Keep going

I run every other day and today is the day I have to run. I woke up thinking about a run I did when I was 17-years-old. I told my cross country coach that I was going to participate in the 2-mile MLK run in Clark Air Base and he gave me a look like, “Are you kidding me?”

A friend and her father drove us to the airbase and I stood at the starting line. The pistol went off and I was the only one standing at the line, so I started to run. The people ahead of me were passing me on their second then third lap. After a little while I heard the announcer say, “Well, that’s the end of the race.” I thought, “What should I do—should I just step off the track or keep going?” I decided to keep going (I had about a half lap to go). Then the announcer said, “Wait, there’s another runner on the track.” So as I ran closer to the finish line, I heard people clapping and the announcer encouraging me to finish.

After the run I met my friend and her father in the bleachers and a man walked up to me asking me my name. I told him and then he asked if I was a student at Wagner (the high school on the air base). I told him that I was a student at George Dewey (the naval base). He said, “That’s too bad. I could use more people like you.” It turned out that he was the girls’ soccer coach.

While I was running today I felt like stopping after only a couple of miles— I was just struggling so much. I then thought about the Scripture verses that have encouraged me these past few years— “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken.  We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit… We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going” (2 Cor 4:8-9), and “…with God everything is possible” (Matt 19:26).

I only ran/jogged 7.55 miles (my goal for today was 8.5 miles), but I will not give up. What do you feel like giving up—your marriage… life in general? Don’t give up—keep going!

Copyright © 2013 M. Teresa Trascritti