Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Mailbox

“Just make it to the next mailbox,” a dad would say
As he and his daughter were out running one day.

He, knowing another mailbox lay ahead,
as she was ready to call it quits,
would push her to persevere instead.

With every mailbox successfully passed
She made the victory lap to home at last.

To the day the message is still very clear…

Struggles will come and go, as the mailboxes came and went
But in the end, the prize will be held dear for the endurance that was spent.

“Just make it to the next mailbox,”
he would say.

What is your mailbox today?

I wrote this for my father years ago. We ran as a family when I was in the 9th grade. Mom and dad would encourage us to make to the next mailbox so we would make it home. 🙂

I will finish this post later. I wrote it once and lost it. I ended the other one with…
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)

So I know losing the post was and is going to be okay…though I am not happy. 🙂 I will make it to the next one after dinner.

Psalm 23:3 ‘He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.’

A fellow blogger, who is a Christian and a runner, used this verse in his blog today. I read his post as I was sitting down to write in my blog. It is so fitting for my running experience today. (At least most of it…:o))

Let me set it up…I was in Knoxville attending a two day personal training certification. Knowing this would be my first long run on my own and in a unfamiliar city, I emailed the local running store…Fleet Feet. I wanted to know if they had a running group that met on Saturdays or if they could give me route suggestions. Thankfully, I received a quick response. Yes, they had a group run. But it started at 7:00. (I had to be done by 7:00 because my certification class started at 8:00.) Yes, the had routes. But, they were confusing for people not familiar with them…especially in the dark. So…with that being said…what was I going to do?

Well, then I read on…she offered to run the first half of my 14 mile run with me. This is awesome. Now, my husband and friends were questioning the fact I was running with a stranger at 4:45 in the morning…but the Lord worked it out. She worked at the store. She organized the runs for the store. She knew the routes and was my own running tour guide. So, with this He refreshed my soul. 🙂 He led me on the right paths thanks to her…but, it also led me to some other right paths I hadn’t planned.

He refreshed my soul with high heat, sticky humidity and steep hills. I say this facetiously, to a point. Really, my soul needed rest…Not a 14 mile run. 🙂 It is hard to admit that when you are training. But, as I sat through my personal training class, we discussed fatigue and failure. We discussed how our bodies need rest so we don’t experience fatigue and failure to the point where we can’t go on. Failure is good in some instances…but not on a planned long run.

So,when we got to the half way point and it was time for me to run on my own…I knew for the first time…the right path would be to walk away and go back to the hotel. For those of you training, you know this is NOT the mindset we have or want. No…I had to push through…I had to pray for strength and keep going. But, I couldn’t…I needed to refresh my soul in a different way today. I needed rest. I needed the quiet waters. (which I found in the sprinklers in the front of the hotel.)

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, (Psalm 23:2 NIV)

I needed Him to restore me and my body. I was working on 3 1/2 hours of sleep – because I had to sit in class and study for a test on Saturday. My heel has been a pain the last 2 weeks and it needs rest. I needed the feel of green pastures by just being still. The Lord knew…but I didn’t.

To say I wasn’t disappointed would be a lie. I was running with a new friend, in a new area and new distance…I wanted to do well and I failed. But, I didn’t. I was refreshed in a way I never anticipated. My soul was refreshed. I was able to do something I have a hard time time doing…saying NO and listening to my body. That was a success!

The lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. (Psalm 23:1 NIV)

The Lord was my guide down the right path today. Am I okay with not meeting my goal? Yes! I lack nothing with Him. He is our shepherd. He will lead us if we listen. We need to be in tune with God like we are with our body. We need to listen to God like we listen to our body. If we are not in tune with either and miss the signals we are receiving from both then we will fail in a way that will injure our walk and our run!

On a side note…I got home from Knoxville and refreshment was awaiting my body and my soles.(see picture)

“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated…..because….your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (MSG)

My dad sent this scripture reference to me this morning while I was running. It fit our run perfectly. Another Godincidence! God is soooo good! Love it!

What an awesome picture this is for our running and life. The Lord is ahead of us…He is right there with us…He won’t let us down…He won’t leave us!!!! How powerful is that? As we take this journey we call life, He is with us every step of the way. 🙂

Today we ran a new route. We both had to have our brakes worked on so we dropped our vehicles off and headed out on foot. This led us to a country road lined with corn fields on one side and cow pastures on the other. The farmhouse and barn were set back off the road and had a magnificent presence. You could just imagine it back in the day…though it is still a working farm now.

As we ran down the road looking ahead at the corn fields and the mountains we were unsure of what lay ahead. Just like in life. We don’t know what is around the next bend.

Normally, I am prepared for the occasional dog or two…but today I forgot my mace. So, we both picked up a stick “just in case.” Thankfully, we only ran into one dog and he was tame. He let us pass before he entered the road. 🙂 But we anticipated trouble…and we were not intimidated when it came.

With God, we are to be strong and courageous. We are to not be intimidated. He is on our side and the ups and downs of the road prepare us for the next trip. We have to anticipate and be ready by staying connected to Him…not use Him in emergencies only or “just in case.”

We had some nice rolling hills on this new route. On the way out, Yoli said “where there is an up there is also a down” and vice versa. If we experience a down in life, God is going to be there with us all the way back up the other side. We have to open ourselves up to Him and His love and guiding grace. He is striding ahead of us. He knows where the rolling hills, the dogs of life and the magnificent beauty are going to be on our journey. He will not leave us along the way. We may try to leave Him or ignore His presence, but He is there. Thank you, Lord!

Take comfort knowing He is striding ahead of us…

Running blessed!

Marathon training is a lot like life – there will be good days and not-so-good days and when you train by feel, you make the most out of all of them. I found this on a Runner’s World blog. It is so true! I have had more good days in my training than not-so-good days. Thankfully!

My niece posted a scripture yesterday that goes along perfectly with this philosophy.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 6:7

As I am typing this, the song Before the Morning by Josh Wilson just started playing.

Do you wonder why you have to
Feel the things that hurt you
If there’s a God who loves you where is He now

Maybe there are things you can’t see
And all those things are happening
To bring a better ending

Someday somehow you’ll see you’ll see

Would you dare would you dare to believe
That you still have a reason to sing
Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It can’t compare to the joy that’s coming
So hold on you gotta wait for the light
Press on and just fight the good fight
Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

My friend you know how this all ends
You know where you’re going
You just don’t know how you’ll get there
So say a prayer

And hold on cause there’s good for those who love God
But life is not a snapshot
It might take a little time but you’ll see the bigger picture

Once you feel the weight of glory
All your pain will fade to memory

It’s just the hurt before the healing
Oh the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

Another Godincidence…yes! There is a reason for the not-so-good days in running and in life. God is bringing us full circle to experience His eternal glory. Our pain will fade to memory once that happens. What is unseen in glory and in life. We have hope…we have life. With each step we learn more about what and how He wants us to live.

This past week the word “morning” keeps appearing in my reading. God knows I am not a morning person…I have to make myself one. I am better when I am. With these hot days…morning runs are better. It helps make the run a good day and not a not-so-good day. 🙂 And, when we start our morning with Him…it makes the day start a good day. It gives us His fuel – the Word – to prepare us for the daily battle we call life.

In the opening quote she talks about running by feel. Feel comes from the strict training, the long runs and the lessons learned. There are not many of us that would attempt to run a marathon without preparing properly. We read books, blogs, magazines, etc. to find out how to train the best way possible. We don’t want to go out there and fail or hurt ourselves. We want to be prepared!

We do this for a marathon/10k/5k but how many of us go out for this battle of life without preparing? Reading the Bible, praying, listening to Christian music and learning from Christian friends?

Feel for the Lord is the same…if we adhere to His training…study His word, pray daily, immerse ourselves in HIM…we will be in tune with His presence daily. We will be able to make adjustments when hard times and pain come around. We will be able to do it with Him receiving the glory. That is what we are here for!! To give Him glory in ALL we do…live and run…to make the most of ALL things.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV84)

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation. (Psalm 5:3 NIV84)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35 NIV84)

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, (Psalm 92:21-22)

Marathon training is a lot like life – there will be good days and not-so-good days and when you train by feel, you make the most out of all of them.

Let’s make the most of these glory days God has given us!!!

Running blessed!

Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. (Isaiah 26:12 NIV84)

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it”

Today, though I woke up tired, I woke up ready to run. Yoli and I have been running 6-7 days a week the last three weeks. Due to the wonderful summer heat…I mean that…we have been running early in the morning. (I am cold 95% of the time, so I LOVE the heat!) It has been so nice to get up and get the day started on the right foot, or maybe the left. 😉 (I will have to pay attention.) We run into peace every morning.

His peace awaits us! He establishes it for us. Today it came through the fog hanging over the cliffs of the mountains. It came in the sounds of the babbling brook paralleling the road. It came with the conversation between friends. It came when 40 minutes was over and we felt it had just begun. God is so good.

We need to expect His peace; expect His grace; expect His strength.

Wednesday’s long run was hard. We ran in a new place and got caught up in our surroundings the first half. Needless to say, we started too fast. We did not take time to start slower and finsh strong. Peace was not on the agenda that day…we didn’t let it be. We prayed for His strength and finished but, the extreme heat, the fast start and longer mileage got us. 🙂

Our trainer made us promise we would run below a 9:00 minute pace Thursday and Friday. We did it. Our legs wanted to go quicker but we didn’t! We ran into the peace of knowing today and yesterday’s slower runs will help us have strength for tomorrow on our long run. It felt good!

Sometimes God does the same thing with us…He encourages us to slow down and really experience Him. He doesn’t want us to get caught up in this fast-paced world and lose or focus. That is exactly what we did. So tomorrow our goal is to go out and run the entire two hours…strong…from beginning to end. Keep our eyes and feet in the rhythm of our goal pace.

As in life, we need to keep our eyes and feet in the rhythm of God’s goal pace…in line with Him and His word! Because “all that we have accomplished He has done for us.” (Isaiah 26:12b NIV84)

Thank you Lord for your grace and peace in ALL things!

Running blessed!
Trish 🙂

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 NIV84)

Well, it is HOT! What do we think of when it is HOT? Thirst! We all know how important it is to stay hydrated on these hot summer days…especially on a run. If we don’t, we could literally die.
Here is what www.familydoctor.org says:

Your body depends on water for survival. Did you know that water makes up more than half of your body weight? Every cell, tissue and organ in your body needs water to function correctly. For example, your body uses water to maintain its temperature, remove waste and lubricate joints. Water is essential for good health.

And you know what…we will literally die if we don’t drink of the living water as well! And we will never be thirsty again! How powerful and how awesome! Thank you, Lord! Think of what Jesus says in John 4:13-14 about eternal life. We need Him for our eternal health. We depend on Jesus for survival. He should make up every bit of our being. His spirit within us will help us maintain our temperature, remove waste and lubricate joints while we work to glorify Him. How cool?

As I talk about life and death it comes full circle for me today. Two dear friends lost a parent yesterday. One her mother and the other her father. They were both believers…thank you Lord! So, as we are sad on earth, they are rejoicing in heaven. But how many do we know that will not be rejoicing in heaven? But experiencing HOT hell?

Can we be the water girls and guys to those around us? We wouldn’t hesitate to give someone water in this heat! It will satisfy them now. So why do we hesitate to share eternal water that will give them eternal satisfaction? Think about it? I am talking to myself!

Back to running…God has given me more people connections with my running. I need to be an eternal water girl in these circles. Run for Him and share His glory…His spring water welling up to eternal life!

Our run today was encouraging. We did extremely well time wise. I am feeling great. Heel is a bit of a pain. But, I have become pretty good at sticking my foot in ice water…this is when I would go for HOT any day. ;).

Same game plan for the week as last except for a two hour fun run on Saturday instead of 90 minutes. 🙂 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday – 40 minutes. Wednesday – 70 minutes. Saturday 2 hours and Sunday – 20 or rest.

So here we go….1 month 23 days to go until Tupelo. We are well on our way. 🙂

My scripture for the week ties all of this together.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13-14 NIV84)

Lord, I ask, in your name, for you to do a great work in me as I run and I work toward the goal of bringing your message to the thirsty. Give me your strength to keep moving and stepping out in faith. Glory to you is what I want in this whole process. Allow me to step aside and let you work through me as I run toward you! Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer!

Running blessed!

One last thing…my friend who lost her mother told me that my other friend, who lost her father, said to her about three weeks back, “wouldn’t it be great if your mom and my dad could enter heaven together on the same day.” Guess what? John 14:13-14 was confirmed yesterday…her dad and my other friend’s mom entered the gates of heaven on the same day! That was their prayer because they were friends. I know they ran in together and bear hugged Jesus. Joyful celebration is going on! (chill bump moment….God is good at those!)

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV84)

Today we decided to try something different and do a group run. We joined up with a group at the downtown YMCA. It was wonderful. The weather was a bit warm and very humid. The route was challenging. The people were awesome!

The Chattanooga Track Club does a great job! We had water and energy drinks along the way. They made sure we knew the course as we ran. The speed was fast due to running with others. We spurred each other on. We turned around at the 5 mile point…everyone else went on to the 6 mile point. We did 10. They did 12. 🙂 Our goal today was 90 minutes. We accomplished that. We were encouraged and encouraged others! It was a great time of fellowship with old/new running buddies.

Running blessed!

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14 NIV84)

We are in our second week of running 6-7 days a week. We are still going strong. Our average pace is still faster than it technically needs to be on our easier runs. Our bodies just don’t want to slow down too much…we are definitely not smoking up the streets in this heat…the sun is! The real encouraging part is we are sticking around marathon pace on these runs! How cool!

The Lord has been so good in being there when I faithfully lean on Him! Every day this week has been a challenge. Monday was a day for hills we didn’t count on. Tuesday we ran later and the heat was ever present. Wednesday and Friday I taught a spin class before my 70 minute run on Wednesday and 40 minute run on Friday. Thursday we felt the humidity. This all to say…God is preparing me.

I asked and He is answering. It will be hot in Mississippi. It will be humid in Mississippi. My legs will be tired but He will give me the strength to run, as he did today. We ran a new course everyday this week. This too has been a continued blessing. We have discovered our local beauty. God is so good!

We took to the trails by Volkswagen on Wednesday. It was a bit challenging but beautiful! I loved the calmness of running through the woods. It took my mind to how glorious His creation truly is. How we can see Him in all things.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:20 NIV84)

We have no excuse! He is around us on good days and bad. His handiwork is in the heat and the humidity. We can find extra strength from within to do what we may things impossible because He made us in His own image. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! He made us to faithfully power through this life glorifying Him.

For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37 NIV84)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14 NIV84)

We are wonderful because we are His! We are to praise Him! I praise Him as I run!

How will you praise Him today?

Photo taken by my niece, Lane Lewis in Austria on July 4, 2011

So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” (Genesis 22:14 NIV84)

Last week was a great week of training! The Lord provided me with a training partner who pushes me physically and mentally. I told her today I was so thankful He allowed us to struggle at different times. When I am ready to give in, she keeps me going. When she is ready to cave, I pull her back. It is great! He provided!

We had our share of mountains today. I decided there are not many flat places to run around Bakewell, TN. 😉 The positive side of this is we keep looking for the flat areas so…we have run somewhere different all week. God has provided incredible scenery on all of our runs. He is definitely showing up through nature. He provided!

Yesterday another friend and I ran the Pilot Fireball Classic 5k in Knoxville. It started at 9:00p. The temperature listed on the race results was 95 degrees. Needless to say it was HOT! At one point during the race I thought…This is not fun! Why am I doing this? I definitely did not run a PR. I had an okay showing for a hotter than normal race.

In hell, where he was in torment. (Luke 16:23a NIV84)

It did get me thinking…hotter than hell…hell will not be fun either. It will be torment. (Thankfully, I am saved by grace and that race will be the closest I get to feeling it.) I am running for God I want my light to shine. I want to witness for Him so people don’t have to experience hell. When we got back to the car, there were race flyers on my car. One of them was appropriately named…”Hotter than hell.”. Hmmmm…

God called us to go out into the world and be disciples for Him!

The great commission: Matthew 28:16-20

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

How cool is this…I found while searching my online Bible…this is the runner’s commission:

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. (Luke 14:23 NIV84)

This is the best thing I have read all day!!! New memory verse!

The last word….On our run today, we saw two of the coolest things. We were warming up and walking up the first of MANY hills. First, a beautiful owl flew out of the trees. He was so pretty. Then a red-tailed hawk followed him. God knew I needed a reminder that running was fun! This was fun…watching God’s glory in action.

We are called to action…whether we are running or walking…go out and make them come in!

Running blessed!