Running in a New Direction

Today is Sunday. It is an "off" running day for me. But I am behind in logging and blogging so here goes: last Tuesday I ran 4 outside and last Thursday I ran 4 outside. I was fortunate to have some pretty good weather - both days were in the 40's and fairly sunny.

Yesterday was significant. In order to reach my goal of slowly increasing my mileage up to 10 miles the week before running the half marathon on April 15th, I needed to get 6 miles in. So, that was my training plan for yesterday - run 6 miles. It was the best run in the best weather I had in a long time. Signs of Spring were everywhere - the warm sunny weather (60+ degrees), the fresh mulch that the neighborhood landscapers recently put down and the lovely aroma that came with it!, birds singing, more folks out for walks than I had seen in a while, and the first of the daffodils making their way through the ground - just the green leafy parts, no yellow flowers yet! Besides that, I ran without my under armor! I was able to wear my t-shirt without the extra layer underneath. I didn't need any gloves or my ear band. It was great.

Nothing so much significant about any of that, until midway into my run something came to me, something familiar to those begotten of God and that was His still small Voice. As I was running, minding my own business, just doing my running thing, training for the half marathon I had set my mind to do, God unexpectedly spoke a very clear word to me. The Lord told me to lay down my 1/2 marathon plans on the 15th and go to "Battle Cry" - a major youth conference with my daughter and some other folks from my church. It was as if the Lord placed His hands on both sides of my face and set it in a new direction and said, "This is where I want you on that weekend." As I ran with such a sense that God had just intervened in my life with new plans, His plans, I began to cry. I was literally overcome by that still small voice - still, yet like a towering wave heaped upon me; small, yet like a thunderous crack breaking through the plans I had set for myself. It was as clear as the blue sky I was running under. And it came so very unexpectedly!

What do you do when this kind of thing happens? Well, I just kept running - only now yielding to a new direction. How funny I had just wrote about "different/opposite directions" in my last blog. I had no idea whatsoever that I would soon be running in a new direction myself. If you could only know how I had my own plans so thoroughly made. They were just so set. Months ago, when I first heard about the conference, I thought to myself, "Wow, that sounds great, too bad I already have plans for that weekend." Then weeks ago when it was promoted at church with some very motivating video clips, again I thought, "Oh well, sure wish it was on a different weekend." I never once thought, "Hmm, maybe I should pray and see if God wants me to go to this conference."

Oh, the tender mercies and graces of God that come to our life! Sometimes so unexpectedly they just side swipe you off your course and land you right where God wants you! Yes, I am surrendering my running shoes to God on the weekend of the 15th of April. And I am going to follow His still small voice to caravan with a host of saints to Detroit, Michigan. I am most confident He will meet me there. As for my dreams to run a full marathon one day, and the half marathon for a second time in my life on the 15th of April, I accept it will not take place at the time I had hoped. I am going to continue to train for the half as if I would be running it just to let myself know or anyone else for that matter know, that I am not trying to get out of something that is difficult. I'm sure there's another half marathon race to enter somewhere soon. I'll keep my eye out for one and we'll see what direction the Lord will lead me as I seek out a different half to enter.