Wednesdays in the Word: Verse I

I've been having a blast the past couple of days telling you about a house...that became a home...and it's been the most beautiful unexpected joy to hear you tell me how much you're loving the story. It's dear to my heart, so I love hearing that you love it too. And never fear. It's not done. But...it's Wednesday...so we're taking a break to talk about my verse for the letter I.

Ryan and I are training for a 5K right now. It's a quick training...we don't have long before the race. Ryan probably doesn't even need to train, but I do. I could survive the thing, but I want to actually do better than my last one. {THAT shouldn't take much.} So this week we've been back in the gym and back on our outdoor path, running.

My body is not entirely amused with me. After nearly running the full 5K distance on Monday, my hips and legs said "WHY DO YOU HATE US?!!?!!?" Getting back out there and working at it again wasn't fun, but I know I have to keep pushing through if I'm going to have good results come race day.

My run last night was brief...and outside. I soaked up the sunshine, but the second half of the run was headlong into some fierce wind, and my aching legs felt a bit like jello. {Jello that failed to set.} But the advantage of running outside was that I could look up and see my ending point in the distance. So I peered through my zebra stripe sunglasses and watched as that line grew closer and closer. And even though I desperately wanted to collapse in a heap on the ground, I kept going.

As I drove to work yesterday morning, Laura Story's song Blessings played, and I sang along {loudly}...and tears came to my eyes. The words are so true. The rain and storms and hardest nights that I lived through...though I desperately wanted to just quit...were mercies in disguise. Mercies that made me stronger. Mercies that grew me into who I am today. Mercies that brought me to the finish line of a long season of singleness and the long-prayed-for gift of a husband.

Pressing on. It's not easy. It's not easy when it's physical labor. It's not easy when it's character-building labor. It's not easy when it's spiritual growth. But the reward at the end...always worth it.

I chose the picture for today because those little sprouts of tulips you see pressed on through dirt...through the weed barrier we put down, through more dirt, and through a pretty thick layer of rocks. I noticed them when I came home from my run. Another reminder...to press on.

Encouraging you today to press on. Whatever it is. Press on. Remember that in the detail of that...you're pressing on for the ultimate prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.