THE MARATHONS OF LIFE

Today was the running of the Med-City marathon in Rochester, MN.  It just so happened that the finish line was outside the front door of my church, Eaglebrook Church.  I watched for quite some time celebrating with the runners who came across the finish line exhausted and happy.I would have done the ½ marathon in my wheelchair with my daughter Birdie, however, happily she is expecting our 3rd grandchild in a few months.

SO. I thought I would share a few simularities between running a marathon and the marathons we sometime face daily in life from my first book called, THE MARATHONS OF LIFE.“In the marathons of L-I-F-E, there are no 50 yard line front row seats,  everyone is out on the field.”  My racing career began in 1983 because a friend named Glenn (who was also in a wheelchair) encouraged me to do it, Glenn reminded me,“If you don’t make dust, you eat dust”I soon read an article in the Sports N’ Spokes Magazine called “Racing for God”about Jim Martinson, a double amputee from Vietnam who was the first person to do The Boston Marathon.  Soon I set my goals to do 100 Marathons and do a 10K in under 30 minutes.

SOME OF THE PARALLELS:

Each has a starting and a finish line  2. Neither are a 100 yard dash, but a run of perseverance and endurance 3. Both have uphills (like Heartbreak Hill in the Boston) downhillls, tail winds, headwinds, sunshine and rain 4. Both experience detours, rough roads, potholes, and unexpected turns 5. Encouragement and support is vital to both.

Hebrews 12:1 “We are surrounded by a great crowd of people whose lives tell us what faith means, so let us RUN WITH ENDURANCE the race that is set before us.”

PHOTO 2. Taken from our houseboat with family on lake Powell, Utah & Arizona. A display of God’s handiwork.