Therapeutic Runnings

I drove home with tears in my eyes this morning. Tears of thankfulness. Overwhelmed by God's goodness. In awe, yet again, at how He even cares about the smallest parts of our lives.

My friend and I had a great run this morning. After Saturdays run, I knew I could run just fine in the rain. And I knew that 4.5 in the rain was nothing. But, still...

It was cold.

And sopping wet.

And early.

And I barely slept between Brent's visits last night. :)

And the coffee that I had so smartly prepared last night before going to bed? Well, let's just say it was a little too prepared! As I crawled into bed at 10 the wonderful aroma of coffee entered my nose. Yep. I had pressed start!

And when I walked out the door the wind and the rain slammed into my face.

And under my breath, I said, "seriously??"

Six minutes and a few sips of reheated coffee later, I'm at my friend's doorstep. I stretch out my old lady hips and off we go.

Wincing through the first half mile, I'm still loving that we're out there...

When it's dark.

When it's cold.

When it's NOT raining anymore!

We run. We chat. We share life together. We talk about little and big things. Significant and funny. Everything and nothing at all.

We pushed it at the end. Finishing in better time than last week. Happy with what we accomplished.

The tears? The thankfulness? The awe?

I feel like God has blessed me with an amazing gift. NOT that I'm gifted at running, but that running is a gift...

When I run by myself, I get that time to talk to God. To reflect. To soak in His presence and His glory. It's just me, the road and God.

When I run with a friend, I get to share life with someone. Some of the best conversations can happen when your running. When you're not caught up in the busyness of life. When you're not being interrupted by your sweet loving children. No laundry is beckoning. No toilets are shouting to be de-fuzzed. It's just you, the road and your friend.

God has given me something that can be finished. Something that can be accomplished in one day. Something that I cannot fail at. Because, let's face it, no matter the distance or the time, I'm still out there. One step at a time. And in a life where I see so little being accomplished, it's great to have something I can do and do well.

I praise the Lord every time I finish a run. Even in the accomplishment, I know it's nothing without Him. I would not be there if it wasn't for Him. I would not be able to run 4.5 or 12 without Him. He is there. By my side. Breathing life into my lungs. Pumping blood through my veins. He made this body that gets so filled by such a simple thing... my feet pounding the pavement.