It's Only a Hill, But It Feels Like a Mountain.

I ran a 5K this morning, which is 3.2 miles. It's called the Soleburner, and it's Appleton's largest race with over 7,000 participants. The cause is to support the American Cancer Society and this is my 6th year participating. The interesting thing about this run is that the last half mile has a large hill. They call it the "Hill of Hope" because it symbolizes the journey that a cancer survivor takes to overcome the feelings of defeat and the obstacles endured to survive cancer.

Interestingly, even though I have never had cancer, and pray I never will, when I get to the foot of that hill, I empathize with a cancer patient who gets to the point in their own race that they want to give up, even quit.

I usually run with my ipod and I turn up the music loud enough that I can tune out everything else and keep the beat. Not this year. This year I wanted to focus on the race and when I made the decision to leave my ipod at home, I wasn't even aware how different this run would be.

Left to myself and my own thoughts, my head was my biggest fan and my worst enemy. I would sabotage my pace by telling myself that I need to stop and that I was tired. In the next breath I would be thinking that I feel good and I can visualize that finish line and the clock registering my record time. I continued to toss my thoughts, but then I get to the hill. I'm tired, but I'm determined and the minute the grade of the road began to slant upward, I leaned into it and immediately started to pray.

My prayer went something like this. "God... it's you an me. I'm tired and I want to quit, but I bet cancer survivors cry out with that same prayer. I think I can only get to the top of this thing without stopping is if you push me up this baby. So here we go God, it's you and me."

Since this morning I have put a new perspective on my cry out to God. The perspective that it's really just Him and me ALL THE TIME. I don't get to pick Him up when I need Him and toss Him aside when "I think I can handle it." No! I need Him all the time and the good news is, He's there regardless.

I want to 'Live Out Loud' with my words, thoughts, actions, and deeds and not just when times get tough. My hill was a small obstacle that felt more like a mountain. My prayer for you today is that you acknowledge Him, thank Him for being there and know that when the hills in your life seem too overbearing, He's there and He is faithful to help you through.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."