roots always remain and two weeks later, I'm pulling the same weed.  When you root yourself in Jesus, you are rooting yourself forever, like my weeds.  No matter how often the enemy tries to destroy you, Jesus will always be there to build you back up and/or forgive you.

By the end of summer, my weeds always win.  Eventually, I get tired of trying...they have won victory over me.  You can be that victorious weed, growing taller and stronger, rooting yourself deeper and deeper in your relationship with Christ until nothing can tear you down.

There's a song that I want to share with you.  It is a very special song for me.  My husband and I were privileged to be used by God one fall to help bring a teenager to Christ.  When we entered worship after, this song was being sang by a room full of teenagers.  To me, it signifies the moment Christ won victory over a special young life!  There is no greater feeling as a youth leader!

The lyrics (and I'll try to attach the actual song- please listen!!)
Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me

Death could not hold you down
You are the risen king
Seated in majesty
You are the risen king

Hallelujah, You have won the victory
Hallelujah, You have won it all for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkAREE-h2Dc&feature=related

It is my prayer that this Easter we can all take a step back from our busy lives and remember what an exponentially amazing sacrifice was made on our behalf so that we can live forgiven of our sins...dwelling in his love and mercy forever.

Ephesians 3:17b-19
"...I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Turbulence

Who remembers the weather last Saturday?  Let me refresh your memory....wind, rain, and more wind.  All week I had been planning a long practice run of 15 miles to take place Saturday morning.  This was going to be my first time at that distance and I was excited.  However, as the week progressed and the predicted forecast grew more and more dismal, my anticipation grew increasingly weak.

I woke up at 5:45am Saturday to rain and wind...but at least it was 47 degrees outside!  Hey, I like to look on the bright side of things :)  I was reluctant to go out but Matt said, "just go, it'll be good practice and you'll be glad you did."  My reply, "well, I guess even if I only get 6 miles in, that's better than nothing."  He confidently said, "you'll do it all."  I'm pretty sure I quietly thought, "yeah, whatever."

Driving to the park, I had my wipers on low (there was too much rain for even the intermittent setting)...ugh!  To my surprise, on a day when 100% chance of rain was called for, it stopped raining when I stepped out of the car...so off I ran.  I managed to log all 15 miles and remained dry.  (I am certain that was a God given blessing because 15 minutes after I got home it poured!)  The WIND, however, was another whole story!  I have run in windy conditions before but not like this!  The whole time I was out there, all I kept thinking was..."push through the turbulent times."  Of course, this was with dual interpretation- physical and spiritual.

Physically, I was straining my body to push through crazy gusts of wind.  They were not constant but when they came, they came in full force!  I refused to back down.  I kept thinking, "I'm running in this ugliness for a reason.  God told me to do this.  He sacrificed His son through a brutal and deadly beating and crucifixion so that I can know and have the love of Jesus living in me FOREVER.  The least I can do is train through a couple hours of insane wind towards a goal that was God given to begin with."

Just as the wind was in my face, trying to tear me down physically, satan is always in our face trying to tear us down in whatever way he can.  What is important is how we respond to the troubling times.  Do you complain and run away or do you face it head on, knowing Jesus is on your side armed and ready to help you persevere?  The Bible says that even as believers we will encounter trouble.  Again, what is important is what you do when these tough times consume us.  Scripture clearly shows God's promise to be there for us if we just seek and trust Him. 

John 16:33  Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have
                     overcome the world."

James 1:2-3  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.    James 1:12  Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Proverbs 11:8  The righteous person is rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead.   (Sounds like a good deal to me...who can refuse that.)

Psalm 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

I could not have completed that run if I had not trusted in the Lord that He would help me finish.  I hope that next time you encounter turbulence in your life, these verses will remind you that He who gave you life now and forever will ALWAYS be there for you!!  His love never fails and never ends!

A Challenge From Above

This is how it began.....

Last year Incline student ministries (the youth group of Monroeville Assembly of God church) held its annual box-a-thon, an event for the teenagers to raise money for Speed the Light (STL). Speed the Light is an organization that supports missionaries around the world by helping to purchase vehicles, electrical, audio/visual equipment, etc to help them more effectively spread the good news of our savior Jesus Christ to others who would not otherwise have to opportunity hear the good news. Our youth pastor (Pastor Anthony) challenged our teenagers to think outside the box and use their interests and talents to raise an absurd amount of money in the year 2011. He challenged them to raise $35,000 to buy a vehicle for Bettina Weaver, a missionary to Myanmar (Burma). My brief research leads me to believe she's also a nurse (as am I).

At the time, I thought his goal was ridiculous. Although, as much as I wanted to just dismiss it, something inside me felt compelled to be an example to our teenagers and do something outside of my comfort zone to help reach this goal...to show the kids that even as a youth leader (which is my role in Incline) I care and will do my part. Of course, that was late October 2010 and after several months, I had done nothing.

February 26, 2011, very early in the morning, I was praying before my first big race (running 10 miles) and I felt like God interrupted that prayer and told me to run a full marathon for STL. I told my husband (Matt) about it that morning but still couldn't say for sure it was really God talking or just my pre-race excitement that morning...I mean, let's face it...God just doesn't typically talk to me like that.
I ran that race (beating my goal by 3.5 minutes) and went about life. I was really doubting that God actually talked to ME. I expected the idea to die down and that would be the end of it. I really had no desire to run 26.2 miles! Seriously, I had just done 10 and that was hard enough!

As the next several weeks unfolded, the opposite of my expectations ensued. Instead of my thoughts about the idea fizzling away, they continued to build! I was constantly thinking about it and getting more excited. I was not getting excited about actually running such an absurd distance but about WHY I wanted to do it.
I continued to fight internally about this, just thinking..."God doesn't talk to me like this..it couldn't possibly have been from him..I'm crazy to think I can actually run a marathon..but yet I keep getting small signs that this is all God..." I literally spent the next 4 weeks looking for reasons not to do this and finding nothing but reasons to do it!

Why is it that I consider myself a christian, a believer in and lover of Jesus, but when he talks to me, I don't believe it's really Him? Or that when He tells me to do something, I ignore it because "God doen't talk to me like that?" During that month Pastor Anthony had been teaching our Incline students about Elijah and how he had miraculous faith. It was pretty clear that I thought I had faith but when it was challenged, I saw that my faith was really pretty poor. I didn't have enough faith in God to:
1) believe this was really something from God
2) believe this was something I could actually physically do (and live through even though my good friend Nicole tried to convince me otherwise)
3) believe that I could put in enough training hours and not take to much time away from my family (I have two little girls)
4) believe I could find enough (very inexpensive) childcare for my girls all summer while I trained

One Friday night at my Incline lil' group (small groups for the teenagers), we (mostly the kids) were talking about their faith and sharing stories about God being there to help them and giving them answers when they seeked...how their faith has helped them in the hardest of times. It was eye opening to see that my teenagers (well, some of them) had more faith than me- one of their youth leaders. I felt compelled to share my whole situation but didn't want to because I still wasn't sure I would actually follow through. Well, my good friend, Merissa, made me! Merissa was our lil' group leader/teacher....and a very good/insightful teacher, by the way! (You can access her blog by clicking on the link above.)
Reluctantly, I shared my story up to this point.

Two days later we were driving to church and I said to Matt, "just watch, there will be some little thing someone does or says this morning that will be God throwing this in my face again." Well, it was more than some little thing! The sermon outline was handed out and on the paper our pastor (Lance Lecocq) had the word "marathon" written with a star next to it. My thought, "Thanks God, it doesn't get more clear than that but, I still do not want to run 26 miles..." That morning after church, I read my note sheet from the sermon. It said...
> you are not alone
> there is victory in endurance
> when the going gets tough, the tough get growing
> perserverence creates hope
> you only lose if you quit
> don't focus on what is happening to you, but on what God is doing in you

At this point, I was 100% sure that God wanted this and I just have to have faith that He will work out the details. So, did I turn on the computer and sign up for a race? NO.
I am very blessed by the husband God chose for me. I cannot tell you how many times Matt said to me, "you have my full support to do this." That really meant a lot to me but it still didn't convince me to commit.

Two days later, I took a Runner's World magazine to work thinking, "maybe this will be the one day all year that I have a few extra minutes to read a magazine." Well, I actually had 30 min at the end of my shift so I opened the magazine. The first headline I saw read "Running on Faith" and it was referencing Christians and church congregations running together.

"OK, I GET IT...I WILL DO IT...GOD, THIS IS CLEARLY YOU...I GIVE IN!!"

The next morning I officially registered for a marathon on September 18th at Presque Isle (a place where I spent a large amount of time growing up, especially during college). I never felt such a weight lifted of my shoulders as I did when I finally obeyed my God and signed up.
Both Matt and Merissa told me, "you will likely regret it forever if you do not do this but you will never regret being obedient." I know that is completely true.

God didn't stop there. He knows me better than any other and knew that one more sign of affirmation might be a good idea. That night at our Incline service, the very first thing I heard Pastor Anthony say (after I stopped talking and turned on my ears) was, "...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" from Hebrews 12:1. WOW!! God is so amazing! Now I know that I know I am doing what God has commanded...and I'm excited about it!

More details will come later on exactly how I plan to raise money to support Bettina Weaver and STL, however with just a few suggestions from my good friend, Nicole, I've got a good platform of ideas to build from. Nicole was the first person to introduce me to running (she's a hardcore runner) and is an inspiration to me and I am very blessed to have her along side me during this whole experience!

I plan to use this blog to serve multiple purposes:
1) to record my strengths, weaknesses, feelings, challenges and triumphs...both physically and spiritually as I train and work towards this God-sized goal.
2) to keep you updated on the fundraising aspect of this and the specific missionary we are supporting
3) to reach others that may be lost, not knowing Jesus as their Savior, or just struggling in their own faith
Hopefully all of you reading this will see that an ordinary person can do extraordinary things through the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Scripture:

~ "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Phillipians 4:13

~ "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
~ "..let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1b

Our Incline motto:
~ "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13b-14