Bright and early yesterday morning, I did it! I crossed the Half-Marathon finish line… cheered on by my parents, Rachael, Malori, JoBug, and Emily! It took me 2-and-a-half hours, but I did a good job of pacing myself and jogging the majority of it. It was an awesome feeling, and I’m so glad and proud that I did it – crossing the finish line, getting the medal, and knowing the people I love are proud of me made all the hard work worth it!!
...When I got home, I heard the sad and shocking news that Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty had died and moved on to Heaven that morning. I was not a member of Victory Church, but have been several times and love the spiritual atmosphere and the power and presence of God there. I have always admired Pastor Daugherty’s integrity, the way he never sidestepped the tough issues, but did an excellent job of speaking the truth in love. He was a bold man of God who valued his family and lived with faith, courage, peace, and passion! He and his family prayed for physical healing (he had lymphoma), but God had other plans. Everyone who knew him can say that he absolutely fought the good fight, kept the faith, and finished his race!
Ron Luce spoke at Victory last night, and it was one of the greatest sermons I’ve ever heard. He had also run the Route 66 Half-Marathon that morning, which was why he’d chosen this particular weekend to come speak at Victory. (It’s awesome how God directs and times things so perfectly.) He talked a lot about the verses in Hebrews where God tells us to “run with endurance the race marked out for us!” To “run to get the prize.” That we are surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses.” He talked about keeping the faith…standing strong and trusting God even when we don’t understand what He is doing. Trusting Him when things are tough and continuing to pray and worship Him. Ron Luce used the verses where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say, “The God we serve is able to save us, but even if He doesn’t, know that we will never bow…” I want to be an “even if” Christian! I want to trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God, and to be faithful to Him even when I’m confused and hurting deeply. God is good, ALL the time. Even if things don’t go according to our wonderful plan, even if our worst fears come true, we press on and we continue running our race. Ron ended the sermon talking about crossing the finish line... how even though some finished way ahead of him and some were far behind, every person that finished the half-marathon received a medal. They finally got to rest and grab some good food, then cheer on the other runners as they came through the finish line!
I knew it was coming, but I cried when he said that Pastor Daugherty crossed the true finish line yesterday. That Abraham, Peter, Paul, Daniel, and David were all there to greet him!! And Jesus Himself was there to present him with his crown and say, “Well done, My good and faithful servant!” The whole crowd at Victory was on their feet and cheering at this point! We lost someone who inspired us and meant a lot to us, and we didn’t expect his race to be over so quickly. But we can rejoice in knowing that he is resting and celebrating with the other finishers, and cheering us on! And our task now is to keep running… yes, running. Not halfheartedly walking our race, not limping along because we were unprepared for vicious spiritual attacks, not letting apathy or passivity stop us, not letting fear and confusion make us turn back, but RUNNING toward Jesus with all our hearts, focused and determined to overcome every obstacle and to finish with VICTORY! Many of us live as spiritual cheerleaders right now… cheering on those with pastoral positions, those whom we view as “called by God,” and sitting on the sidelines as they run with awesome passion. Someday sooner than we think, our race will be over and we will get to cheer others on from heaven, but right here, right now, God is calling us to GET UP, GET OFF THE SIDELINES, RUN, and FINISH STRONG! Our race is certainly not over, and our time here is short. We have to grab the baton and pick up where other great men and women of faith left off, to do all we can to bring others to Christ. To run the race God lays out for us with passion and endurance, keeping our eyes and hearts completely focused on the true reward when we cross the finish line… on our Lord and Deliverer, Jesus Christ!
Yay, my home computer is miraculously working and getting online again... get excited! This is big news! lol My plan was to run 7 or 8 miles tonight, but during my workout, Danny told me I shouldn't do any more running till the half-marathon, so cheers to that! :)
So I came home and talked to Malori and watched the ending of Click instead. It's surprisingly deep for an Adam Sandler movie. There's a scene where he (Michael Newman) is a rich, old, unhealthy man in the hospital, divorced and distanced from his family, and he says, "This isn't the life I wanted!" And the angel takes him to the screen that says "Produced, Written, and Directed by Michael Newman," and says, "Looks like it is." That scene always hits me in this movie.
The message they're going for is that we all need to make good choices now and value our relationships because that's what matters most in the end. True. But in our own strength, we're just not capable of getting the major things right. In my own life, whenever I hold onto control and essentially "write and direct" my life story, I end up making stupid, selfish decisions just as he did in the movie, little things that I think won't matter now, but that may have a huge effect on my future. Only when I choose to hand the control over to the Lord, to let Him shape my decisions and show me what is truly important... will my destiny be fulfilled. I'm surrendered to God for the most part, but there are certain stronghold areas that I'm not giving Him... and I'm fully aware that they are exactly the areas that could mess up my future. I want to pass the remote to God and let Him deal with these attitudes now. I want to lead a fulfilling, inspiring, selfless life full of deep relationships and a close walk with God. And most importantly, when I'm on my deathbed looking back, I want it to be obvious to those around me that my earthly life story was "Produced, Written, and Directed by God."
Life has been pretty fantastic lately! I took my RMR test (260 wpm), and I definitely passed at least part of it, which will carry over ...so yay! It's been around a month, so alot has happened, but I'll try to keep this short and list the top 10 things going on in my life lately...
The best Halloween Party ever!! lol Hosted by Malori, and we had a blast and took tons of fun pics!
Decorating my house for Christmas... Mom came down and helped, as did Chet and Malori... and we decorated ...and no surprise here, but I love it - Christmas is the best! And I still really love that my colors are hot pinks, lime greens, purples, and turquoise!!
Painting Kimberly's nursery room for baby Addyson Shea! Some cute ladybugs and daisies, and one of my favorite verses...
LifeChurch's "Big Show" event for the volunteers. Fun times with great friends, and a delightful mashed potato bar and chocolate fountain!!
Finishing up my time at Fitness Together (pic with Levi and Danny)! Levi is my favorite of my trainers... he's just hilarious - I still laugh when I think about him saying, "Yeah, they're 12's, She-Hulk!" (mocking me thinking the weights were too heavy). Danny and Eddie are also fun and funny, and I've lost a lot of weight and toned up as I trained with them, so yay. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd keep it going... but I'm thankful it's given me a great start and helped me get ready for the run!!
Reconnected with my "lil' sis" from CHA, Morgan Elizabeth... I'm trying to be more compassionate and to encourage her as she seeks to follow God without a lot of spiritual support in her life!
Our awesome Lifegroup had our one year anniversary recently!!
I've been praying and reading more lately, and loving that! God is opening my eyes and changing my heart on some things... and on a side-note to that, I will most probably be changing churches in the near future... I'm thinking Victory!
Hanging out with Kristin and Tara Lynn a few times... always fun and uplifting; I told TLT that I feel like my spiritual batteries are re-charged whenever we all get together!
Remodeling my garage... Chet, Malori, my mom, and I painted the walls a pretty light green, then Chet and Malori and I redid the floors with Quik-Crete, and it looks awesome now! I am seriously so thankful for my friends, for people who are willing to sacrifice so much time to help me out with this project that I couldn't have done by myself. ......Thanks, Chet Lee and Malori! You guys are awesome!!
